Only one member of the Cochise County Oversight Board was in court today over a lawsuit filed by Arizona Attorney General Chris Mays, and the agreement between the board and the county registrar to oversee the electoral division has been broken. held to be illegal.

Santa Cruz County Judge Thomas Fink ruled on the basis of statute and expediency, and the venue of the proceedings was moved to Pima County.

Arizona Attorney General Joshua Bender said the attorney general plans to file a preliminary injunction and hopes it will be decided before the special election in Cochise County on May 16. As mentioned, this change will come on a tight deadline. A half-cent excise tax to fund the new Cochise County Jail.

Democratic superintendent Anne English said her colleagues, Republican superintendents Tom Crosby and Peggy Judd, and Cochise County registrar David Stevens, did not attend Wednesday’s hearing, and the court said the was the only board member to attend the

Bendor originally filed a motion to move the seat of the lawsuit from Cochise County to Maricopa County.

Bendor claimed the status. Law Procedures must be performed at the most convenient location. He pointed out that attorneys for both the plaintiff and the defendant are based in Maricopa County.

Bender also said that because the case is focused on legal issues, it is likely that there will be no jury trial and no witnesses.

Timothy La Sota, the supervisor’s attorney, argued that the venue should be either Santa Cruz or Pima County because he believes travel should be minimized.

La Sota said he believes the case should be heard in Santa Cruz County. Bendor objected, pointing out that the lawsuit was a state issue, not a local one.

“It’s more than local importance,” Bender said at a hearing on Wednesday. “It’s electoral honesty.”

La Sota countered Bendor, stressing the local significance of the case, citing the presence of six local residents in the court and media representatives.

La Sota is a Phoenix-based attorney specializing in land use, election law, lobbying and licensing.

His next court appearance in Pima County is now awaited, but that has yet to be decided. Counsel for both plaintiffs and defendants have agreed to submit briefing schedules to the court by Friday, March 31.

Background

On February 28, the Cochise County Board of Supervisors voted 2-1 to approve the agreement with the county registrar. Crosby and Judd voted in favor, but English voted against.

This triggered a lawsuit filed on March 7 by Arizona Attorney General Mays, in which the board reached an agreement with Republican county registrar David Stevens that “Gives Cochise County registrar It is intended to give the Cochise County Registrar substantially all electoral powers and duties.” Statutes of the Cochise County Board of Supervisors.

The attorney general argued that the agreement illegally extended the powers of the county registrar and that the board also illegally handed over statutory election duties to the registrar, according to the filing.

If the agreement is reached, the authority to appoint election officials under the county registrar will be given. The contract states that any appointment must be approved by the Board of Directors.

Cochise County Administrator Richard Karwatzka said at a special meeting on Valentine’s Day that the administration and administrative functions of the election had been delegated to county administrators by the Board of Oversight prior to the drafting and approval of the agreement.

The agreement, which is pending legal action, transfers control over the electoral division from the County Administrator, a bipartisan county official appointed by the Board of Oversight.