A bi-partisan majority of Arizona’s 15 elected county attorneys have asked Gov. Katie Hobbs to rescind her recent Executive Order that seeks to strip each county’s top prosecutor of their ability to review abortion-related cases.
Twelve county attorneys signed the July 3 letter expressing their opposition to Hobbs’ EO 2023-11, which rescinds the authority of county attorneys to prosecute matters related to abortion. Hobbs then unilaterally granted that authority to Attorney General Kris Mayes.
It is an action the county attorneys describe as a “dangerous precedent and suggests that any Arizona governor can order the attorney general to assume all duties related to an entire category of criminal prosecution and, by consequence, prohibit local prosecutors from acting.”
The signers are: Cochise County Attorney Brian McIntyre (R), Coconino County Attorney William Ring (D), Gila County Attorney Bradley Beauchamp (R), Graham County Attorney Scott Bennett (R), Greenlee County Attorney Scott Adams (IND), Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell (R), Mohave County Attorney Matt Smith (R), Navajo County Attorney Brad Carlyon (D), Pinal County Attorney Kent Volkmer (R), Santa Cruz County Attorney George Silva (D), Yavapai County Attorney Dennis McGrane (R), and Yuma County Attorney Jon Smith (D).
Not signing are Apache County Attorney Michael B. Whiting (D), Pima County Attorney Laura Conover (D), and La Paz County Attorney Tony Rogers (D).
According to Corinne Murdock of AZFREE News, in addition to strengthening control over abortion prosecutions, Hobbs’ EO 2023-11 “directed state agencies to not assist in investigations relating to those who provide, assist, seek, or obtain abortions; banned compliance with other states’ extradition requests for those who provided, assisted, sought, or received an abortion where illegal; and established an advisory council to formulate strategy on expanding abortion access.”
The county attorneys’ July 3 letter reads:
Governor Hobbs:
Since statehood, it has been status quo in Arizona that the duty and discretion to conduct criminal prosecutions for public offenses rests with county attorneys unless a statute specifically provides otherwise. As county attorneys, each of us exercises such discretion daily. The governor’s office should not interfere with the discretion of prosecutors in fulfilling their duties as elected officials. Executive Order 2023-11, however, is a sweeping attempt to do just that. Whether this was the intended purpose, the result is an unnecessary and unjustified impingement on the duties and obligations of elected county attorneys in Arizona.
Executive Order 2023-11 sets a dangerous precedent and suggests that any Arizona governor can order the attorney general to assume all duties related to an entire category of criminal prosecution and, by consequence, prohibit local prosecutors from acting. This is contrary to A.R.S. § 41-193(A)(2) which only relates to existing, individual cases and not whole categories of crimes and (A)(5) which only permits the governor’s office to direct the attorney general to assist county prosecutors.
This executive order results in an exercise of authority not vested in the governor’s office. It is a substantial overreach to suggest the governor may strip away prosecutorial discretion from local, elected officials.
We ask that you rescind the usurpation of the rightful decisions of elected prosecutors by rescinding Section 1 of Executive Order 2023-11 and Section 2 insofar as it would limit access to criminal history records or crime lab support no later than July 7, 2023.
Finally, we write to confirm that “State Agency,” as used in Executive Order 2023- 11 does not include any county-level government officers and agencies. Please confirm our understanding no later than July 7, 2023.