Arizona Republican lawmakers filed a complaint on Monday requesting an investigation by the attorney general into Yuma County for using taxpayer funds to enter a contract they say violates state law.
Yuma County is seeking better broadband services, and the county’s supervisors selected a Nebraska-based telecommunications company called ALLO to provide them.
The agreement is the subject of an ongoing lawsuit filed by two other telecommunications companies that were not selected for the project. WANRack and Gila Electronics each filed suit in Yuma County Superior Court, and those suits are now a single consolidated case.
The project will cost several million dollars of taxpayer dollars.
Six state lawmakers filed an SB 1487 request for Attorney General Kris Mayes to investigate whether Yuma County violated state law by entering an agreement with an unlicensed contractor.
“[W]e cannot ignore Yuma County’s apparent disregard of Arizona law and the lack of oversight and accountability surrounding this critical project,” the lawmakers said in a statement.
Under these types of complaints, if Mayes’ report determines the county violated the law, a portion of the county’s funding will be withheld if the problem isn’t “cured” within 30 days.
The supervisors did not respond to a request for comment.
