David Stringer

I was born and raised in Anchorage, Alaska, and educated in the local public schools. My Dad was a typical small town lawyer who was active in the community. I was raised with an appreciation for public service and civic engagement and a sense of the importance of paying back for the advantages I enjoyed growing up. I’m sure that’s part of the reason why later on as an attorney I was drawn to re

presenting indigents and disadvantaged clients caught up in the criminal justice system and why I have always accepted cases important to the communities where I’ve lived, often on a pro bono basis. My upbringing also explains why I have sought public office, as a member of the state legislature, and as a candidate for County Attorney. After college, I landed a good job with the federal government, moved to Baltimore and enrolled at the University of Baltimore Law School. It was a tough regimen for four years, working full time in DC and keeping up with my courses. I worked in DC but lived in Baltimore. I never cared much for the culture of Washington DC. Too many careerists and operators. Baltimore seemed more real to me with its working class culture and down to earth people who actually made things instead of Washington bureaucrats pushing paper and going to meetings all day. In 1985, I left the government and became an attorney in private practice, specializing in real estate, tax law, and trial work. I also took on a lot of criminal cases which became a regular part of my law practice. I didn’t like to turn people away. Over the next twenty-five years I handled over a thousand criminal cases, countless hearings and over 200 jury trials. In 1991 I earned a CPA license in Maryland and was admitted to the Maryland Bar in 1992. In 2004 I was admitted to the Arizona Bar. I retain these Bar memberships to this day. In 2005 I bought a home and business in Prescott -- the old Comfort Inn on White Spar Road -- and settled here full time in 2010. I became active in Republican politics and led campaigns against tax initiatives with the Citizens Tax Committee and others beginning in 2013. I am a political conservative and a Constitutionalist. I oppose high taxes and government overreach. My highest political value is freedom. In 2016 I was elected to the Arizona Legislature and reelected in 2018, with the second highest vote count in the state for a House seat. In the legislature, my signature issue was criminal justice reform. Arizona has the 4th highest incarceration rate in the country and some of the toughest criminal laws anywhere. And Yavapai County has a higher incarceration rate than the state average. We contribute a disproportionate share of inmates to our crowded state prison system. Overzealous prosecution comes at a huge cost to taxpayers. In Yavapai County we over incarcerate so many low level, non-violent offenders that we are now faced with footing the bill for a new jail. This year county taxpayers have already seen the first in a series of projected property tax increases to build a jail the voters turned down in 2014. Yavapai County is a laggard in criminal justice reform. Twelve of Arizona’s fifteen counties have Veterans’ Courts to screen meritorious cases at intake. They have been successful everywhere they’ve been tried. But in Yavapai County, the County Attorney’s Office opposes a Veterans' Court. Nor do we have a formal diversion program for first time offenders. Over the last decade, court systems across the country have established Community Courts, Domestic Violence Courts, and Mental Health Courts to address the social factors that lead otherwise good people into contact with the criminal justice system. These innovations have proven effective in keeping people out of jail, avoiding the stigma of criminal conviction, and saving taxpayer dollars. Yavapai County is a laggard in these areas. Expanding treatment and diversion opportunities for low level, non-violent offenders will make room for violent predators like MS-13, those who have flaunted our country’s immigration laws and are here illegally, and free up the needed funds to make real improvements in public safety.