On April 10, 2012, Thomas was disbarred by a disciplinary panel of the Arizona State Supreme Court for his actions as county attorney.
[5] Thomas ran for Maricopa County Attorney in 2004 on a platform of seeking tougher sentences for violent criminals and stopping illegal immigration.
[14] [15] During his time in office, he lobbied for and helped pass legislative bills targeting identity theft, human smuggling, control of methamphetamine, crimes against unborn children and victims' rights.
[17][18] Thomas helped draft and campaigned for Proposition 100, a ballot measure aimed at denying bail to people who are in the U.S. illegally and charged with a range of felonies.
During the campaign for the ballot measure, Thomas asserted that "[f]ar too many illegal immigrants accused of serious crimes have jumped bail and slipped across the border in order to avoid justice in an Arizona courtroom."
Approved in 2006 by nearly 80% of the state's voters, the law was challenged by the ACLU in a 2008 class-action, and ruled unconstitutional by an en banc panel of the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in October, 2014.
[26] In cooperation with Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, Thomas' focus of enforcement was on the apprehension of unauthorized workers through workplace raids or through traffic inspections.
[35] Under Thomas, the Maricopa County Attorney's Office expanded their community outreach programs by sponsoring informational websites which published DUI offenders' photographs online,[36] provided news roundups pertaining to regional crime,[37] and discussed illegal immigration issues.
[39] Thomas engaged in a high-profile conflict with the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors, who are responsible for allocating funds to his office.
[40] The conflict also resulted in Arpaio investigating and Thomas obtaining multiple indictments against County Supervisors Don Stapley and Mary Rose Wilcox.
[41] Thomas originally obtained indictments on Stapley on December 2, 2008, on 118 felony and misdemeanor counts dealing primarily with financial disclosure irregularities.
[42] In an effort to mediate differences with the Board of Supervisors, Thomas transferred the case and criminal investigations to the Yavapai County Attorney's Office.
[44][45] Thomas then took the case back from the Yavapai County Attorney's office,[46] and obtained a second indictment against Stapley, on 27 similar felony and misdemeanor counts, on December 8, 2009.
[49] In January, 2011, After a ten-month review, Gila County Attorney Daisy Flores concluded there was insufficient evidence to pursue a criminal case against Wilcox.
[53][54][55][56][57] On December 1, 2009, Thomas and Arpaio announced that they "filed a federal racketeering lawsuit against the Maricopa Board of Supervisors, leading Superior Court judges [including Judge Gary Donahoe], and a private law firm shared by the Board and Court, alleging the defendants have conspired illegally to block criminal investigations and prosecutions of themselves, particularly those related to the new US$341 million Superior Court Tower and Supervisor Donald Stapley Jr."[58][59] On December 9, 2009, Thomas held a press conference to announce that he had filed criminal charges against Judge Donahoe on three felony counts: bribery, obstructing a criminal investigation, and hindering prosecution.
4) his duty to provide confidential, uncompromised legal advice to members of the [Maricopa County Board of Supervisors]... on matters pertaining to the indictment [referring to Mary Rose Wilcox].
Based on the ruling by Judge Leonardo, Thomas, through his assistant, requested that the grand jury return the case to his office, to be forwarded to a special prosecutor.
One of Thomas' own prosecutors had explained to the jury during orientation that to "end the inquiry" meant "the case is so bad, there's no further evidence that could be brought to you folks.
"[69][70][71] Phoenix New Times reporter Ray Stern noted that, despite multiple press conferences and a complete set of grand jury transcripts, there is no record of Thomas having presented any evidence of bribery by Donahoe.
[73][74] In August 2012, the DOJ announced it was ending its investigation of Arpaio and Thomas and that no indictments would be issued, stating that they "do not believe the allegations presented to us are prosecutable as crimes.
[78] Thomas also posted a call to reform the State Bar of Arizona on the Maricopa County Attorney web site.
[83] The investigative report was provided to a judge appointed by the Arizona Supreme Court, who made the decision to move forward with disciplinary recommendations against Thomas.
Evidence thus far adduced portrays a reckless, four-year campaign of corruption and power abuse by respondent as a public official, undertaken at enormous and mostly wasteful cost to the taxpayers...
[94] According to the panel, Thomas "outrageously exploited power, flagrantly fostered fear, and disgracefully misused the law" while serving as Maricopa County Attorney.
In May, 2014, Thomas filed nominating petitions to be placed on the Republican ballot as a candidate for Arizona Governor in the August 26, 2014 primary election.
[102] Thomas received 8.1% of the Republican primary votes, losing to Doug Ducey in a six-way election that shattered Arizona spending records.