Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs’ and Attorney General Kris Mayes’ offices came to an agreement on law enforcement funding on Friday, after heated exchanges on the issue.
The offices entered an interagency service agreement to ensure several law enforcement agencies will have enough funding after $10 million was swept out of the Anti-Racketeering Revolving Fund in the recently passed state budget.
The Attorney General’s Office administers that fund.
Mayes vocally questioned Hobbs for sweeping the funds from her office and notified law enforcement agencies that the Attorney General’s Office would have to reduce their funds as a result.
Hobbs' office criticized Mayes for her letter.
Hobbs’ office said in a response letter to law enforcement on June 28 that providing alternative funding was always the plan.
The governor is releasing American Rescue Plan Act, known as ARPA, money to fund law enforcement. ARPA funds were granted to states for COVID-19 relief.
Hobbs’ and Mayes’ agreement states that COVID-19 has resulted in “revenue loss” for Arizona, including “less available funding for the anti-racketeering activities permitted to be funded from the ARRF,” tying the pandemic to the fund.
“We did communicate that, and it was not on us, the confusion,” Hobbs said Monday.
“We would respectfully disagree with that assessment. And if this was always the plan, it certainly wasn't communicated to our office,” Mayes spokesperson Richie Talyor said in a text.
He added that if it was always the plan, it should've been made clear during the budget process to avoid confusion.
In a letter to law enforcement on June 24, Attorney General Criminal Division Chief Nicholas Klingerman wrote: “When we met with the budget analyst from the Governor’s Office earlier this year, we emphasized that this money was held in trust for law enforcement … we believed it would be improper to sweep it. We believed the governor’s plan would not move forward given those concerns, and we were surprised when a $10 million ARRF sweep was included in the final budget.”
State lawmakers and the governor entered this year’s budget negotiations facing a $1.4 billion shortfall, and they had to make numerous cuts to account for it.
In his letter, Klingerman went on to say that the Governor’s Office didn’t respond to the request not to pull the money, and that law enforcement met with the Attorney General’s Office to discuss legal options.
For a period of several days, it was unclear how the funding hole would be filled.
“The Attorney General’s Office does not understand why it was even necessary to sweep the ARRF, given that sufficient monies are available elsewhere,” Klingerman wrote in June.
“If you have concerns, please contact legislators in your district and the Office of the Governor,” he told law enforcement.
