The Phoenix Business Journal created some buzz yesterday with an online story that Sen. Russell Pearce, R-Mesa, is being considered by Gov. Jan Brewer to be the next director of the state Department of Public Safety. Pearce told KFYI radio talk show host J.D. Hayworth that he hadn’t spoken with Brewer about an appointment, but he would “seriously consider it.”

Pearce technically would be qualified to run DPS, considering his stellar career as a sheriff’s deputy and as the former director of the Motor Vehicle Division. But I’m surprised Pearce, as a former justice of the peace and an experienced lawmaker, failed to remember that he’s legally barred from the appointment.

The Arizona Constitution — Article 4, Part 2, Section 5 — says no lawmaker can take another public office until his or her current term expires. The only exceptions are for school teachers and school board members. The specific wording means the prohibition still applies even if a lawmaker resigns from office before trying to take another government job.

So, Pearce couldn’t become DPS director until January 2011 at the earliest. The six-year term of the current director, Roger Vanderpool, expires in three months. Brewer isn’t going to wait a year to bring Pearce on board, even if she presumed she would win the November 2010 election.

Just for confirmation, the Arizona Guardian reached a similar conclusion this morning in its “Guardian Angel” column.