In November, Brandi Bateman, executive assistant to Yavapai County Supervisor District 3 Randy Garrison, was charged by Yavapai County Attorney Sheila Polk with three felonies related to a letter she had sent to the Arizona Attorney General’s Office when she was employed as an administrative assistant in the Mingus Union High School District.
In February 2018, Bateman signed a letter to the AG’s office on behalf of Mingus’ then- Superintendent Penny Hargrove, without Hargrove’s permission or knowledge, leading to Bateman receiving one criminal charge of taking identity of another and two charges of tampering with a public record.
Bateman entered into a plea agreement with the Coconino County prosecutor’s office [which took over the case to avoid a conflict of interest for Yavapai County], resulting in her sentencing on Monday, May 22. In a hearing before Judge Michael Bluff, Bateman was given 18 months probation along with a $750 fine, plus other court fees and 50 hours of community service. Restitution to the Mingus Union High School District remains open, up to $1 million.
According to MUHSD board president Lori Drake, the board has not yet discussed whether they intend to seek restitution.
At the sentencing, Bateman was not convicted of a felony nor sentenced to any of the possible jail time that could have gone with her offenses.
Bateman’s attorney Jeffrey Gautreaux argued before Bluff that Bateman’s continued career in public service, as well as her lack of other similar actions, showed her value as a member of the community.
Bateman serves on the boards of the Beaver Creek School District and the Copper Canyon Fire and Medical District. Moreover, Bateman would lose her position with the county if convicted of a felony.
“Bateman made a mistake in judgment. She’s admitted to that,” Gautreaux said to the judge at the hearing. His client stood next to him, visibly shaking as her fate was decided. “But Ms. Bateman was a public servant and she continues to be a public servant. What I think achieves the objectives of our criminal justice system is for her to be on a year of probation but be able to continue to serve the public because that is what she has largely committed her life to. I don’t know that it serves an objective to take her out of that by giving her a felony, removing her from these boards.”
“I know she has learned something from this,” Gautreaux added. Bluff was sympathetic to Gautreaux’s argument and changed her conviction to a class 1 misdemeanor, though he gave her the full 18-month unsupervised probation sentence requested by the prosecution, rather than the 12 months Gautreaux argued for.
“I consider Ms. Bateman’s remorse and acceptance of responsibility,” Bluff said. “It doesn’t go past me that she was a public servant at the time of the event, but she’s remorseful and has accepted full responsibility. It leads me to decide that a felony is not appropriate in this case.”
Bateman’s fines will be paid in $80 monthly increments beginning Friday, June 1.
“I am pleased with Judge Bluff’s determination,” Bateman wrote in an email after the sentencing. “I am extremely grateful for the support from Supervisor Garrison and consider myself fortunate to be his partner for this past year and moving forward. The support from family, friends and community members has been overwhelming, I am truly blessed.”
“I appreciate that the court was able to take into account the broader implications of Ms. Bateman’s situation,” Garrison wrote in an email. “Judge Bluff was able to see this for what it was, a mistake that she fully recognized and accepted, and with this final ruling she can begin to move forward and put this matter behind her. Brandi has always been a dedicated supporter of our communities and with this matter resolved I am hopeful she will continue to fulfill her duties on both the Beaver Creek School District and the Copper Canyon Fire District boards. She takes a lot of pride in her public service and is known for her hard work, positive attitude and deep passion for making things better. Not only does this make these boards more effective, but ultimately our citizens are better served.”
Garrison had previously referred to Bateman’s prosecution as “purely a case of retribution” and said that “I think at the end of the day she’ll be found to have done the right thing.”
When questioned about his previous statements on the case, Garrison wrote in an email, “I think that the outcomes of this issue speak for themselves and I am thankful that the court and Judge Bluff [were] able to see this for what it was, a mistake. To go from three felony counts to a misdemeanor with unsupervised probation speaks to the broad overreach from not only Coconino County, but MUHS as well. There were some fundamental problems within MUHS, and this case was nothing more than misdirection.”
The letter Bateman wrote on behalf of Hargrove referred to a complaint that Bateman had made to the AG’s office claiming that the MUHSD school board had violated open meeting law. The letter Bateman wrote as Hargrove denied these accusations.
Members of the MUHSD school board expressed frustration over Bateman’s initial complaint to the AG’s office, which could have led to fines if most of the complaints were not dismissed, more than her forged letter. In the end, open meeting law complaints led to the MUHSD board having to take a remedial course on Arizona open meeting laws.
“I believe the case being plead down to a misdemeanor was appropriate for her,” Drake said of Bateman’s sentencing.“ I am disappointed that she and community members file untrue open meeting law violations with the AG’s office in an attempt to discredit the board.”
