The Arizona Fraternal Order of Police pulled back their endorsement of Wadsack on Tuesday because of her reaction to a March speeding citation where she was allegedly clocked on radar by a Tuscon officer going 71 MPH in a 35 zone. The police union retracted their support of her “on the heels of Wadsack’s actions and statements demeaning law enforcement after being pulled over for criminal speeding in March of this year,” the group said in a press release. Wadsack did not reply to our reporter's inquiries but she did respond to the situation in a post on Facebook on Saturday where she again denied that she was speeding. In her post, she said she is “investigating TPD” after “a constituent asked for help as a result of being harassed by TPD, while in the County.” Additionally, she said she had “never heard of ticketing me months later” because of legislative immunity, and she said she spoke with “legal advisors in the know” who said it was “highly irregular,” which is untrue. Former lawmaker Paul Mosley was stopped for criminal speeding in March 2018. He claimed he had legislative immunity during the stop and it wasn’t until August 2018 that he was charged in Parker Justice Court. The police union condemned Wadsack’s accusations against the Tucson department in a written statement and said Wadsack was “treated in strict accordance with the law.” “While Sen. Wadsack has been a consistent supporter of public safety in her official capacity, this incident and her decision to publicly impugn the motives of police personnel is conduct unbecoming an elected representative,” Arizona Fraternal Order of Police President Paul Sheldon said in a statement.” He continued, “Like everyone accused of a traffic violation, Sen. Wadsack is innocent until proven guilty. But attacking police personnel for doing their job is simply unacceptable.” “To be clear, I still back the blue,” Wadsack said in closing out her post.

The Town of Gilbert filed charges against the husband and brother-in-law of LD14 GOP House candidate Lalani Hunsaker today in connection with an altercation at a precinct committee meeting July 15. Nathan Hunsaker and Stephen Hunsaker, the respective husband and brother-in-law of Lalani Hunsaker allegedly disrupted the LD14 meeting after Hendrix brought up a rumor about Lalani Hunsaker’s son being associated with the Gilbert Goons. There is no evidence to support that rumor and Lalani Hunsaker and Hendrix had already discussed the invalid claim weeks before the meeting. Court records show Nathan Hunsaker was charged with one count of assault, two counts of disorderly conduct and one count of third-degree criminal trespass. Stephen Hunsaker was charged with two charges of disorderly conduct and one charge of third-degree criminal trespass. Lalani Hunsaker said in a text to our reporter today that she believes the police investigation is a waste of taxpayer resources. “We are wasting taxpayer resources over two grown adults telling each other to shut up,” Lalani Hunsaker said. “The real story here is a dad defending his son and family versus a few old men using the media to try to shore up a victory next Tuesday.” The two men are set for arraignment on Aug. 20 in Gilbert Municipal Court.

Up to 44% of Dept. of Corrections Rehabilitation and Reentry prisoners enrolled in self-improvement, education and treatment programs offered during FY2023 did not complete the courses, potentially resulting in inmates not receiving the programs’ intended benefits, according to a recent Auditor General report published Tuesday. During the fiscal year, nearly 17,000 inmates enrolled in at least one major program and total program completions was about 60%. Auditor General Lindsey Perry reviewed the department’s earned release credit and inmate transition programs. About 22% of inmates didn’t complete a self-improvement course, 44% didn’t complete education courses and 28% didn’t complete treatment programs. The report attributes the noncompletions to inmate transfers, administrative discharges and program cancellations. Dept. of Corrections Director Ryan Thornell wrote in a response letter that program administrators would collaborate more with the department’s population management staff to minimize the transfer of inmates enrolled in major programs. Additionally, a third of victims were not notified of an inmate’s early release and were not given the opportunity to timely object. State law requires the department to notify victims of early release 20 days in advance. “A failure to notify a victim could result in additional trauma or hardship if the victim is unaware of the inmate’s release. Further, a victim’s ability to prepare for the inmate’s release could be impacted,” Perry’s report states.

Shope confirmed with our reporter that he will be attending the National Conference of State Legislatures summit to serve on the nominations committee to pick the next National Vice Chair. The conference runs from Aug. 5-7 in Louisville, Ky. He said he has attended the conference once or twice in the past, but he is not sure what to expect this year because he will only be attending for one day. Kavanagh confirmed he will be in attendance as well and called the conference “very educational.” Fernandez confirmed with our reporter that he will be attending and Senate Democrat Communications Director Calli Jones said Hatathlie and Gonzalez are also planning on attending.