Yavapai County Attorney Sheila Polk Will Kick off this Year’s Prosecutorial Ethics in Real Life Lecture Series
Polk became the first woman to be elected to the position of Yavapai County Attorney in 2000.
Yavapai County Attorney Sheila Polk will kick off the second iteration of the University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law’s Prosecutorial Ethics in Real Life lecture series on November 16, 2022. The Prosecutorial Ethics in Real Life series is part of an ongoing effort at Arizona Law to create a national forum for discussion of critical and timely ethical issues in criminal prosecution.
Polk became the first woman to be elected to the position of Yavapai County Attorney in 2000. During her time as the county’s top prosecutor, she led the prosecution of James Ray, the self-help author whose makeshift sweat lodge near Sedona led to the deaths of three people in 2009. She is also known for her role as a key witness in the State Bar Disciplinary Proceedings that resulted in the disbarment of former Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas.
Polk will discuss highlights and inside stories from her career as a prosecutor in Arizona with a question-and-answer portion directly following.
When: Nov. 16, 2022, 12:00 to 1:30 PM MST
Where: Lecture will be delivered in person at James E. Rogers College of Law, 1201 East Speedway, Tucson, AZ 85721, Room 164
Who may attend: This event is free and open to the public.
About Sheila Polk
Sheila Polk was the lead prosecutor in the criminal trial against James Ray, a self-help guru who was found responsible for the deaths of three of his followers, and a key witness in the State Bar Disciplinary Proceedings that resulted in the disbarment of former Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas. Ms. Polk has been at the forefront of change. She is the driving stimulus behind the nationally renowned law-enforcement course, What You Do Matters: Lessons from the Holocaust, and was recognized by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2018 as an “agent of change.” Ms. Polk also serves as faculty with the AG Alliance, a cooperative initiative to strengthen the legal system in Mexico, chairs the Arizona Prosecuting Attorneys’ Advisory Council (APAAC) and the Governor’s Substance Abuse Partnership, and is vice-chair for the Arizona Criminal Justice Commission. She is Chair and founding member of MATFORCE, the Yavapai County substance abuse coalition.
About Prosecutorial Ethics in Real Life
The Prosecutorial Ethics in Real Life series, part of University of Arizona Law’s Program for Criminal Law and Policy, is an ongoing effort at University of Arizona Law to create a national forum for discussion of critical and timely ethical issues in criminal prosecution.