Original Article Christina Leonard The Arizona Republic Dec. 15, 2004 12:00 AM The Maricopa County Attorney's Office spent more than $44,000 to print its annual report this year. It's gold-embossed. It has glossy pages and foldouts. And it features 20 full-color photos of outgoing County Attorney Rick Romley. The 46-page, taxpayer-funded report dwarfs others put out by the county. In fact, many of the county's other large departments, including the Integrated Health System, Sheriff's Office and Superior Court, don't print annual reports. Special Assistant County Attorney Barnett Lotstein defended the report and said the office didn't put out an annual report last year in anticipation of this year's effort. "You would expect an office with our power to produce a nice report," he said. "We don't do shoddy work." Sen. Bill Brotherton, D-Phoenix, called the report a "taxpayer-funded campaign piece." "It wasn't really an annual report," Brotherton said. "It's more along the lines of a taxpayer-paid 'Rick Romley: This is your life.' "It obviously was aimed at enhancing his future political ambitions," Brotherton said of Romley, who is reported to be contemplating a run for governor against incumbent Democrat Janet Napolitano in 2006. Lotstein said the report was written and designed in-house. But the office had to pay about $3.50 apiece to print 12,500 copies. Lotstein could not provide printing costs for the 2002 report for comparison. Each report cost an additional $3.11 to mail. Lotstein said he could not determine the mailing costs. The report, called "Focus on Excellence," highlights programs and high-profile cases during Romley's 16 years in office. It includes photos of Romley during news conferences, with his family and even one taken during his tour of duty in Vietnam. Romley wasn't available for comment on Tuesday afternoon. But Lotstein said his boss is proud of the report and feels "it's incumbent to report to the public what we do in the office." About 7,000 copies have been distributed to citizens, law enforcement officials, legislators and the media. Supervisor Mary Rose Wilcox, who had not read the report by Tuesday afternoon, was taken off guard by the price tag. "Let's just say Rick maybe had a lot to report," she said. "I'm kind of surprised because he's usually pretty frugal." Reach the reporter at christina.leonard@arizonarepublic.com.