COCHISE COUNTY, Ariz. (KGUN) — Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes says her office is filing a lawsuit against Cochise County for its recent move to assign election duties to its County recorder David Stevens.
The vote came in late February, about a month after Lisa Marra resigned from her role as the county's Elections Director.
"While counties may appropriately enter into cooperative agreements with their recorders to manage elections, Cochise County's agreement steps far over the legal line," Mayes said in a statement.
"In addition to this broad transfer of power, I am deeply concerned this move might shield or obscure actions and deliberations the Board would typically conduct publicly under open meeting law," Mayes continued.
Prior to the Board's 2-1 approval of assigning elections duties to Stevens, Mayes had warned the county about the legality of the reassignment of duties.
County recorders, who are elected partisan officials, already have a role in state elections—registering voters, distributing ballots and verifying signatures. Election duties such as counting the ballots fall under the scope of non-partisan, non-elected elections directors.
Marra's resignation followed a series of contentious elections events in Cochise County, including the board's order of a full ballot hand count—a move that was ultimately blocked in court, and ruled as an overstep of the board's legal boundaries.
It's a part of recent history mentioned in the legal filing:
"This is not the first time that Defendants have disregarded the law governing elections.
The Board and Recorder repeatedly flouted the law with respect to the November 2022 general election, first by attempting to engage in an illegal hand count of ballots and then by the Board violating its duty to canvass the election within the statutory time frame.
In both cases, the Board and Recorder ceased their unlawful conduct only after a court ordered them to do so."
Before proceeding with the vote to assign elections duties to Stevens in February, Supervisor Ann English—the sole 'no' vote—voiced concern, saying "I think we are acting in an inappropriate and ill-advised way."
Supervisors Peggy Judd and Tom Crosby voted yes.
"Suing other public officials is not something I take lightly–but it is my job as Attorney General to bring action when public officials unlawfully exercise their power or act outside the confines of their authority," Mayes said.
KGUN 9 has reached out to Cochise County officials for a reaction to the lawsuit, and will update this article once they respond.
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Anne Simmons is the digital executive producer for KGUN 9. Anne got her start in television while still a student at the University of Arizona. Before joining KGUN, she managed multiple public access television stations in the Bay Area and has worked as a video producer in the non-profit sector. Share your story ideas and important issues with Anne by emailing anne.simmons@kgun9.com or by connecting on Instagram, Twitter or LinkedIn.
