Do you know who the current Maricopa County Recorder is? You may be wrong. It’s all because of the language of the Arizona Constitution.

Republican Justin Heap defeated Democrat Tim Stringham in the November election. And under normal circumstances, county elected officials are sworn in on the first Monday of the new year.

In fact, Mr. Heap assumed his new role on Monday afternoon.

But it’s not that simple.

Mr. Heap was elected to the Mesa State Assembly in 2022. And the Arizona Constitution states that members “are not eligible to hold any other office or to be employed by the state, county, or city during the term of their election.” ”

Lawmakers legally remain in office until their successors are sworn in, which won’t happen until noon on January 13.

The purpose of this provision, at least in part, is to prevent state legislators from creating some new position in government and then leaving their $24,000-a-year jobs as legislators for higher-paying positions. be. Heap and his colleagues did not create a new county recorder position, which is still not authorized to be employed by the county.

So who is the recorder now?

Richa said it was him.

He was first elected as a member of record in 2020, but lost to Heap in last year’s Republican primary. Under normal circumstances, county employees’ terms expire in the first week of the year. But the Arizona Constitution has a provision that covers that. The article states that the terms of office of all elected or appointed officers “shall extend until the election and qualification of their successors.”

And if Mr. Heap is not yet qualified as recorder, Mr. Richer will remain in the position for another week.

Richer, an attorney, told Capitol Media Services that this is his view of how the constitutional provision works. More importantly, he said, that’s the advice he got from the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office.

A spokesperson for the firm confirmed that the advice had been given.

But Heap, who is also an attorney, said he got independent advice from lawyers for the Arizona House of Representatives. He said he was then told that his term as a councilman was ending on Monday, meaning he was free to assume his new position as the county’s 31st recorder.

A House of Commons spokesperson confirmed that such advice had been given.

Richer said he saw no reason to object to the move. In fact, anticipating that Mr. Heap would soon claim the office, Mr. Richer said he removed all his belongings last Friday in case he was locked out of his office.

Anyway, he said he is preparing to teach at Harvard Law School next year.

However, the issue of the length of parliamentary terms is by no means new.

For example, in 1980, state Rep. Arnold Jeffers, then a Tucson Republican, was elected Pima County Assessor.

However, Jeffers, like all other elected county officials, was not sworn in on the first Monday of 1981. Instead, he was told he would have to wait a week because technically he was still a member of Congress until his successor was sworn in.

In fact, Jeffers said, given the wording of the constitutional provision, even if he resigned, it wouldn’t make a difference. He was still serving his elected term.

As such, Steve Emmeline remained as appraiser for another week.

Mr. Heap’s interpretation of the state representative’s term, which ends on the first Monday in January, raises an interesting question. So if all the members are currently out of office and the new members won’t be sworn in until January 13th, is there a problem? Can we ask the state legislature this week if we need to?

“Virtually that’s not the case,” Heap said, but that makes it “the best week of the year for Arizonans.”