Legislative Republicans are butting heads with Kris Mayes over a series of lawsuits — or in some cases, threats to sue — using a relatively obscure area of Arizona statute: public nuisance law.
Generally defined as anything that “interferes with the comfortable enjoyment of life or property,” the Democratic attorney general has cited the public nuisance law to sue a Saudi Arabian-based alfalfa farming operation in La Paz County — arguing the company’s groundwater pumping has harmed the surrounding community.
More recently, Mayes said she’s considering filing a nuisance lawsuit in an attempt to stop Immigration and Customs Enforcement from opening a massive detention facility at a 400,000-square-foot warehouse in Surprise, citing concerns that the facility may be “offensive to the senses.”
The attorney general’s critics say Mayes’ use of Arizona’s public nuisance law in these cases is a stretch. And Republican state lawmakers have been pursuing several legislative avenues to dissuade the attorney general from pursuing similar cases in the future.
