Chris Nanos — Photo Credit: Jan Sonnenmair/Getty Images

Nancy Guthrie Sheriff Faces Recall as Residents Turn on Him

March 18, 2026

Residents not happy with the handling of Nancy Guthrie’s abduction case want Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos recalled. The sheriff is facing much criticism in his handling of the case, which remains unsolved since Nancy’s disappearance January 31.

On Thursday, March 12, the recall petition was filed with the Pima County Elections Department. Republican congressional candidate Daniel Butierez says the effort is bipartisan.

Sheriff Chris Nanos is under fire

Sheriff truck — Photo Credit: Joe Raedle/Getty Images

In a New York Post interview, Daniel said, “This is a bipartisan effort. It’s not like we’re trying to get signatures from one party or the other.” He added that, on Friday, March 13, Pima County police “had a unanimous vote of no confidence” in the sheriff.

Volunteers collected 500 of the required 120,000 valid signatures from Pima County residents. They must collect the remaining signatures within 120 days of the petition for a recall election to take place.

According to Daniel, Pima County deputies were “afraid of repercussions from Sheriff Nanos” if they launched the recall effort.

So he chose to take it on himself, as a congressional candidate already in the spotlight. “I don’t see Nanos messing with me,” he told the Post.

Several issues prompted the recall effort, including Chris’ alleged errors early in the investigation. There is speculation that the crime scene was released prematurely and that Chris’ argument with a deputy delayed deploying a thermal-imaging search plane for three hours. Chris also allegedly blocked key evidence from the FBI, such as glove DNA samples. These were sent to a private lab rather than the bureau’s Quantico, Va. lab.

A report from the Arizona Republic uncovered employment discrepancies in Chris’ public resume. While it states he resigned from the El Paso Police Department in 1984, he resigned in 1982 to avoid being terminated due to several disciplinary infractions.

According to Daniel, “He has been an embarrassment to Tucson and to Pima County with this Nancy Guthrie case. Everyone’s pretty disgusted, Democrats and Republicans.”

The sheriff responded to the recall effort, saying it is the “right of the people” and that he will “honor the will of the people.”

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Lisa White is a writer, editor and marketing professional with more than 30 years of experience. She has worked for a number of corporations, business and consumer publications and associations in a variety of industries, including food/foodservice, retail, distribution, venues/entertainment, finance, health care and insurance. White's background includes serving as editor for four magazines and assisting in the startup of three publications. She has been an independent writer since 2001 and is based out of the Chicago area.