The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors and Recorder Justin Heap will no longer meet with an independent mediator after an appeals court pressed pause on their yearlong legal fight over control of the county’s elections.
Last week, the Arizona Court of Appeals stayed a lower court order that handed Heap a major win, requiring the board to return control of certain election responsibilities to the Recorder’s Office.
The stay also means the board no longer has to immediately give Heap control of his own information technology staff and systems, which would require the county to split the interconnected election systems that handle functions controlled by both the board and recorder.
No more mediation
The Appeals Court decision also means the lower court no longer has control of the case.
Because of that, Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Scott Blaney canceled an upcoming hearing to consider Heap’s request to hold the board in contempt.
Blaney also canceled an order requiring Heap and the supervisors to meet with Maricopa County Judge Christopher Coury on Monday in an attempt to settle the dispute, though the judge noted that “nothing in this order prevents the parties from mutually agreeing to proceed with a settlement conference with Judge Coury.”
The sides were unable to come to that mutual agreement.
Heap said the supervisors are to blame, accusing the board of withdrawing from mediation after the Appeals Court issued the stay.
“The facts speak for themselves,” Heap said in a statement. “The Board agreed to mediation before the Court, agreed to the mediator, and then walked away when it came time to sit down and negotiate. This is not the way serious people resolve legal conflicts.”
However, the supervisors argue it is Heap who is blocking a resolution to the fight, accusing him of rejecting repeated attempts to meet to finalize a new shared services agreement, a contract that spells out how the board and recorder work together to administer elections in Arizona, which has a bifurcated system that splits election administration duties between the two offices.
Board Chair Kate Brophy McGee and Vice Chair Debbie Lesko did send Heap a letter inviting him to meet again after the Appeals Court stayed the decision, though they made no mention of involving a mediator.
“There currently is no mediation order in effect, as it was vacated by the lower court following the appellate court’s issuance of an emergency stay,” Brophy McGee said in a statement. “It is disappointing that the Recorder hasn’t yet accepted our invitation, but we are hopeful he will reconsider. Maricopa County voters deserve to know their elected officials are working to resolve any outstanding issues so they can have full confidence in the 2026 elections.”
In the past, the board pointed to a text message Heap sent Lesko back in April 2025, before he filed suit against the board, stating they are in agreement on “95%” of the issues.
A year later, Heap’s Chief of Staff Sam Stone sent the board’s election director an email indicating they had come to an agreement to settle many of the disputed election duties, including early voting locations and training poll workers.
But, a week later Heap sent County Manager Jen Pokorski a letter stating Stone’s email “was sent in error and does not reflect the position of this office.”
Heap said his attorney, James Rogers, is the only person authorized to speak on his behalf when it comes to the ongoing election litigation. Rogers works for Trump-aligned America First Legal and represents Heap despite protests from Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell.
In court last week, Rogers rejected the possibility of meeting the supervisors without a mediator, accusing the board of using previous meetings with Heap to “grandstand.”
What’s next?
The decision by the appellate court relied heavily on the Purcell Principle, a precedent set by the U.S. Supreme Court that states courts should avoid making significant changes immediately before upcoming elections.
Heap accused the Appeals Court of making a mistake, and his attorney has appealed the decision to the Arizona Supreme Court.
“Nor does this case implicate the concerns that gave rise to Purcell. The injunction alters no voter qualification, registration deadline, ballot format, voting location, identification requirement, or rule governing whether a ballot is lawful,” Rogers wrote in a filing with the Supreme Court. “It concerns which county office has final authority over internal election-administration functions and the resources needed to perform them.”
EDITOR'S NOTE: The story has been updated to correct when Maricopa County Recorder Justin Heap sent County Manager Jen Pokorski a letter about his Chief of Staff Sam Stone.
-
Find everything you need to know about elections in Arizona and Maricopa County from KJZZ's politics team. -
Gov. Katie Hobbs has issued a proclamation making July 15 Native Right to Vote Day in Arizona. -
Public school advocates are suing over descriptions of two separate ballot measures related to Arizona’s school voucher program approved last week by state lawmakers. -
Arizona’s primary election is just around the corner — next Tuesday, in fact. If you’ve got a ballot sitting on your counter, it’s too late to mail it in. Better look for a drop box or voting site where you can drop it off. -
The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors and Recorder Justin Heap have agreed to a settlement to resolve their dispute over control of the county’s elections, which has dragged on for over a year.
