An elected constable in Pima County has been suspended without pay for the second time in less than one year after he snubbed a request to resign due to a history of sustained misconduct complaints.
Oscar Vasquez has served as constable for Justice Precinct 4 since his election in 2016. His duties include serving a variety of civil and criminal case documents on behalf of Pima County, the Pima County Justice Court, and other courts.
Vasquez was asked earlier this year by the Constable Ethics, Standards and Training Board to resign due to an “unacceptable pattern of behavior” which included Vasquez’s refusal to serve an eviction notice ordered by a judge. When he declined to resign, the Constable Board wrote to the Pima County Board of Supervisors asking that Vasquez be suspended without pay for six months.
The Constable Board’s May 14 letter noted an administrative investigation found Vasquez “has shown little desire to conduct himself in accordance with statutes, rules and codes of conduct.” The letter reminded county officials that Vasquez has been disciplined by the Constable Board “numerous times” and that Vasquez promises to follow “his beliefs rather than the law.”
On Tuesday, the Pima County supervisors took action, handing Vasquez a six month unpaid suspension. It was the second unpaid suspension imposed on the constable.
Vasquez was reelected in November 2020 in an unopposed race despite the fact he was suspended for 30 days without pay by Pima County’s BOS in September 2020. That suspension stemmed from complaints about Vasquez’s involvement in damage to several county vehicles, driving county vehicles at more than 100 miles per hour on multiple occasions, and even urinating on someone’s travel trailer while on-duty.
Other documents released by the Constable Board show Vasquez was also the subject of a May 2019 complaint involving his conduct during a “driving incident.” He was placed on 30 days probation by the Board in August 2019 but that was not the end of the complaint.
With the probation order, the Constable Board reached out to the Pima County Presiding Constable to counsel Vasquez and report back to the Board. But just a few months later, the Constable Board was told by the Presiding Constable that no progress had been made by Vasquez.
The result was a unanimous written reprimand to Vasquez.