Prescott AZ (February 5, 2020) – Yavapai County Attorney Sheila Polk has been awarded the Outstanding Arizona Elected Official of the Year by the Arizona Rural Health Association (AzRHA). The award was presented to Polk at the 2020 Rural & Public Health Policy Conference on February 4, 2020 at the State Capitol.
“I am so honored by this award,” said Polk. “In my position as County Attorney, I have been able to work collaboratively with many local health organizations on crucial prevention measures that help keep people out of our county jail.”
The Arizona Rural Health Association was established in 1994 as a not-for-profit group that advocates for rural healthcare functions and programs and serves as a primary rural resource to elected officials and policy makers. The award was presented to Polk for her “leadership, dedication, commitment, and support in collaborating with rural health constituencies to advance policy that increases access to quality affordable health care for rural Arizonans.”
Leslie Horton, Director of Yavapai County Community Health Services, stated, “I can’t imagine a more deserving person of this award. We are blessed in Yavapai County to have an elected official who is passionate about protecting the populations we serve, who goes above and beyond in every way possible, and who is an exceptional leader. We are all very proud and thankful for County Attorney Polk.”
Polk serves as an executive board member for the Yavapai Mental Health Coalition, a group dedicated to decriminalizing mental illness and connecting individuals in the criminal justice system to needed behavioral health services. Polk also chairs MATFORCE, the Yavapai County Substance Abuse Coalition, and the Governor’s Arizona Substance Abuse Partnership. She is a native Arizonan who received both her bachelor’s and law degrees from Arizona State University and is now in her 20th year as the Yavapai County Attorney. Over the span of her career, Polk clerked at the Arizona Supreme Court, and served in the Arizona Attorney General’s Office for eleven years before joining the Yavapai County Attorney’s Office in 1994.
“I am a firm believer in partnering with the community for better outcomes,” said Polk. “It is clear that when we work together to share data, ideas and vision, we make the county a better place for everyone.”