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Cochise supervisors vote to hire co-counsel in Groover v. Antinori case
Summary
The Cochise County Board of Supervisors voted 3-0 at a special meeting to direct the county attorney’s office to hire outside co-counsel to represent Cochise County and the Cochise County Jail District in pending litigation Groover v. Antinori, Cochise County Superior Court case CV202500676.
The Cochise County Board of Supervisors voted 3-0 at a special meeting to direct the county attorney’s office to hire outside co-counsel to represent Cochise County and the Cochise County Jail District in Groover v. Antinori et al, Cochise County Superior Court case number CV202500676.
The vote followed a closed executive session during which the board consulted with its attorneys under Arizona law. The board entered executive session at 9:05 a.m. and exited at 9:37 a.m. before returning to open session and taking the hiring vote.
The board invoked Arizona Revised Statutes § 38-431.03(A)(3) and (4) to hold the executive session for legal advice and to instruct attorneys regarding pending litigation. Following the closed session, Supervisor Gomez moved, "I move that we direct the Cochise County Attorney's Office to hire Joe Cainfield to represent the jail district and Cochise County as co counsel in the Groover versus Antinori et al, Cochise County Superior Court case number CV202500676." Supervisor Crosby seconded the motion. The board recorded a unanimous vote in favor, 3-0.
The transcript identifies the outside attorney name as "Joe Cainfield," but contains multiple spellings in the record (examples include "Cainfield," "Painefield," and "Cantrell"). The meeting record does not specify the terms of engagement, fee arrangement, or budget source for the co-counsel hire.
Present for the meeting and noted in the record were Supervisor Crosby (District 1), Supervisor Gomez (District 2), Supervisor Antinori (District 3), Laura Lowenheim, clerk of the board, and representatives from the county attorney’s office and outside counsel. The transcript lists additional attendees (names given in the record include Mazuko, Hill, Haendel, Mr. Cloud, Kurt Miguel, Yvonne, Joseph Keyfields, Zach Saitis and Tim Lasoda) but does not include roles or spellings for all of those individuals beyond what is quoted above.
No other formal actions, funding authorizations, or contract terms for the outside counsel were recorded in open session. The board adjourned the special meeting and noted its next meeting time as 10:00 a.m.
