



The Maricopa County Sheriff's Office has placed two of Sheriff Joe Arpaio's top aides on administrative leave after they and another aide were accused of misconduct and mismanagement.

The move comes as Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu determines the merits of the allegations against them.The deputy chief who wrote a memo containing explosive allegations that triggered the inquiry said Thursday that he supports the sheriff's decision to have Babeu review the matter.A spokesman for the Pinal County sheriff said Babeu has not yet reviewed the 63-page memo, which alleges widespread wrongdoing by Chief Deputy David Hendershott and others.The memorandum, authored by Deputy Chief Frank Munnell, describes an oppressive work environment in which Hendershott is alleged to have threatened and retaliated against subordinates who questioned him and browbeat others into refusing to cooperate with federal and state investigations into the Sheriff's Office. Hendershott is the office's second-in-command and runs the sheriff's day-to-day operations.Munnell asked Arpaio to place Hendershott, Deputy Chief Larry Black and Capt. Joel Fox on administrative leave pending an independent investigation by the Arizona Department of Public Safety. Black and Fox were placed on leave with pay Thursday. Hendershott remains on medical leave and is expected to return in several weeks.Rather than involve the DPS, Arpaio sent the memo to Babeu, a political ally, for review.Munnell, one of a group of high-ranking officers subordinate to Hendershott, on Thursday spoke briefly about his memo, tellinghe was pleased with Arpaio's decision."I believe a fair and appropriate and impartial investigation will take place, and I'm going to let it take its course," Munnell said.He declined to comment further.Babeu will determine the seriousness of the allegations before meeting with Arpaio. He will brief Arpaio on the direction the investigation could take, said Tim Gaffney, Babeu's spokesman.Hendershott makes $165,000 a year, which does not include retirement earnings. Fox makes $103,000 and Black $80,000.The decision to place county employees on leave during internal inquiries into their conduct is generally left to department directors, who consider whether the employee is "in a position to intimidate or influence potential witnesses," said Elizabeth Yaquinto, director of the county's Workforce Management and Development Department.Within the offices of elected officials, decisions to conduct investigations and place employees on leave are entirely up to the elected official, she said.A sheriff's spokeswoman said the decision to place employees on administrative leave depends on a range of criteria."It's a case-by-case basis," Lisa Allen said. "A couple of criteria are important to us, and we try to be consistent, (taking into consideration) truthfulness issues and the gravity of the allegations involved."Munnell's memo said Hendershott's conduct jeopardizes the stability of one of the largest sheriff's agencies in the nation. He alleges Hendershott pressured subordinates on a corruption task force to write a questionable search warrant and then repeatedly threatened that he would "machine gun" them if they refused. Munnell also asserts that Hendershott retaliated against those who acted against him and protected those who remained loyal.The memo was turned over to the FBI and U.S. Department of Justice, which for nine months have presented evidence before a federal grand jury. The agencies are working together on an abuse-of-power inquiry into Arpaio, former County Attorney Andrew Thomas and others in their agencies.On Thursday,obtained the personnel files of the three longtime sheriff's officials named in the memo from both Arpaio's office and county human resources.Munnell's memo alleges years of behavior that ranges from inappropriate to criminal, but a review of the files found the three to be model employees, and they have consistently received marks of "outstanding" and "excellent" on annual performance reviews.Munnell also claims in the memo that Hendershott has favored employees who are "shielded and protected by Hendershott from receiving any discipline."It is too early to predict costs associated with the probe, or which agency would cover those, Gaffney said. Maricopa County sheriff's officials said law-enforcement agencies often pick up the costs of investigations as a courtesy.The investigation can proceed down two paths, one criminal and one administrative, and each comes with its own rules for interviewing witnesses.Law-enforcement officers who are the subject of administrative investigations are obligated to speak with investigators, though the information shared with detectives cannot be used in a criminal matter, said Jim Warriner, a retired DPS officer and former supervisor of the agency's special-investigations unit. Information gathered in a criminal probe can be used in the administrative investigation, he said.If the officers are involved in criminal investigations, Warriner said, they're treated like any other citizen: authorized to speak with their attorneys and warned that anything they say can be used against them in the inquiry.Investigators rarely know whether the probe will focus on either criminal or administrative violations until they are well into the process, he said."You're not sure where it's going to take you," he said. "The more you start digging � it may lead you down the road where it ends up criminal."If the investigation becomes a criminal matter, the administrative probe is frozen until the criminal investigation is complete.With the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office already the subject of a federal civil-rights investigation and two separate criminal probes at the state and federal level, Pinal County investigators should coordinate with the other agencies, Warriner said."The last thing you want to do," he said, "is go in knowing the federal government, the FBI, is already doing an investigation and step in and mess up their case."