The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors extended an offer to County Recorder Justin Heap on Thursday, as part of an effort to reach an agreement on how elections are conducted in the county.
Heap is a former Republican state lawmaker who ousted former Stephen Richer in last year’s primary election. Shortly after taking office in January, Heap unilaterally terminated a 2024 election “shared services agreement” with the board, and has threatened to sue the board multiple times since then.
Heap says the terminated agreement, reached between Richer and a lame duck board of supervisors, was intended to undermine him.
“This backroom, eleventh-hour power grab represents a reckless overreach by unpopular, lame duck officials attempting to knee-cap incoming elected officials,” Heap wrote in a press release in February.
Now, Heap is asking for more power over the elections process and more resources.
There are two all-mail jurisdictional elections scheduled in Glendale and Goodyear next month, putting pressure on supervisors to reach an agreement with Heap quickly.
The board agreed to send a proposal on a new shared services agreement to Heap during a Thursday hearing.
Chairman Tom Galvin says the board’s latest offer incorporates Heap’s feedback.
“What we saw here today is evidence of a Board, staff and our legal council who have been hard at work in good faith trying to negotiate an agreement with the recorder. I am extremely hopeful that recorder Heap and the public see this,” he said.
Emily Craiger, an attorney for the board, said it appeared that Heap’s starting point for negotiations was “based on some incorrect assumptions.”
Craiger said Heap’s assertion that the prior agreement took more power away from the Recorder's Office relating to other voting processes, like sending out ballots, is wrong. She specified that poll worker training falls to the board, as do polling locations.
Craiger added that negotiations dragged on earlier this month after Heap dismissed his legal counsel. Supervisor Debbie Lesko said she was “beyond frustrated” that negotiations had stalled after productive meetings earlier this month.
Supervisor Steve Gallardo accused the Heap of misinforming voters about what his role historically has been, or should be, when it comes to administering elections.
“You're not helping matters here. You're not. You're fanning the flames. You're getting people all riled up for no reason, no reason,” Gallardo said at Thursday’s hearing. “Sit down. Let's negotiate, and let's come up with an agreement that is sound.”
In a statement following Thursday’s meeting, Heap disputed some of the board’s accusations, but said he looks forward to ironing out the details proposed by supervisors.
He attended the meeting in person but did not speak.
“The agreement put forth by the Board today represents the framework of a deal, but the devil is in the details, and those details still need to be ironed out,” Heap wrote.
Craiger told the supervisors that Heap has no basis for a lawsuit over the SSA since he’s still able to perform all of his statutory duties and an SSA isn’t required by law. In fact, Maricopa County is the only county with an SSA, but the Board agreed that keeping one is necessary.
