User:Mwinog2777/adel

Allister Adel is the Maricopa County (Arizona) attorney.

Education and early legal career.
Adel graduated the University of Arizona with a major in political science and a minor in criminology. Deciding to go law school to become a prosecutor, she attended Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law Her first position out of law school, 2004–2001, was with Maricopa County attorney's vehicular crimes, gang and drug enforcement bureaus. She followed this up with a stint as an administrative judge for the AZ. Dept. of Transportation; this was later followed by positions with the AZ Dept.of Child Safety and the Maricopa Bar Association. With the resignation of County Attorney Bill Montgomery, the position became vacant. On October 3, 2019 Adel beat out four other candidates and was appointed county attorney by the Maricopa Board of Supervisors.

Maricopa County attorney
Adel was an incumbent and faced an early election to keep the position. Running as a Republican she won a close victory over Julie Gunnigle in a race not decided for one week. On the night of the election, November 3, 2020, Adel had emergency surgery for a bleed to the brain. She was hospitalized for more than a month, and went back to full duty only in the spring. When she did return to work, she faced a scandal. It was alleged that her office colluded with Phoenix Police to falsely charge protesters with made-up crimes. One week after an  expose posited the dubious nature of the crimes, Adel dropped the charges. She claimed that that the brain injury impacted her ability to understand the evidence. In August she checked into a rehab facility for 19 days to work on problems that included stress, anxiety, an eating disorder and alcoholism. On February 15, 2020, five top prosecutors in her office wrote a letter demanding that Adel step down. Letters were sent to the Board of Supervisors and the state bar.