Contributed article
SAFFORD — Graham County Attorney, L. Scott Bennett, was awarded the Michael C. Cudahy Criminal Justice Award on June 26 by the Arizona State Bar at its annual convention.
Established in March 2006, the Michael C. Cudahy Criminal Justice Award recognizes a criminal law prosecutor who has worked tirelessly to advance the principles of criminal justice by representing the public’s interest with integrity, fairness, tenacity, creativity, brilliance and, above all, professionalism. The award is presented annually to one prosecutor selected by the Arizona State Bar’s Selection Committee.
Bennett, who after a decade of service as the chief deputy, was elected Graham County Attorney in 2020, upon the retirement of his predecessor. He was re-elected in 2024.
In addition to his responsibilities as County Attorney, Bennett serves as the chair of the Arizona Prosecuting Attorneys Advisory Counsel and was elected by his fellow County Attorneys as Arizona’s delegate and board member to the National District Attorneys Association.
Bennett has been recognized in the past when he was awarded the State of Arizona Felony Prosecutor of the Year Award in 2017. Bennett is the first recipient of the Michael C. Cudahy award from Graham County, and one of very few recipients practicing in a rural county to be recognized.
At the award luncheon in Tucson, Bennett addressed the convention, thanking them for the honor and expressing his gratitude for the trust Graham County has placed in him.
“I love being a prosecutor,” Bennett said. “(W)hat I am grateful to do today is to be able to help people (and being) entrusted with the discretion to look at the individual and make the determination as to whether or not that this is a good person that had a bad day, and we can best serve by helping them, or its someone we need to put away.”
Elizabeth Ortiz, executive director of APAAC, nominated Bennett. In her nomination letter to the bar, Ortiz said, “Scott is more than a lawyer. Scott represents justice and he models what it means to be a positive member of society. Scott shows up for victims, trying challenging homicide and sexual assault cases. He shows up for his team, and Scott shows up for the greater community.”
Ortiz’s nomination packet included letters of support from Ammon Barker, Coconino County Attorney; William Ring, recipient of the 2024 Michael C. Cudahy award and chief civil deputy, Coconino County; Michael Tunink, chief criminal deputy, Coconino County; Nelson Bunn, executive director of The National District Attorneys Association; Brad Carlyon, Navajo County Attorney; Dr. David Hess, M.D., trustee and immediate past president of the Jewish Community Foundation of Greater Prescott; Nicholas Klingermann, Criminal Division chief counsel for the Office of the Arizona Attorney General; and Luis Santaella, Scottsdale City Attorney.
