A court has ordered Maricopa County officials to participate in a settlement conference next week to determine election powers.
Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Scott Blaney issued the order in response to Recorder Justin Heap’s request for contempt sanctions against the board.
The settlement conference is scheduled for Monday, June 22. The contempt hearing will remain scheduled for Tuesday, June 30 unless the board of supervisors and recorder resolve their dispute.
In the order issued last week announcing the contempt hearing, Blaney stated that the supervisors would be required to explain their “willful, continuing, and escalating noncompliance” with his order to restore certain election responsibilities, personnel, and technology to Heap.
Heap says the board has failed to return resources to include IT personnel, servers, databases, and websites, as well as refused to authorize the use of state and federal funds.
The superior court ordered the board of supervisors to restore those resources to Heap back in April.
The board has refused to comply. They say the ruling would cause problems with the administration of the upcoming primary and general elections.
“[T]he ruling creates more confusion than clarity,” said the board. “The Board of Supervisors has purchased equipment and planned to provide tabulation of early ballots in the 2026 Primary and General Elections. However, the ruling calls into question who is responsible for overseeing and executing this option for voters.”
Instead, the board has established an independent resource page to provide “just the facts” about the ongoing lawsuit and the Shared Services Agreement (SSA) negotiations that determine the distribution of election authority between the recorder and board.
SSAs distinguish election responsibilities between the board and recorder. Heap’s predecessor, Stephen Richer, coordinated with the prior board of supervisors to reduce the recorder’s scope of responsibilities in his final months in office in 2024.
The board appealed the superior court ruling with the Arizona Court of Appeals last month.
The board maintains that it has “consistently negotiated in good faith” with Heap. Several efforts to settle on a new SSA have failed. The board claims that Heap has made inconsistent demands and “at least twice” rejected their proposed new SSAs.
Also last week, a months-old incident involving employees within the recorder’s office resurfaced following a public announcement by Heap. Heap accused the board of retaliation over a criminal investigation into two of his employees for alleged theft of election equipment. Board Chair Kate Brophy McGee accused Heap of perpetuating “a parade of falsehoods, misrepresentations and strawmen.”
The board responded that Heap’s employees had no right to remove and later return an envelope scanner from the Maricopa County Election and Tabulation Center during the Tempe Jurisdictional Election. According to the board, that equipment was replaced due to the alleged security compromise.
Heap countered that the equipment belonged to his office and was therefore under the purview of his employees. Heap claimed the board ignored the alleged incident for months and dismissed their narrative as “baseless allegations.”
🚨 UPDATE: RECORD CORRECTS THE BOARD'S MANUFACTURED SCANDAL AND MALACIOUS SLANDER.
The Board spent 3 months sitting on these baseless allegations. Then, after losing in court again and facing contempt proceedings, it launched a smear campaign against career election employees… https://t.co/FRSwQb27ml
— Maricopa County Recorder Justin Heap (@azjustinheap) June 12, 2026
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The Republican-led Arizona legislature has submitted a legislative package to Gov. Katie Hobbs that they say will further strengthen parental rights and protections for children.
Among these bills are HB 2249, which would expand on Arizona’s current parental bill of rights by requiring schools to notify and obtain written consent from parents prior to facilitating a child’s social transition of their biological gender.
Social transitioning includes the usage of preferred pronouns and provision of accommodations that align with the child’s gender identity to include access to nonbiological restrooms and locker rooms.
Additionally, SB 1095 would outlaw gender transition procedure referrals or procedures for minors, and SB 1094 would allow individuals to take a civil cause of action against physicians who perform gender reassignment surgeries on minors.
Arizona banned gender reassignment surgeries on minors in 2022, and excludes gender reassignment procedures from Medicaid coverage. SB 1095 extends that ban to medications, as in puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones.
Senate Majority Leader John Kavanagh (LD-3), who sponsored SB 1094, said in a press release last week that these latest bills were created in response to requests from parents.
“Arizona families have made clear that they want commonsense protections for children and stronger parental rights,” said Kavanagh. “This legislation ensures that parents remain involved in critical decisions impacting their children while protecting minors from irreversible procedures with lifelong consequences.”
State Sen. Janae Shamp (LD-29), sponsor of SB 1015, said regulation was necessary to ensure accountability for irreversible procedures, and that a lack of regulation would essentially subject children to political experimentation.
“Arizona children are not political experiments, and parents should never be cut out of life-altering decisions involving their own kids,” said Shamp. “For too long, activists have pushed radical gender ideology into medicine, education, and government while silencing common sense and ignoring the concerns of families. These bills draw a clear line.”
GOP lawmakers have had trouble codifying bills addressing the gender transition of minors under Hobbs. In accordance with the stance of the Democratic Party, Hobbs supports gender transitions for minors and typically spurns enacting statutory pressures on this modern social practice.
The governor has consistently vetoed bills which would impose restrictions on individuals who identify as transgender. Last year, Hobbs vetoed bills that would have prohibited amending birth certificates and driver’s licenses to reflect gender identity rather than biological gender.
Hobbs also issued an executive order her first year in office requiring state employee healthcare plans to cover gender transition surgeries. Every summer since taking office, Hobbs has flown the Pride flag above the American flag in honor of Pride month.
We dropped the Pride banner from the Executive Tower to kick off Pride Month. To our LGBTQ+ community: I will always stand up for your freedom to be who you are, love who you love and your right to live with dignity and respect. pic.twitter.com/ffO9InrjX0
— Governor Katie Hobbs (@GovernorHobbs) June 2, 2026
Hobbs’ husband, Patrick Goodman, was formerly a counselor specializing in youth gender transitions at the Phoenix Children’s Hospital.
There’s also been resistance to Arizona regulation on transgenderism from the courts. In 2023, a federal court blocked Republican lawmakers’ attempt at enacting a ban on biological males who identify as females from participating in women’s and girls’ sports, the Save Women’s Sports Act. Petersen v. Doe (formerly Doe v. Horne) is pending petition with the Supreme Court.
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Republican State Rep. Alex Kolodin (LD3) is one of two contenders vying to unseat incumbent Secretary of State Adrian Fontes.
Kolodin, a longtime election lawyer, has been in the Arizona legislature since 2023.
Kolodin has previously defeated Fontes under different circumstances.
In 2020, Kolodin won an Arizona Supreme Court case against Fontes which determined the latter, while Maricopa County Recorder, had wrongly told mail voters that crossing out votes wouldn’t spoil their ballots. That ruling allowed Arizonans to further challenge election officials on unlawful actions.
In 2024, Kolodin again defeated Fontes in court, securing a requirement for the latter to comply with duties under the National Voter Registration Act.
Earlier this year, Kolodin successfully passed an election integrity bill (HB 2022) to ensure Arizona’s election timeline aligned with federal requirements and protected military members overseas from disenfranchisement.
Kolodin also led on HCR 2001, the Arizona Secure Elections Act, which promises to strengthen voter ID requirements through an amendment to the Arizona Constitution. The measure passed the Arizona Legislature and is now headed to the statewide ballot. If approved by voters, the amendment would mandate voter ID, declare citizenship as a mandatory qualification for registering and voting in elections, ban foreign funding in elections, and limit ballot acceptance times to Election Day.
Facing off against Kolodin in the primary is former Arizona Republican Party Chair Gina Swoboda.
Kolodin and Swoboda debated last month, with PBS moderating. Both said voters desire more reasons to trust their elections: competence, transparency, reliability, and experience.
Swoboda acknowledged that many voters believe elections have been rigged in recent years, but that the state has addressed issues with the administration, Elections Procedures Manual (EPM), and equipment through legislation and court challenges.
“The way I say it is, when people say, ‘Was it stolen?’, they were stolen fair and square,” said Swoboda.
Swoboda said issues with the EPM would always exist, but that the only issues that matter are those that affect the outcome of the election.
“We just won everything that was winnable in [20]24,” said Swoboda.
Kolodin disagreed with Swoboda’s view that the issues with the elections system, namely the EPM, have been resolved. He pointed to the Pima County GOP lawsuit against Fontes which alleges that Fontes’ EPM threatens voters’ free speech.
“The voters of Arizona are ready to move forward and have an elections system that we can be proud of,” said Kolodin.
Kolodin also questioned why Swoboda continues to defend the exclusion of political party observers in the EPM. Swoboda said she was merely backing what the law was at the time.
Swoboda criticized Kolodin for his 2023 admonishment by the State Bar of Arizona. Kolodin was punished for participating in lawsuits challenging the 2020 election.
Kolodin defended mail-in voting as the right of Arizona voters, and said that his efforts in the legislature have been to make that voting method more secure.
“Arizonans love our mail-in voting. Most Arizonans use mail-in voting, and nobody is coming to take that away,” said Kolodin.
Similarly, Swoboda said that Arizona has used mail-in voting for a while and does it well, and indicated that Arizona has further to go to secure the voting method against potential fraud.
The two contended whether the ballot referral under HCR2001 would “crush” mail-in voting. Kolodin claimed Swoboda was “misleading” voters on the referral, which he said was measures to improve the security of mail-in voting. Swoboda claimed the county recorders stand opposed to the referral.
“The voters of Arizona are the only stakeholders that I care about,” replied Kolodin.
Kolodin said it was “extremely important” to boost voter participation, especially in rural areas. However, Swoboda said it wouldn’t be her job as the secretary of state to ensure voter turnout was high.
In closing statements, Kolodin said his focus was on restoring public perception of integrity in Arizona’s elections.
“What the voters have been waiting for is elections that we can be proud of again,” said Kolodin.
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For more than 50 years, 89-year-old Robert Young has owned the historic Louis Emerson House. He was married on its front steps, and to him it is a priceless vestige of pre-statehood Arizona.
But Arizona State University (ASU) intends to force Young to put a price on his memories and Arizona history. ASU wants to build a new headquarters for ASU Health and a new AI-driven medical school, and Young’s home is in their way.
The Louis Emerson House predates Arizona’s statehood by a decade. It was built in 1902, and has a historic designation with the Phoenix Historic Property Register. Clark Churchill — adjutant general and attorney general for the territory of Arizona in the late 1800s — developed the property in 1888. Much of this history was recovered by Young, who told 12News that he’s spent much of his 50 years as the house’s owner preserving its history.
“I would describe it as being one of a kind, because Clark Churchill decided that he was going to have an important connection with a street railway right here; it was called the ‘Brill edition,’” said Young.
The home’s namesake, Louis Emerson, was a butcher with Phoenix’s Palace Meat Market. Emerson lived in the home with his wife, Clara, until his death in the 1920s. Clara remained there until the early 1930s. That’s what Young told the Arizona Republic in a 2013 feature on his home, along with his belief that at least two others may have lived there prior to the Emersons.
ASU has offered Young about $800,000 to sell, but Young denied. Young has said he may be open to an offer that could cover the costs to have the house relocated, which he said would cost between $2 million and $3 million.
“You can’t get back history,” Young told the State Press. “You can’t recreate a historical treasure.”
Following Young’s refusal, the Arizona Board of Regents (ABOR) filed an eminent domain lawsuit with the Maricopa County Superior Court to force Young to take the money.
ASU said in a statement that they issued several offers to Young based on an “experienced, state-certified appraiser,” some of which included options for moving the home, but didn’t offer further details.
The city of Phoenix has invested $50 million into the ASU Health development, though city officials have said in statements to the media that ASU’s proposal to them didn’t include Young’s house.
ASU Health will span 200,000 square feet and house the John Shufeldt School of Medicine and Engineering, which the university says is “a new kind of medical school” teaching the prioritization of data in medical decision-making, and blending medicine with engineering, technologies such as artificial intelligence, and humanities.
ASU plans to open ASU Health in the fall of 2028.
Over 3,700 community members have signed an online petition to save Young’s home as of this report, endorsed by Preserve Phoenix, city of Phoenix’s Historic Preservation Office, and Phoenix Historic Neighborhoods Coalition.
A hearing on the fate of the Louis Emerson House is scheduled for June 19.
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A bipartisan bill aimed at expanding Arizona’s emergency medical workforce has been sent to Gov. Katie Hobbs for consideration.
SB 1235, sponsored by Senate Majority Leader John Kavanagh, passed both chambers with bipartisan support.
The legislation didn’t receive unanimous support from Kavanagh’s party, however. 13 Republicans (three in the state senate, 10 in the state house) voted against the bill. There were no floor or committee discussions on the bill to explain opposition.
SB 1235 would enter Arizona into the Emergency Medical Services Personnel Licensure Interstate Compact, which would allow non-Arizona emergency medical service (EMS) personnel the privilege to practice in Arizona, and Arizona EMS personnel the privilege to practice across state lines in compact states without a requirement to engage in the licensure process for each state.
25 states have adopted the compact, representing approximately 400,000 providers: Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Delaware, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wyoming.
If approved by the governor, Arizona would agree to standardized EMS licensure requirements and oversight by the Interstate Commission for EMS Personnel Practice.
Any state or states in which an EMS worker maintains active licensure would become a home state or home states. Privilege to practice would only extend to “remote” states: those states where an EMS worker doesn’t have a license. The state license trumps the privilege to practice, and the compact can’t expand the scope of an existing license.
Remote states may investigate and impose restrictions for violations of laws and regulations, but ultimately the compact only allows home states to retain control over an individual’s license. If one state suspends an individual’s privilege to practice, that automatically extends to all other member states until resolved.
The compact would also require FBI-compliant background checks for new licenses.
Kavanagh said during the Senate committee hearing on the bill that the legislation afforded something similar to the reciprocity enjoyed currently by doctors and nurses. Reciprocity requires applications for licenses in other states based on an individual’s existing license, while the compact doesn’t require licensure for other states.
Kavanagh also shared that he was one of the country’s first EMTs at 17 years old while living in New York City. At the time, communities funded their own volunteer ambulance corps.
Among those who signed on in support of the bill were representatives of the Department of Defense, Arizona Ambulance Association, American Medical Response, Healthcare Innovations, and Republican Liberty Caucus of Arizona.
In a press release, Kavanagh said the bill allowed for the reduction of bureaucracy in order to save lives in emergency medical situations. Further, Kavanagh said the legislation would enhance licensure opportunities for military members, veterans, and their spouses.
“When seconds matter, government red tape should never stand in the way of qualified emergency medical professionals helping people in need,” said Kavanagh. “By cutting unnecessary barriers without lowering standards, Arizona is taking a responsible step toward a stronger, more flexible, and more prepared emergency medical system.”
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