AZ attorney general investigates Cochise County for possible open meeting law violations

The Arizona attorney general continues to receive complaints about Cochise County officials allegedly violating the state's open meeting law, despite an ongoing investigation into previous allegations of these violations.

Although the office of the Arizona attorney general has sent two letters this year notifying the Cochise County Board of Supervisors of their possible violations, complaints keep coming, according to the most recent letter from Attorney General Kris Mayes to the board dated July 31.

“The evidence reviewed to date strongly suggests that certain board members have violated the Open Meeting Law on several occasions dating back more than a year," Mayes said in the letter. “Troublingly, despite these pending investigations, my office has continued to receive complaints of additional and ongoing violations.”

The state's open meeting law states that all public body meetings shall be public meetings, allowing people to attend and hear the deliberations. It also states that notice and agendas be provided as well as any information required to inform the public of the matters to be discussed.

Other conflicts: Attorney general sues Cochise County for handing over election control to recorder

County was previously warned about violations

However, according to one of the attorney general’s previous letters to the board, complaints alleged that two of the supervisors met privately in November and discussed legal actions without public notice. The allegations accuse Supervisors Tom Crosby and Peggy Judd, who constitute a quorum, or the minimum number of people needed to hold a public meeting, of discussing legal actions.

They eventually filed a lawsuit in their official capacities against former Elections Director Lisa Marra. The complaints also allege they retained Attorney Bryan Blehm to represent them in the lawsuit without a public meeting, and they met later to withdraw the lawsuit.

Complaints also alleged that in April and July 2022, Crosby discussed topics and asked questions outside the scope of the meeting's agenda despite warnings from a deputy county attorney of potential open meeting law violations.

In a letter from March, the Attorney General’s Office found additional possible violations. One included a work session in February when Crosby asked for a vote, contrary to the board’s legal counsel’s advice, as no such action had been posted on the agenda.

In another possible violation, the board discussed an agreement with the Cochise County Recorder for Election Services but referred to different versions of the draft agreement that had not been posted to the public. According to the letter, Supervisor Ann English brought up this issue to the board.

In the most recent letter to the board, the Attorney General’s Office said that continuing to disregard the open meeting law could be used as evidence of knowing violations intended to “deprive the public of information.”

The letter stated this could result in being removed from office if found guilty.

“I will pursue all penalties authorized by law for such misconduct, up to and including “’remov(al of) the public officer from office’ if appropriate,” Mayes said in the letter.

List of legal issues for Cochise County keeps growing

This is not the first time the board has been in legal trouble. In March, the Attorney General’s Office sued Cochise County officials for consolidating election duties in the county recorder, which was eventually rejected by a judge.

That same month, Congressman Raúl Grijalva wrote a letter asking the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate Cochise County’s new election management policy in regard to granting almost all election duties to the county recorder.

The board was also sued by a group to stop the county from hand-counting all the ballots in the November general election. The board voted to hand count the ballots despite warnings of legal consequences. The effort was blocked by a judge, and an appeal of the decision was shot down when the Arizona Supreme Court declined to accept the county’s request.

Reach the reporter at sarah.lapidus@gannett.com. The Republic’s coverage of southern Arizona is funded, in part, with a grant from Report for America. Support Arizona news coverage with a tax deductible donation at supportjournalism.azcentral.com.

Donate | Report for America

Support local journalism in communities nationwide. Give today.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Arizona attorney general investigates Cochise County over meetings