By Staff Reporter |

Maricopa County Board of Supervisors sustained a loss in their ongoing court struggle against the recorder on Wednesday.

The Maricopa County Superior Court denied the board’s request to open up discovery based on the testimony they forced County Recorder Justin Heap to give last month. Judge Scott Blaney said the supervisors acted well outside of the proper proceedings and had attempted to influence the court.

“The Court further finds that the Court’s initial fear — that the Board of Supervisors was using its extra-judicial subpoenas in part to influence these proceedings — was well founded. The Court will not allow this gamesmanship to interfere with or jeopardize the integrity of these proceedings,” said Blaney. “Even if Defendants’ request actually constituted a proper use of the rule (it does not), the Court would still not reward such shenanigans by allowing this extrajudicial ‘evidence’ to taint the record in this case. The matter has already been taken under advisement for final determination.”

The supervisors forced Heap to testify last month on account of his allegedly “lying to the public,” among other very public accusations.

“He has been unreliable. He has been unprofessional. He has been untruthful. He has been unaccountable,” stated a press release from the board. “The Board cannot responsibly set a budget, make policy decisions, or oversee county operations, including an active election in Tempe right now, without complete and truthful information from Mr. Heap.” 

That compelled testimony also required Heap to provide a massive report to the board on his office’s work within a week. Heap said during his testimony that it contained “thousands of pages of documents.” 

Blaney also criticized the board’s decision to subpoena the recorder’s staff based on their court testimony.

“[The board] instead required witnesses to appear in front of the Board, under oath, in front of a hostile party and not a neutral arbiter, and without the protection of the rules of evidence,” said Blaney. “Upon learning of the Board’s compelled, extra-judicial discovery, the Court became concerned that the Board had issued the subpoenas in retaliation for the witnesses’ testimony at this Court’s evidentiary hearing and further, that the Board issued the extra-judicial subpoenas to improperly influence these proceedings.”

The court issued a temporary restraining order at Heap’s request that quashed the subpoenas. Heap accused the board of intimidating his staff in order to “unduly influence” the court ruling. 

Based on this latest ruling, the board’s approach to any influence over the court seems unlikely. 

The final ruling in the case between the recorder and board of supervisors could determine the balance of duties between the two. Heap is pushing for a complete restoration of the election duties his office lost under the Shared Services Agreement (SSA) put in place in the waning months of his predecessor and former supervisors.

The supervisors and recorder are presently at odds over plans to establish early voting locations. Supervisor Mark Stewart, who has expressed slightly more support for Heap than his fellow supervisors, said that the parties were nearing a resolution over this latest rift. 

“Regardless of the back-and-forth or expressed frustrations from the Recorder’s office and the Board Chair, we are making progress and working together. It may not be perfect, but it is happening,” said Stewart.

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