PAYSON, Ariz – The Honorable Tao Etpison, chief judge of the Tonto Apache Tribal Court announced his decision to resign, which was effective March 19. This decision is due to Etpison’s current ongoing commitment to the San Carlos Apache Tribe as an elected councilman. Etpison also previously served as a judiciary for the Yavapai-Apache Nation. In an effort to serve a more full-time and more local judge for the Tonto Apache Tribal Court, Etpison agreed to a resignation.
Etpison has worked hard to build the Tonto Apache Tribal Court. Eight years ago when he accepted the judgeship, the court was run out of a little house on a part-time basis and the clerk was handling all responsibilities including the judicial functions. Etpison converted this provisional court into a modern court of law recognized everywhere. Etpison, who is a San Carlos Apache tribal member, speaks the Apache language. His great-grandfather, the late Jacob Allen and late great-grandmother Sarah Chapman, were from the Tonto Apache Tribe. This background motivated him to improve and modernize the Tonto Apache judicial branch. Today the Tonto Apache Tribal Court is a modern courthouse with an appellate division and probation department.
Etpison first became associated with the Tonto Apache Tribe in November 2000 as a prosecutor. In March 2001, he was promoted to chief judge of the tribal court.
