Andrew Thomas (Associated Press Photo)

Some Valley media types and critics of Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas keep asking what he’s going to do with a investigative referral today from county Elections Director Karen Osborne, who said in writing there’s probable cause that a ranking member of the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office has violated state campaign finance laws.

But those critics are being silly. Thomas doesn’t have to do a thing, because state Attorney General Terry Goddard already is on the case.

There’s long, torturous story behind Capt. Joel Fox and the SCA, a previously anonymous collection of donors that have become connected to Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s re-election campaign in 2008. The Tribune covered some of the facts behind the case earlier this year, but the Phoenix New Times has provided the most thorough coverage, if somewhat slanted against Fox and the sheriff’s office. The case boils down to this:

In 2006, Fox set up a private, unregistered group to gather funds for some type of publicity to defend the sheriff’s office from what Fox calls unfair criticism. But Fox never actually spent those funds. Then in 2008, Fox gave $105,000 to the state Republican Party, which Fox said was because the donors wanted the money put to some purpose and he didn’t know what else to do with it. Fox says he never told the Republican Party how to use the cash.

But the state Democratic Party claimed the SCA donation was used to fund a pair of campaign ads against Thomas and Apraio that were sponsored by a GOP-created political action committee. The Republican Party also denied any connection, but returned the $105,000 to SCA after Fox refused to disclose who donated to his group.

Both state and the county election officials determined that whatever Fox’s original intent, his group became a political action committee when it made a political contribution. Fox fought the county for months, but finally turned over SCA records to avoid a $315,000 fine. Meanwhile, Goddard’s office quietly served a search warrant in March also looking for SCA records. That search warrant was only recently revealed and was unsealed Monday.

Osborne said today that the records and donor checks point to specific violations of state law, such as donations offered to a political party that are “earmarked” to help a specific candidate.

Once an election official determines there’s probable cause a campaign violation exists, the case is turned over to the relevant state or county prosecutor, who then decides whether to actually impose a fine or to seek criminal sanctions. Osborne has turned the Fox case over to Thomas’ office.

But Thomas doesn’t have to do anything. If he’s smart, Thomas will sit on the case and await the outcome of the separate Goddard investigation. When questioned about it, Thomas might even argue that’s a good use of taxpayer resources. Why should two levels of government be investigating the same person for possible violations of the same set of statutes?

Any political fallout would land on Goddard’s shoulders, and Thomas doesn’t have to risk angering Arpaio or his top lieutenants as Thomas considers running for attorney general next year.