In nearly 20 years as sheriff of Maricopa County, Joe Arpaio has honed his publicity skills, but now his penchant for public relations coups, threatens to become one of his greatest liabilities.

For six years, the self-proclaimed toughest sheriff in America has vehemently denied allegations that his deputies racially profile Latinos in his trademark immigration patrols.

Federal authorities said Wednesday that they plan to sue Arizona sheriff Joe Arpaio and his office over allegations of civil rights violations, including the racial profiling of Latinos.

The Justice Department Civil Rights Division has cut off negotiations with Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio an indication that the federal government could begin legal proceedings against the infamous law man.

Joe Arpaio, criticized by the U.S. Department of Justice for what it called discrimination against Latinos, said Thursday that he would seek a sixth term as sheriff of Maricopa County in Arizona.

An online petition calling for the resignation of a controversial sheriff in Arizona has amassed 13,500 signatures in its first two weeks, say organizers.

Judge Murray Snow issued a ruling that created a class action, giving every Latino stopped, questioned or detained by the Sheriff’s Office since January 2007 standing in the 4-year-old civil-rights lawsuit.

A Mexican woman -- a former inmate in Maricopa County, Arizona -- claims that sheriff's officers mistreated her during and after her pregnancy, including shackling her while she was in labor.

Immigration officials will no longer use controversial Sheriff Joe Arpaio's officers to screen detainees in Maricopa County prisons, the agency said Monday in a letter to U.S. Sen. Jon Kyl of Arizona. Read more: http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/news/2011/12/20/ice-replaces-arpaio-agents-to-screen-arizona-jail-inmates/#ixzz1hA3FSjt6

At a press conference held to address the Justice Department’s recent report, Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio had some harsh words for President Obama, who he called, “Obama and his merry men.”

Arizona students are not forbidden to attend community colleges and universities but they have been priced out, especially in Maricopa County. The laws imposed on them had created a practical ban on higher education for the great majority of undocumented youth.

A secret online hacker group, lulzsecurity.com, has apparently hacked into local Arizona police department files. The group has threatened to release “hundreds of private intelligence bulletins, training manuals, personal email correspondence, names, phone numbers, addresses, and passwords belonging to Arizona law enforcement.”

Records show top deputies in the office of a high-profile sheriff circulated offensive jokes about Mexicans at a time when the department faces a lawsuit alleging officers in Arizona's Maricopa County routinely racially profile immigrants during traffic stops.