Howard Fisher
Capitol Media Services

PHOENIX — Arizona Senator Wendy Rogers has asked a Flagstaff magistrate to issue an order barring Arizona Capitol Times reporter Camryn Sanchez from coming near his home.

The order, issued by Amy Criddle on Wednesday and appearing in Sanchez on Thursday, came after Rogers pleaded with a judge that Sanchez had gone to two homes, Tempe and Chandler. and confirmed reports that Rogers was living at one of two other locations in Flagstaff, not at the address she claimed.

Rogers told the judge that he had previously told Sanchez to stay away from her in the Senate, at her request.

A spokeswoman for Senate Speaker Warren Petersen told Capitol Media Service that a House sergeant had approved telling Sanchez to stay away from Rogers on the Senate floor. Quintero said Petersen has no intention of restricting reporters’ activities or revoking the privileges they currently have for being on the Senate floor.

However, she did admit that Petersen was the one who suggested asking Rogers for an injunction.

Armed with what she said was doorbell camera footage, Rogers asked Criddle to keep Sanchez away from her whenever and wherever.

However, the judge only barred Sanchez from going to the senator’s home, though the order does not specify the residence to which it applies.

Rogers, a retired Air Force Lt. Col., released a statement late Thursday confirming that she has two homes in the Phoenix area. But Rogers also said he didn’t know Sanchez personally, and that she “doesn’t know what she can do.”

Rogers said one of the three doorbell camera photos he posted online was apparently taken after dark, adding: “A sane person took me at night uninvited. I don’t think I’ll show up at his house,” he said. Which house was both outside her legislative district where the photo was taken?

And Petersen issued a statement late Thursday that could essentially be read as calling on other lawmakers approached by reporters outside the Senate to seek similar court orders. Announced.

“Everyone has the right to privacy in their private residence without worrying about reporters repeatedly appearing unannounced,” he said.

According to the newspaper, Sanchez will find out if Rogers lives in a mobile home on West Historical Route 66, the address listed in the nomination documents, or if he actually lives at one of the other two addresses. It followed a search of public property records showing that Rogers and her husband had purchased a house in Chandler in January and had signed a trust document stating that she lives in Tempe.

The sprawling district stretches from Williams through parts of Flagstaff, east through Snowflake, and south through Payson, Miami, and Apache Junction to San Manuel.

Sanchez went to Chandler and Tempe’s residence and tried to talk to neighbors to find out at which address Rogers lived, according to the paper. The paper also said it wanted to ask Rogers why the title of the document she signed stated that she lived in Tempe.

Owning multiple residences does not violate any state election law or certify that you do not live where the legislator is listed. Instead, courts routinely rely on legislators’ statements of their “intentions.”

In filing her nomination papers, Rogers said last year that she had been a resident of the district for six years. It is stipulated that you must be an eligible voter.

Aside from the requirement to reside in a district, the question of where legislators actually live also has financial implications.

Under state law, lawmakers living in Maricopa County are entitled to receive $35 each day the legislature is in session. This includes weekends and holidays.

However, employees in the other 14 counties will receive an allowance equal to the amount listed by the Federal Office of General Services for travel expenses for federal employees visiting Maricopa County. This is currently $151 a day for lodging plus $69 a day for meals and incidentals.

Rogers is seeking reimbursement for out-of-county charges, according to the Capitol Times.

Reporters have been able to stand on the Senate floor for years.
They are not allowed to hang out during the session, but are free to approach the senators before and after the session. At the same time, lawmakers could always refuse to respond. This is what Rogers has repeatedly done to multiple reporters.

Last year, Rogers was denounced in a Senate vote, 24-3, for “behaving unbecoming a senator.”

Specifically, it included “publicly publishing and promoting social media and video messages that promote violence and punishment against American citizens.”

But the resolution also refers to her last-ditch efforts to avoid censure, with then-Senate Majority Leader Rick Gray threatening “political destruction” of those who disagree with her views. You mentioned a Twitter post.

In a speech on the floor, Rogers lashed out, calling the action an attack on her First Amendment rights.

“I don’t apologize,” she said.

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Twitter: @azcapmedia