Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell has no authority to block a Trump-aligned law firm from representing Recorder Justin Heap in his ongoing legal fight with the board of supervisors over control of the county’s elections, a judge ruled.
After Heap sued the board last summer, Mitchell sent a cease-and-desist letter to America First Legal, the rightwing nonprofit co-founded by White House advisor Stephen Miller that is representing the Recorder.
“This letter is to inform you that I am the recorder’s attorney, and you do not represent the Maricopa County Recorder’s Office or Recorder Heap in his official capacity,” Mitchell wrote. “I am, therefore, demanding that you cease and desist from any further representation of the Recorder.”
Mitchell eventually joined the ongoing lawsuit and asked a judge to disqualify America First Legal and attorney James K. Rogers. Mitchell argued that when the county attorney is unable to represent county officials due to a conflict of interest — such as in the ongoing lawsuit between Heap and the board — she has sole authority to appoint legal representation for them.
But Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Scott Blaney ruled that is not the case.
“The plain language of the statute governing the County Attorney’s powers and duties does not empower her with the authority she claims in this lawsuit,” Blaney found.
In the cease-and-desist letter, Mitchell cited the state law outlining the county attorney’s duties. She also cited several court cases dealing with county officials who attempted to hire their own outside counsel “holding that the Board of Supervisors ‘has no authority to employ private counsel to advise the Board and other county officers or employees,’” referring to a 1978 Arizona Supreme Court decision.
Blaney rejected that argument, finding Mitchell’s claims were not backed up by the state law describing a county attorney’s powers.
That law details a broad range of duties reserved for county attorneys, including defending the county against lawsuits and providing legal opinions to county officers, but says nothing about appointing outside counsel for the board or recorder in the event of a conflict.
“The authority that the County Attorney asserts in this case is simply not listed in the statute among the very specific, detailed list of her statutory powers, and this Court may not read into the law what the Legislature deliberately left out,” Blaney wrote.
In a statement on social media, Heap praised the ruling.
COURT VICTORY — Today, the Court issued a decisive ruling in our Election Integrity lawsuit against Maricopa County, entirely dismissing the countersuit filed against our office by County Attorney Rachel Mitchell.
— Maricopa County Recorder Justin Heap (@azjustinheap) January 31, 2026
This important decision is consistent with the law and firmly… pic.twitter.com/h0HbEPzNHi
“This important decision is consistent with the law and firmly establishes a fundamental principle: elected officials have the right to retain legal counsel of their own choosing and cannot be compelled to accept representation selected by the County Attorney,” he wrote.
An attorney for Mitchell filed a request asking the Arizona Supreme Court to consider an appeal of the ruling.
-
Less than a week after a judge blocked subpoenas seeking testimony from Recorder Justin Heap’s staff, the Maricopa Board of Supervisors voted to compel Heap himself to testify under oath about claims of voter disenfranchisement and other election issues. -
The midterm elections are less than nine months away, with primaries set for this summer. But a new report finds Arizona counties have had more turnover among election workers than in any other Western state. -
The Arizona House of Representatives was scheduled Monday to debate a proposal that would ask voters to change how elections are conducted in the state. -
A pair of education groups are proposing a ballot initiative to rein in Arizona's universal school voucher program — which has ballooned to a nearly billion-dollar-a-year expense since first approved in 2022. -
Gov. Katie Hobbs signed a new law permanently moving Arizona’s primary elections up from August to the second-to-last Tuesday in July.
