Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos had a history of disciplinary problems in his early years in law enforcement, according to records obtained by The Arizona Republic.
Decades before he was at the helm of the search for the missing Nancy Guthrie, Nanos was a rising star at the El Paso Police Department. He won an officer of the year award and received write-ups for his work in local newspapers.
Eventually, though, Nanos’ record of “insubordination” and “consistent inefficiency” caught up with him. He resigned in lieu of termination from the department in 1982, El Paso Police Department records show.
The resignation came after Nanos was suspended or placed on leave without pay for a cumulative 37 days during his tenure there, according to a Republic review of an internal affairs card the department used to document his discipline.
He was accused of using excessive force, a shot fired, off-duty gambling, tardiness, failure to report for duty and other violations of rules and regulations.
Here’s what to know about Nanos’ complicated record as a young officer at the El Paso Police Department.
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Microphones pile on a podium ahead of a press conference to discuss the ongoing case of Nancy Guthrie at the Pima County Sheriff’s Department in Tucson on Feb. 5, 2026. Nancy Guthrie, mother of “Today” show anchor Savannah Guthrie, is missing and was last seen the evening of Jan. 31, 2026.
Who is Chris Nanos? What to know about longtime Pima County sheriff
What was Chris Nanos known for in El Paso?
Nanos was an up-and-coming officer in the El Paso Police Department, known for saving his partner’s life and winning police boxing matches.
Nanos had wanted to be a lawyer, his father told the El Paso Times in the early 1980s. But police officers who frequented the restaurant Nanos went to after classes at the University of Texas El Paso encouraged him to take a law enforcement test, according to an interview he gave the Arizona Daily Star in 2001.
Nanos passed and became the department’s youngest officer at 20 years old in 1976, he said.
A few years later, Nanos was named 1980 Officer of the Year-Western Region by the Combined Law Enforcement Association of Texas after he saved his partner’s life in a 1979 incident.
Chris Nanos won a gold medal for boxing at the Texas Police Olympic Games in 1982.
Nanos’ work as a decoy for the El Paso police tactical squad also landed him a profile in an El Paso newspaper. He served as bait for robbers and drug dealers and was often mugged as part of his work, he said in a 1982 interview.
After hours, Nanos won a gold medal for the police boxing team.
Why was Chris Nanos forced out of the El Paso Police Department?
Despite his success in the department, Nanos resigned in lieu of termination after an argument with his supervisors in 1982.
“Insubordination” and “consistent inefficiency” were the reasons listed for his departure, according to his El Paso police internal affairs history card.
Nanos and his bosses disagreed about a patrolman’s right to confiscate fraudulent license plates, according to a story published by the El Paso Times on Aug. 5, 1982. Nanos did not believe he could take the plates.
Why was Chris Nanos suspended by El Paso police?
Nanos faced disciplinary issues for years before he ultimately resigned from the department.
The first time Nanos was placed on leave without pay, it was a one-day penalty for tardiness in March 1979. A few months later, he was suspended twice in one week for a shot fired and off-duty gambling in July 1979.
He was placed on leave without pay again in November of that year for failure to report for duty, records show.
The next time Nanos was suspended, it was a 10-day punishment for a “violation of rules and regulations” in May 1980, though records didn’t specify which rules he violated. He was placed on leave without pay or suspended for tardiness several more times.
Nanos’ longest suspension came in March 1982. He was suspended for 15 days without pay for excessive force after he was accused of injuring a robbery suspect during an arrest.
The suspect, Carlos Urias, claimed Nanos kicked him and struck him in the head. The incident landed Urias in the intensive care unit of the hospital, and he filed police assault charges against Nanos.
A grand jury declined to indict Nanos, according to news reports at the time.
Why was Chris Nanos reprimanded by El Paso police?
Nanos also received written reprimands as a young El Paso police officer.
His internal affairs card shows he received written reprimands for dereliction of duty, making threats and use of the siren on a police vehicle that violated the department’s orders. He was also sent to counseling for a violation of rules and regulations in 1982.
In total, 26 allegations were listed on Nanos’ internal affairs history card over a five-year period.
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What has Chris Nanos said about his time in El Paso?
Nanos has not said much about his work history in El Paso. He initially declined to answer The Republic’s questions.
“That’s your ‘urgent’ request? You sure you don’t want to go back to my high school and ask why I got swats from the principal? Good luck with your hit piece,” Nanos wrote in a March 9 email to The Republic.
The next day, the Pima County Sheriff’s Department announced that it had amended his public résumé after The Arizona Republic found the document misrepresented his departure from El Paso police by saying he left the department in 1984.
The sheriff’s résumé says he had a “police detective promotion” at the El Paso Police Department, though records obtained by The Republic do not indicate he was a detective.
The sheriff did not respond to follow-up questions March 10. Instead, he gave an interview about The Republic’s reporting to local Tucson television station KVOA. Nanos said he’s proud of his colorful past, which included wrecking five patrol cars.
“When you wreck five patrol cars in a period of six years, you’re probably not going to make your bosses too happy. When you show up late to briefings, you’re probably going to get in trouble. It’s what shaped me throughout my career — not just the experiences I had then, but growing up through all of it. In 40 years here in Pima County, I don’t think I’ve had any discipline,” Nanos said.
Where did Nanos go after he left the El Paso Police Department?
It was unclear what Nanos did immediately after he resigned from the El Paso Police Department.
Two years later, in 1984, Nanos took a job as a corrections officer with the Pima County Sheriff’s Department, some 320 miles away in Arizona. It was a step down from his previous role as a police officer.
Nanos worked his way up the Sheriff’s Department ranks for decades. When former Democratic Sheriff Clarence Dupnik retired years later, in 2015, the Pima County Board of Supervisors appointed Nanos to replace him.
Nanos, a Democrat, lost his first sheriff bid in 2016. He ran again and won in 2020. He was narrowly reelected in a bitter 2024 race.
Stephanie Murray covers national politics and the Trump administration for The Arizona Republic and azcentral.com. She also co-hosts “The Gaggle,” The Republic’s weekly politics podcast. Reach her via email at stephanie.murray@usatodayco.com and on social media @stephanie_murr.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Arizona sheriff Nanos is leading Guthrie search. What his past reveals