Cochise County supervisors review draft wolf resolution, schedule vote for Tuesday

The Cochise County Board of Supervisors reviewed a draft resolution on wolves during a work session on Thursday, July 17, in the Supervisor’s Hearing Room at Melody Lane and directed staff to place the item on the Tuesday agenda for a formal vote.

The draft adds the word “investigate,” proposes that the Cochise County Sheriff receive committee resources and training so deputies “would be able to have that authority,” and says the county would request a United States Fish and Wildlife Service field agent or another federal law-enforcement officer to be present in Willcox, Arizona, according to staff. The draft also includes a provision for the sheriff to submit an annual report to the clerk and supervisors describing findings.

Why it matters: the resolution seeks to clarify local law-enforcement roles and collaboration with federal wildlife authorities in incidents involving wolves and other ungulates and to create a reporting mechanism for the sheriff’s office.

At the meeting, staff member Justin Bridal said, “I incorporate all the changes that were requested at the last meeting on Tuesday,” and that the draft “also added information about the resource, the committee resources to the Cochise County Sheriff so they can get trained. And we also are going to request the United States Fish and Wildlife Service a field agent or another law enforcement officer to Willcox, Arizona.” Bridal said he had done legal research and is “confident, that the sheriff, if his, his deputies are able to get trained, then they'll be able to have that authority also.”

Board members discussed wording and structure. The draft separates references to pets and livestock, and staff said the text includes language asking that specified federal “rules and regulations” be rescinded — language the draft attributes to federal authorities. The document also refers to the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments and notes the incorporation of U.S. constitutional protections against the states as part of the legal language included in the draft.

Supervisors asked to have all three of their names placed on the final resolution. Staff said the current document was a tracked draft and that the county office would format the final resolution and add the supervisors’ names before it is published for Tuesday’s meeting.

The board did not take a formal vote at the work session. Instead, supervisors directed staff to format the resolution, add signatures as requested, and place the resolution on the Tuesday agenda for a formal vote. The draft also contains a request that the board could choose to enter into a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with federal or other partners should the board approve such action.

Discussion versus action: the meeting record shows discussion and staff direction only. No motion or formal vote on the resolution was held during the work session; the item was scheduled for consideration at the next regular board meeting. Staff described several programmatic steps the draft would enable if approved — training for sheriff deputies, possible MOU authority, a request for a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service field agent in Willcox, and an annual written report from the sheriff’s office.

What remains open: the transcript and draft discussed legal questions about the extent of local authority and the interplay with federal law; Bridal said he would follow up on legal research. The draft’s request that federal rules be rescinded is a policy ask toward federal agencies and would be contingent on federal action. The timing and terms of any training, the content of an MOU, and any federal response were not specified in the work session.

The board’s next action is to consider the resolution at the Tuesday meeting, where supervisors indicated they expect to vote.