Conservative former Maricopa County Assessor Paul Petersen has developed kidney disease in prison. It was first diagnosed as stage 2 a few months ago, but has now progressed to stage 3b, which is generally irreversible. His family told The Arizona Sun Times that the 49-year-old lawyer, who previously chaired the Arizona Chapter of the International Association of Assessing Officers, where he was beloved, is on a catheter and has a painful blockage in his intestines, but despite serving five years in prison already, where he qualified for a halfway house, has not been released.
Petersen is serving time in prison related to his work helping mothers from the Marshallese Islands adopt their children out to American parents.
Tom Freestone, a longtime respected politician in Arizona who served as a judge, in the Arizona Legislature, and 10 years on the Pardon and Parole Board (later known as the Board of Executive Clemency), told The Sun Times that Petersen, who has no prior criminal history, is a “safe release” so should not remain imprisoned but released to home arrest.
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