Arizona Supreme Court Delivers Crushing Blow to Maricopa Board of Supervisors

The Arizona Supreme Court on Tuesday delivered a crushing blow to the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors when it ended a Court of Appeals stay and reinstated a superior court’s injunctions, with modifications, that returned election-administration responsibilities of the county’s elections back to the County Recorder, Justin Heap.

The Arizona Supreme Court vacated the Court of Appeals stay from June and reinstated with modifications the “superior court injunctions governing the allocation of election-administration responsibilities between the Maricopa County Recorder and the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors.”

According to the Supreme Court’s News Release:

The dispute concerns which county office has authority to perform election duties that Arizona statutes
assign to “the county recorder or other officer in charge of elections.” Maricopa County Recorder Justin
Heap argued that those duties belong to the Recorder or to an officer designated by the Recorder. The
Board of Supervisors argued that its budget and administrative authority permitted it to assign those
functions to a Board-appointed elections director.

The Court concluded that the Recorder is likely to prevail on the statutory-interpretation issue. Relying on
Arizona precedent, the Court explained that a county board of supervisors may not use its funding authority
to assume or reassign statutory responsibilities entrusted to an independently elected county officer. The
Court reaffirmed that the Board has a nondiscretionary duty to fund necessary expenses of the Recorder
and may not use budgetary control to displace duties assigned by law to the Recorder or an officer acting
under the Recorder’s authority.

The Court also addressed election-timing concerns. The Court recognized that courts should exercise
caution before altering election procedures close to an election, particularly when early voting for the 2026
Primary Election is underway. But it concluded that those concerns do not replace Arizona’s stay analysis
or determine which official has legal authority under Arizona law.

To minimize disruption, the Court reinstated the superior court injunctions as modified by the Recorder’s
12-point interim operational protocol. Those temporary procedures are intended to preserve continuity in
the ongoing Primary Election while the appeal proceeds. The Court stated that either party may seek further
interim modifications from the Court of Appeals.

BREAKING: Arizona Supreme Court Delivers Monumental Victory for Election Integrity & Maricopa County Recorder Justin Heap

Maricopa County Recorder Justin Heap has issued a statement in response to today’s unanimous decision by the Arizona Supreme Court. Read the full statement… pic.twitter.com/GvSSgrzVfF

— Maricopa County Recorder’s Office (@RecordersOffice) July 8, 2026

The case originated from events in October 2024 when the previous Recorder, Stephen Richer, entered into an agreement with the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors (BOS) that shifted certain election duties away from the Recorder’s office and gave them to the BOS.

The agreement was unanimous and gave the Board control over early ballot processing, including the appointment of a bipartisan board responsible for overseeing the early voting process.  The agreement also centralized election-related information technology (IT) functions, as well as the $5 million budget associated with the IT service.

As reported by The Gateway Pundit, an Arizona Superior Court judge handed the Recorder’s Office a decisive victory and redirected those authorities back to the Recorder’s Office, including direct custody and control of the IT staff, servers, databases, software, websites, and equipment.  The court also enjoined the BOS from exercising any other election functions delegated by the Legislature to the Recorder.

Big Win! Maricopa Superior Court Judge Orders Board of Supervisors to Restore Key Election Functions to Recorder’s Office