Allegations of long-simmering political feud mark constable race

Rep. Ben Miranda, Constable Jimmie Munoz, Sr.

Rep. Ben Miranda is known for not only passing laws as a legislator, but also practicing law as an attorney.

But if Miranda is successful in winning the election for constable of the South Mountain precinct, he’ll have to quit his 26-year law career. State law prohibits constables — a judicial post that dates to Arizona’s territorial days — from practicing law.

One of Miranda’s political rivals in the three-way Democratic constable race — Constable Jimmie Munoz, Sr. — is leveling allegations that Miranda has no intention of fulfilling the constable post or leaving his law practice. Munoz, who is seeking his third term as constable, said Miranda is trying to “spoil the vote” because of a long-simmering rivalry between the pair.

“His motivation is to see me not win. That’s all it is,” Munoz said. “I think he is trying to water down the vote. That’s my feeling.”

Munoz said he worked on Miranda’s unsuccessful campaigns for the Legislature in the 1990s but the pair had a falling out. He declined to give specifics as to the nature of their disagreements.

Munoz also said he believes Miranda’s grudge is going beyond their personal feud. Munoz alleges that Miranda is supporting his wife, Catherine, to succeed his House District 16 seat because Munoz’s son, Jimmie Munoz, Jr., also is running to represent the district.

Miranda has served four terms in the House and cannot run again due to term limits.

The men have other ties: Munoz, Sr.’s wife, Norma, and Munoz, Jr., serve on the Roosevelt School District Board with Catherine Miranda. Ben Miranda also served on the Roosevelt School District Board, and his seat was succeeded by Munoz, Jr., in 2007.

Miranda told the Arizona Capitol Times that if elected he indeed plans to stop practicing law — even giving up a high-profile case where he is the Arizona attorney representing the Latino clergy group that filed suit against S1070, the state’s strict new immigration law.

Miranda said his work at his law firm, Miranda Ramirez & Associates, is now almost exclusively pro-bono, or free services, to his largely Hispanic clientele. Giving up his law practice would not be a huge financial hit, he said.

When asked if there was political bad blood between he and Munoz, Miranda would only say that constable was an “appropriate” position to seek, adding that he did not want to challenge Sen. Leah Landrum Taylor or Justice of the Peace Cody Williams in his district because they are good friends.

“I looked for a position that was appropriate, and this was the one that came up,” Miranda said.

But he said his chief motivation to run for constable is to bolster his state retirement benefit. Making a salary of up to $60,000 as a constable would boost his retirement income with the state, he said. As a legislator, he makes $24,000 annually, and state retirement benefits weigh a state employee’s annual salary for the last three years of employment.

“$60,000 is a lot more than $24,000. I want to build on my retirement plan,” he said. “Times are tough, and I really would like to see an opportunity sometime in the future to retire.”

He said he figures he would retire with an estimated $50,000 salary after serving a four-year term as constable. “I think I can survive on $50,000 if I had some kind of health coverage out there from the Obama people,” he said.

Miranda also said he wants to be involved with some sort of foreclosure reform as a constable. The positions are responsible for serving a variety of documents to the public, from orders of protection to jury summons to eviction notices, but he said he wasn’t sure how he could affect foreclosure change as a constable.

Munoz filed a May 18 complaint with the Maricopa County Elections Department, alleging that Miranda was not eligible to run as constable because he is a lawyer. The office’s legal counsel said it reviewed the complaint but determined Miranda could run for office, but that he couldn’t practice law if he was elected.

“Our interpretation, according to legal counsel, is that he can run for office,” said Yvonne Reed, county elections spokeswoman. “He can’t hold the office and still be a practicing attorney.”

Munoz said he believes Miranda is being disingenuous with voters because of a bill Miranda authored last session that sought to lift restrictions on constables and allow them to practice law.

H2726 never made it out of the House Judiciary Committee, where Miranda was a member.

“He had been planning this for a long time,” Munoz said.

Miranda said he believes there was nothing wrong with proposing to change the law to lift restrictions on constables.

“There are prohibitions right now on holding a legislative position and working for the government, working as a teacher or working in a number of positions. If someone proposed a law to allow them to do that, I can understand that,” Miranda said. “You can probably read your own Capitol Times and go back and see how people try to pass a law with intended benefits to them.”

Miranda and Munoz also are running against challenger Lincoln Brevard, Jr. The primary election is Aug. 24. There are no Republican challengers, so the winner of the primary will be the next constable.