Leadership Team
Tom Cole, Director, Arizona Registrar of Contractors
Tom Cole has served in government since 1994. With expertise in fire department/EMS operations and logistics, he led the design of new fire stations and apparatus, and led the men and women of two busy Arizona fire departments as Chief of Operations, Emergency Medical Services, and Personnel. His career centers on building construction, safety, and customer service knowledge.
Cole was Chair of the Arizona Department of Homeland Security Central Regional Advisory Council, appointed by Governor Ducey, and currently serves as a Planning Commissioner for the City of Glendale. Tom holds an Associate's degree in applied science from Glendale Community College and a Bachelor of Science from Columbia Southern University. He is a Certified Public Manager as designated by Arizona State University and a state Certified Fire Inspector II.
Tom is an Arizona native and fan of the Suns, Diamondbacks and the Arizona Cardinals. He and his lovely wife of over 35 years (retired police Sgt.) Jackie, enjoy spending free time in Prescott. Together they have three great kids and two amazing grandchildren.
In October 2023, Governor Katie Hobbs selected Cole to lead the Arizona Registrar of Contractors.
Cindy Casaus, Assistant Director, Operations | Chief of Communications | Agency Ombudsman
Cindy Casaus serves as the Assistant Director of Operations for the Arizona Registrar of Contractors. Cindy joined AZ ROC in 2018 as the Chief Financial Officer and Operations Services Manager and took on the role of Chief of Operations and Communications in July 2021. In February 2023 she was promoted to Assistant Director of Operations and as of July 2023 is the AZ ROC Interim Director; the first woman in Agency history to assume this role.
In addition to overseeing the Agency's operations, outreach, communications and financial operations, Cindy serves as the Agency Ombudsman. Prior to joining the AZ ROC, Cindy served in leadership roles at the Greater Phoenix Chamber, the foremost member-driven business association in Arizona and a privately owned critical power and data center design and build company based in Arizona.
A third generation Arizonan, Cindy earned a B.S. in Accountancy from the Arizona State University W.P. Carey School of Business and resides in Ahwatukee with her husband David and daughter Adeline.
For media inquiries, please email Media@roc.az.gov.
Jeff Wills, Chief of Investigations
Jeff Wills began his construction career in 1999 working as a third-party inspector for Motorola at their Chandler, AZ location within their clean room and fabrication facilities. A short time later, he moved on to Intel Corporation inspecting clean room stainless steel piping and connections for microchip production.
In 2001, Chief Wills went to work for a large national homebuilder in the Phoenix-area as a Warranty Customer Service Representative and within a few years he was afforded the opportunity to supervise the customer service department as the Director of Warranty Customer Service.
In 2005, he was asked to oversee the warranty customer service department and their JD Power rating system of a competing national homebuilder. As with many in the industry, though, due to the economic downturn during that time, he was forced to change gears and in Oct. 2007 Chief Wills went to work for AZ ROC as an Inspector. While there, he performed numerous jobsite inspections as well as working on other projects within the agency. In Dec. 2012, he was promoted to Assistant Chief of Inspections supervising 18 Construction Inspectors statewide.
In late-summer 2013, Chief Wills returned to the national homebuilding scene accepting the position of Special Projects Construction Manager. In this position, he oversaw and managed class action lawsuit repairs, difficult construction situations and day-to-day homeowner and contractor interaction.
Knowing Chief Wills' public and private experience, he was asked to return to AZ ROC to serve as the Chief of Compliance in March 2015. In this position, Chief Wills and his staff are tasked with ensuring all licensed contractors are performing work in a professional and workmanlike manner; adhering to the rules and regulations set forth by the State of Arizona. Chief Wills and his staff also ensure unlicensed entities operating outside of statute and state law are penalized and cited within the boundaries of Contracting Without a License.
Contact ROC Unlicensed Investigations staff at ComplianceDepartmentULE@roc.az.gov.
Contact ROC Construction Investigations staff at ComplianceDepartmentLic@roc.az.gov.
Chance Peterson, General Counsel
Chance received his JD in 2014 from the ASU Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law, where he was Senior Articles Editor for Jurimetrics - The Journal of Law, Science, and Technology, and received a Certificate in Law and Sustainability. As a law student, he interned with the Arizona Attorney General’s Office and the Maricopa County Office of the Public Defender. Upon graduating from law school, Chance was an associate attorney at the ASU Alumni Law Group, and owned his own practice focusing on civil and consumer law.
Chance was born and raised in Phoenix, but has lived, worked and studied in Costa Rica, Australia, Italy, and South Korea. He also worked for Habitat for Humanity in New Orleans, building homes in areas affected by Hurricane Katrina. After returning to Phoenix in 2011, he taught high school physics and chemistry before starting law school.
Julie Pickerill, Chief of Licensing
Julie Pickerill has over 20 years of leadership experience she gained through the running of several small businesses.
After joining the AZ ROC in January 2016 as a Customer Service Representative II, Julie quickly worked her way up the ranks until she was promoted to the Chief of Licensing position in April 2019. Julie enjoys problem solving, process improvement and is committed to providing exceptional customer service.
Julie grew up in a small town in Nebraska and attended the University of Nebraska, Lincoln. She spent 30 years in Northern California before moving to Arizona by way of Oregon.
Contact ROC Licensing staff at Licensing@roc.az.gov.
Anthony Jacovino, Chief Information Officer
Anthony Jacovino joined AZ ROC in 2018 as the Information Technology Manager and Senior Project Manager and was promoted to the position of Chief Information Officer in 2021.
He started his public service career in 2010 as an IT Technician for the Department of Economic Security where he gained a broad array of experience leading improvements in project management, systems transformation and modernization, digitization, cloud implementation, and the migration of multiple legacy programs to newer, more efficient and robust systems.
Born and raised in Las Vegas, Nevada, Mr. Jacovino moved to Arizona in 2006 where he earned a Bachelor of Science in Biology from Northern Arizona University in 2010 and a Master of Arts in Applied Ethics and the Professions from Arizona State University in 2011. He also graduated from the University of Arizona Southwest Leadership Program in 2020 with training in government leadership and driving growth.
Laura Hunter, Human Resources Manager
Laura Hunter joined AZ ROC in August of 2013 and serves as the Human Resources Manager.
Ms. Hunter has a Bachelor's Degree in Business Management and Organizational Behavior from Brigham Young University and a Masters of Business Administration from Colorado State University. During her education, Ms. Hunter received numerous leadership designations including four Diamond Service Awards, the Bank of America Award, Business Student of the Year and three Scheid Writing Contest Awards.
Ms. Hunter has a strong background in public and private sector human resources. She began her career working for several private sector agricultural companies doing HR support and analyst duties. On a whim, Ms. Hunter took a college course on public sector human resources and knew this was the right fit for her. Since that time, Ms. Hunter has worked in human resources at both the county and state government levels.
In her current position, Ms. Hunter manages all HR functions for the agency including recruitment, compensation, employee relations and strategic HR planning. Ms. Hunter maintains a Professional in Human Resources (PHR) certification and a Society for Human Resources Management Certified Professional (SHRM-CP) certification.