Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes has officially dropped her lawsuit challenging the use of funds meant to address the opioid crisis to balance the state budget.
Mayes filed the lawsuit after Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs and the Republican-controlled Legislature agreed to use $115 million from those funds, obtained in settlements with pharmaceutical companies, to backfill the Department of Corrections’ budget.
The attorney general argued that using that money to balance the state budget would violate the terms of those settlements, potentially putting that money at risk.
Mayes initially obtained a temporary order from the Maricopa County Superior Court blocking the state from sending that money to the Department of Corrections, but she officially dropped the case on Thursday, days after Judge John Hannah dissolved that temporary order.
Hannah said it was not clear that Mayes had the authority to ignore the budget passed by the Legislature and signed into law by Hobbs.
“As a judge, I cannot agree with the proposition that the attorney general can enter a litigation settlement ... that the attorney general can give himself in that settlement the authority to determine how state money is spent,” Hannah said.
Following Hannah’s ruling, 12 News reported the first $75 million from the opioid settlement fund was transferred to the Department of Corrections on Tuesday.
Hobbs, House Speaker Ben Toma (R-Peoria) and Senate President Warren Petersen are asking Hannah to order Mayes to pay for their attorneys fees and costs in the case.
A spokesman for Mayes declined to comment.
