Arizona State Mine Inspector

The Arizona State Mine Inspector is responsible for overseeing the safety and regulation of active and inactive mines in the state of Arizona in the United States. It is an independent, constitutionally-mandated office, elected to a four-year term. Arizona is the only state which fills this position through direct election.^[1]

State Mine Inspector of Arizona
Incumbent Paul Marsh since October 29, 2021
Residence	Phoenix, Arizona
Term length	Four years, can serve four terms
Deputy	Tim Evans
Website	Arizona State Mine Inspector

Arizona has 600 working mines and an estimated 120,000 abandoned mines.^[2] Owing to a lack of funding, the department employed just two abandoned-mine supervisors as of 2019.^[3]

Arizona House Representative Randall Friese introduced a bill in 2016 to change the position from elected to appointed. The bill failed to move out of committee.^[4]

In 2007, former inspector Douglas K. Martin was convicted of a felony conflict of interest from the illegal use of state vehicles and theft.^[5]

Former inspectors

• G. H. Bolin, Democrat, 1912–1921
• John F. White, Republican, 1921–1923
• Tom C. Foster, Democrat, 1923–1945
• Clifford J. Murdock, Democrat, 1945–1953
• Edward Massey, Democrat, 1953–1959
• R. V. Hersey, Democrat, 1959–1965
• Verne C. McCutchan, Republican, 1965–1975
• Bert C. Romero, Democrat, 1975–1976
• Verne C. McCutchan, Republican, 1976–1978
• James H. McCutchan, Republican, 1979–1990
• Douglas K. Martin, Republican, 1991–2007
• Joe Hart, Republican, 2007–2021
• Paul Marsh, Republican, 2021–