Summit Awards

Past Summit Award Winners

The 2021 AACo Summit Award winners were announced at the Friday (Nov. 12) breakfast at the Annual Conference. These unique awards recognize the innovative and creative spirit of Arizona county governments as they find new and effective ways of providing services to their citizens.

The 2021 winners are as follows:

Summit Award in Civic Engagement & Public Information - Yavapai County Recorder’s Office for Protecting Public Records with Eagle Fraud Guard Software

Summit Award in Criminal Justice & Public Safety - Cochise County Attorney’s Office for the Giving Recovery a Chance Program

Summit Award in Elections & Voter Registration -Yavapai County Recorder’s Office for Virtual “I Voted” Stickers for Uniformed and Overseas Voters

Summit Award in Libraries - Yavapai County Free Library District for the Yavapai Events Services Program

Summit Award in Information Technology - Pinal County Treasurer’s Office for the Pinal County Property Tax Mobile App

Summit Award in County Administration, Finance, & Management - Mohave County Assessor’s Office for Valuing Deep Water Wells

Summit Award in Youth & Education - Santa Cruz County School Superintendent’s Office for the Near-Peer Mentorship Program

Summit Award in Community & Economic Development - Gila County for Explore the Wild: Discover Gila County

Summit Award in Court Administration & Management - Dependent Children’s Division of the Administrative Office of the Courts for the Arizona Supreme Court for Promoting Quality Representation for Children and Parents

Summit Award in Health - Santa Cruz County School Superintendent’s Office for Innovative Collaboration Combating the COVID-19 Pandemic

Merit Awards Winners are as follows:

Public-Private Partnership Merit Award - Gila County for their Partnership with Razor Thin Media for Explore the Wild: Discover Gila County

Suburban Innovation Merit Award - Pinal County Treasurer’s Office for the Design of Easy and Simple Software for the Public Pinal County Property Tax Mobile App

Innovation of the Year Merit Award - to Mohave County Assessor’s Office for Creating a Cutting-Edge Model Utilized in Deep Water Wells Valuation

The 2020 Summit Awards were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The 2019 winners are as follows: 

Summit Award in Civic Engagement & Public Information - Yavapai County Recorder’s Office for the Records Management and Research Center

Summit Award in Criminal Justice & Public Safety - Yuma County Adult Probation Department for the "You Put What in a Probation Department?" program

Summit Award in Elections & Voter Registration - Yavapai County Recorder’s Office for the Follow Your Ballot Tour

Summit Award in Libraries - Cochise County Library District for the One County, One Card program

Summit Award in Information Technology - Pinal County Treasurer’s Office for the Smartphone Technology Access to Tax Information project

Summit Award in County Administration - Maricopa County Assessor’s Office for Project Green Line

Merit Award Winners are as follows:

Public-Private Partnership Merit Award - Yuma County Adult Probation Department for their Partnership with The Arizona Complete Health and Community Health Associates for the "You Put What in a Probation Department?" program

Urban Innovation Merit Award - Maricopa County Assessor’s Office utilizing Lean and Six Sigma methodologies to improve efficiency with Project Green Line

Innovation of the Year Merit Award - Pinal County Treasurer’s Office for their cutting edge and value-added approach utilizing QR codes to read tax notices with the Smartphone Technology Access to Tax Information project

The 2018 winners are as follows: 

Summit Award in Civic Engagement & Public Information - Mohave County for their dual training between the Recorder and Assessors Office

Summit Award in Youth & Education - Apache County for their Legacy Teen Centers

Summit Award in Criminal Justice & Public Safety - Coconino County Sheriff’s Office for their response to the mental health crisis

Summit Award in Election & Voter Registration - Yavapai County Recorder’s Office for their temporarily away voters program

Summit Award in Health - Pinal County for their Cupanion campaign

Summit Award in Information Technology - Coconino County Sheriff’s Office for their improve communication and education for inmates program

Merit Award Winners are as follows:

Innovation of the Year Merit Award - Apache County for offering teens a safe environment for social gatherings, educational opportunities, and personal skill building with the Legacy Teen Centers!

The 2017 Summit Award winners are as follows: 

Summit Award in Civic Engagement & Public Information - Coconino County for Combined County Outreach, Education, and Remote Services

Summit Award in Criminal Justice & Public Safety - Maricopa County for the Maricopa County Video Appearance Center

Summit Award in Community & Economic Development - Cochise County for the Horseshoe Draw Erosion Control Project

Summit Award in Employment & Training - Coconino County for the Professional Development Academies 

Summit Award in County Administration, Finance & Management - Maricopa County Treasurer’s Office for the Customer First Initiative

Summit Award in Court Administration & Management - Coconino County for the AZCourtHelp Program

Summit Award in Health - Navajo County for the Navajo County Public Health Services District Vaccination Program

Merit Award Winners are as follows: 

Public-Private Partnership Merit Award - Cochise County for the Horseshoe Draw Erosion Control Project

Suburban Innovation Merit Award - Coconino County for the Professional Development Academies

Urban Innovation Merit Award - Maricopa County for the Maricopa County Video Appearance Center

Rural Innovation Merit Award - Navajo County for the Navajo County Public Health Services District Vaccination Program

Innovation of the Year Merit Award - Coconino County for their creative use of Webinar Technology to bridge the gap between the courts and the people with their AZCourtHelp Program

The 2016 Summit Award winners are as follows: 

Summit Award in Civic Engagement & Public Information - Cochise County for the Cochise County Legacy Project

Summit Award in Court Administration & Management - Coconino County for the Justice 2035 Strategic Planning Forum

Summit Award in Employment & Training - Yuma County, presented to William Anthony Holzer and Stanley Bracher for development of an in-house training program for Appraisal Data Collection Specialists

Summit Award in Criminal Justice & Public Safety - Maricopa County Attorney’s Office for their Children’s Room

Summit Award in Libraries - Yuma County Library District for Look Up, Yuma County!

Summit Award in Community & Economic Development - Coconino County for their Schultz Community Recovery Project

Summit Award in Youth & Education - Santa Cruz County for their College & Career Readiness Educational Opportunities Project

Summit Award in Information Technology - Yuma County for their GIS: Animal Services Case Management Project

Summit Award in County Administration, Finance & Management - Maricopa County for their Residential Desktop Review Recanvassing Program

Merit Award Winners are as follows:

Public-Private Partnership Merit Award - Yuma County for their partnership with The Research and Education Collaborative Occultation Network promoting the public library astronomy program, Look Up, Yuma County!

Suburban Innovation Merit Award- Yuma County, presented to William Anthony Holzer and Stanley Bratcher for development of an in-house training program for Appraisal Data Collection Specialists

Innovation of the Year Merit Award, sponsored by the Arizona Lottery - Santa Cruz County for their cutting edge and cost-effective approach in providing STEM Career Pathways with their College & Career Readiness Educational Opportunities Project!

The 2015 Summit Award winners are as follows:

Summit Award in Youth & Education - Yavapai County for the Milestones Project 

Summit Award for Youth & Education - Maricopa County - MCESA for STEM Pro Live! 

Summit Award for Court Administration & Management - Maricopa County Clerk of Superior Court for Juvenile Court-2-Court Program 

Summit Award for Community & Economic Development - Coconino County for Listening to Customers: One Stop Permitting Shop 

Summit Award for Employment & Training - Coconino County for Developing Organizational Talent Via DOT Program 

Summit Award for County Administration, Finance & Management - Navajo County for County Tax Deeded Land Sales Go Worldwide 

Summit Award for Health - Yuma County for Improving Employee Health Through Manual Therapy 

Summit Award for Information Technology - Maricopa County Assessor’s Office for ATLAS: Innovation Driven Results 

Summit Award for Information Technology - Maricopa County Treasurer’s Office for Intelligent Barcode Mailing Initiative 

Summit Award for Criminal Justice & Public Safety - Pima County Attorney’s Office for Courthouse Dogs Program 

Merit Award Winners are as follows: 

Winners of the Innovation of the Year Award - Maricopa County School Superintendent Dr. Don Covey and the MCESA Staff  

Rural Innovation Award - Yavapai County for Multi-Department Cooperation to Prevent School Violence with their Milestones Project 

Innovation of the Year - Maricopa County MCESA for Their Cutting Edge and Cost-Effective Approach in Bringing High Level Math and Science Courses to Rural and Underserved Areas with STEM Pro Live!