America First Legal (AFL) filed a lawsuit on behalf of Maricopa County Recorder Justin Heap against the county’s Board of Supervisors, accusing them of unlawfully obstructing election operations by withholding essential funding and seizing control of responsibilities legally assigned to the Recorder’s Office.
The complaint alleges that the Board’s tentative 2025–2026 budget permanently strips Recorder Heap of his statutory authority over elections and refuses to allocate sufficient resources to his office. Under Arizona law, the Board is obligated to fund the Recorder’s necessary expenses. Instead, the Board has allegedly transferred election-related IT staff, voter registration systems, servers, websites, and key facilities from the Recorder’s control—moves Heap contends are illegal.
The dispute stems from a Shared Services Agreement passed by a lame-duck board in late 2024. Since taking office in January, Heap’s office has reportedly been denied access to voter registration systems, warehouse space, county-owned voting equipment, and even designated office space. AFL argues these actions are undermining the Recorder’s ability to run elections lawfully, ahead of scheduled elections on July 15, September 23, and November 4.
The lawsuit seeks both declaratory and injunctive relief to restore the Recorder’s authority and compel the Board to fund all necessary operations. AFL has previously sued Arizona officials over election integrity issues, including compelling the state to cooperate with DHS to remove non-citizens from voter rolls and forcing Secretary of State Adrian Fontes to release records of unverified registrants.
- Read the complaint
- Read the motion for preliminary injunction
