Make a list of Arizona counties where you would imagine the court systems are generally well run, and Yavapai County likely ends up on that list. Increasingly however, the County Courts are facing both local and national scrutiny that is jeopardizing their previously sterling reputation. Legal observers from within the County and beyond are sounding the alarm and calling on higher powers to get involved.
“Maybe this being allowed to happen because this isn’t Maricopa County and so things don’t get as much attention?” asked one attorney who asked to remain anonymous given the local legal environment, “But we’re on Fox News now so I don’t know how much brighter of a spotlight they need to do something.”
In March 2023, Yavapai County Superior Court Judge Cele Hancock was arrested on suspicion of extreme DUI, during which she identified herself as a judge to investigating officers. To their credit, the officers continued on and did their job, and Hancock was convicted in May of 2023. Nevertheless, she didn’t subsequently resign until November of 2023.
On October 4, 2025, Yavapai County Superior Court Judge Pro Tempore Kristina Schaaf-Olsen was arrested for alleged public urination, while her husband was arrested on allegations of resisting arrest and obstruction of government operations. A judge urinating in a bush on Whiskey Row, just a short walk from the courthouse, got everyone’s attention and the Yavapai County Superior Court issued a press release just two days later announcing that Presiding Judge John Napper had accepted Schaaf-Olsen’s resignation. Yet again, despite the immediate resignation announcement, Schaaf-Olson continued to serve as a Yavapai judge and hear cases.
The body camera footage was finally released on October 29th, 2025, and became a statewide and national sensation. Coverage included commentary on the national “Gutfeld!” broadcast on Fox News, where panelists mocked the judge and county. Piers Morgan mocked Judge Napper’s judgment regarding his press release when he appointed her to the bench. And while the Yavapai County Superior Court insisted publicly that Schaaf-Olson had resigned October 6, it didn’t go into effect until the footage went national.
ABC15’s investigative series “(In)defensible” has been addressing concerns about officials in Prescott, and on December 29, 2025 the reporter highlighted issues surrounding a Prescott assistant fire chief retaining a state pension despite legal requirements that the Court order its forfeiture upon a conviction for embezzlement of public funds.
The Yavapai County Superior Court seems to be ignoring the plague of issues undermining its reputation and integrity. In fact a recent press release announced that Judge Napper himself would be leading an Arizona Rule of Law Day ceremony, reaffirming a commitment to justice and the rule of law.
Yavapai citizens do have one reason to be hopeful: The Arizona Constitution grants the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court oversight of each County’s Superior Courts, which means Chief Justice Ann Timmer is empowered to take whatever steps needed to restore confidence and judicial integrity. Napper’s term as Presiding Judge is also nearing its end and his eventual replacement will have the chance to clean up the Yavapai Courts and end this cycle of scandal and embarrassment.
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