Sheriff cooperation with ICE mandated in HB 10

Posted on by Matthew Sasser

El Colectivo NC, a membership group of various Latino grassroots organizations, staged a news conference on Monday, an hour ahead of the Senate taking up House Bill 10. State legislators and community activists protested both the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainer language and the Opportunity Scholarship vouchers. 

When any person is confined in a county jail or similar facility, an attempt must be made by a jail administrator to determine if the prisoner is a legal resident of the United States, according to HB 10. Previous versions of this bill limited an administrator to verify legal status during a felony or impaired driving offense. 

“These are our neighbors that are being attacked and targeted,” Sen. Natalie S. Murdock, D-Durham, said. In a message she later delivered on the Senate floor, Murdock reiterated that congressional Republicans have not taken action to reach a bipartisan agreement to secure the Southern border and that HB 10 is a political game that doesn’t offer a real solution. 

“We cannot ignore the profound harm HB 10 will cause,” Pilar Rocha-Goldberg, president and CEO of El Centro Hispano, said. “This bill not only strips away immigrant rights but also destroys the trust between law enforcement and our communities.”

Rep. Renée A. Price, D-Orange, called the bill “insidious” and added it places an unacceptable burden on local law enforcement. 

Rep. Marcia Morey, D-Durham, noted that HB 10 would allow sheriffs to hold individuals for 48 hours after serving their sentence or posting bail, and that such an act is “unconstitutional” and will likely be challenged in the court system. 

“Sheriffs are independent, constitutionally elected officials,” Morey said. “They should not be subservient to the legislative body [telling] them what they should do for their job.” 

Later in the afternoon on the Senate floor, Sen. Danny Earl Britt Jr., R-Robeson, defended the legislation which hadH been brought to the Legislature in different iterations before. The impetus for the renewed effort, he said, is the severity in drug and sex trafficking at the border. 

“We also know as state legislators there’s little we can do about it other than voting for the right person in November,” Britt said, adding that what legislators can do is compel sheriffs — “… Our sheriffs who are not complying with immigration [laws], our sheriffs who are releasing folks back into the community that are violent individuals charged with violent crimes that are here illegally” — to take the step of identifying a prisoner’s legal status.

Britt said the bill doesn’t “round people up” or send law enforcement into the homes of law-abiding individuals, but it does require a 48-hour detainment for those charged with violent felonies and misdemeanors.

“Until about 2018, every sheriff voluntarily cooperated with ICE,” Rep. Destin Hall, R-Caldwell, said in a committee meeting in April. “There’s a small number of sheriffs, probably around 10 or so, who don’t honor ICE detainers. Some sheriffs don’t even communicate with ICE at all.”

“It is a common sense bill,” he later added. “It is still to me, amazing, that we even have to have a bill like this.”

For questions or comments, or to pass along story ideas, please write to Matthew Sasser at [email protected] or contact the NC Insider at [email protected] or @StateAffairsNC 

Mitchell, Kolodin kiss and make up after last week’s spat

Posted on by Yellow Sheet Report Staff

Kolodin responded to criticism from Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell on Thursday that accused him of  “spreading falsehoods” that her office rejected a contract between the county and Runbeck Election Services. Both Mitchell and Kolodin now are expressing unity on the issue since the bipartisan observation program that was used for the primary election will continue with the general election. Kolodin said in a statement Saturday that he appreciates Mitchell’s efforts to help achieve this outcome. “For yesterday our party showed great unity in working to give President Trump a fairer shot in Arizona making me proud, once again, to vote a straight Republican ticket,” Kolodin said. He also said there are other aspects of the memorandum of understanding the legislature signed with Runbeck in March that he’s still working towards, but the observation program was the most important to achieve. Mitchell also was quoted in an AZGOP news release titled “Republicans are United” the day after she criticized Kolodin, where she said she was grateful for the party’s support in working toward election integrity. “We will have observers at Runbeck during this General Election, just as we did in the Primary,” AZGOP Chair Gina Swoboda said. “When Republicans unite, we win. Let’s stay focused and have a successful election.”

Judge dismisses residency complaint against LD 15 House candidate

Posted on by Yellow Sheet Report Staff

A Maricopa County Superior Court Judge dismissed the complaint filed against LD15 GOP House candidate Michael Way that challenged his eligibility for office. Judge Rodrick Coffey’s ruling was submitted Friday and filed to the court’s clerk Monday morning. Coffey ruled that Arizona law precludes courts from performing duties that are expressly delegated to the Arizona Legislature, including determining the qualifications of those who are elected as legislators. “If Way is elected, it will be up to the Arizona Legislature to judge his qualifications,” Coffey wrote in his ruling. Coffey didn’t address the arguments about Way’s residency in his ruling and wrote that plaintiff Deborah Kirkland was asking for an advisory opinion on what would happen if Way is determined to be unqualified and he gets enough votes to be elected into office. The AZGOP celebrated the dismissal. “The decision upholds Way’s qualifications to serve, rebuffing baseless attacks from Democrats and their allies attempting to challenge his candidacy. But Kirkland is an LD15 GOP precinct committeewoman who supported Hoffman’s running mate, Peter Anello, in the primary election. Way’s attorney Andrew Gould told our reporter he didn’t know who was financing the lawsuit and asked Kirkland about it in court in the hopes to determine who was. Kirkland said during the evidentiary hearing she didn’t know, but Gould said that was unusual from a plaintiff in a case like this. “Sometimes in these cases there are third parties that fund because they have some political agenda. I don’t know that to be the case here but I was curious if that’s what was going on,” Gould said. “Not everyone has the money to pay for a lawsuit like this.” Way also said during the evidentiary hearing last week he believed the challenge against him was organized by the Freedom Caucus because a Freedom Caucus leader in North Carolina had called for an investigation into Way’s voting record. “This is going to be a very tight election for the legislature, and this type of baseless attack at the 11th hour that really is barred by the law is troubling,” Gould said. “For Republicans, it jeopardizes their majorities in the legislature.”

Court asks for a new complaint in latest dual language legal fight 

Posted on by Yellow Sheet Report Staff

A judge hit the reset button on the latest legal challenge to dual language learning models at a hearing this morning after lead attorney and Horne’s wife, Carmen Chenal Horne, dismissed her damages claim, throwing into question key issues of standing and ability to bring the suit under state law.  A parent of a Scottsdale Unified High School student, represented by Chenal Horne, sued Creighton Elementary School District, five school board members and its superintendent, claiming a violation of a 2000 voter initiative requiring students be taught English by being taught in English. Both Creighton and the AG filed motions to dismiss and claimed the parent plaintiff lacked standing because  her child did not attend a Creighton school, and therefore was not entitled to sheltered English immersion under the statute, nor positioned to bring a lawsuit. The question before Judge Frank Moskowitz, a Brewer appointee, at a hearing today was whether to consider dismissal before considering the plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment. Nathan Arrowsmith, assistant AG, asked Moskowitz to put a hold on the motion for summary judgment until the motion to dismiss is decided, given key issues of standing. Robert Haws, attorney for Creighton, echoed the same point. “There’s no reason to put the cart before the horse,” Haws said. He contended if the court were to take up the motion for summary judgment, Creighton and the AG would be entitled to some discovery. But Chenal Horne, joined by her paralegal, Tom Horne, told the court to consider the motion for summary judgment first and claimed discovery would not be necessary given the language of the statute, which she printed on a large poster board. Chenal Horne said Moskowitz should simply take a look at the statute “and with your legal expertise, determine whether the statute says English immersion does not provide for dual language. Simple. Then, address standing.” But Arrowsmith claimed Chenal Horne’s plan did not account for clearing the necessary hurdles to have the court adjudicate a case in the first place. The discussion then pivoted to implications of the statute that grants standing to “the parent or legal guardian of any Arizona school child” to legally compel compliance with sheltered English immersion and ensures attorneys’ fees and damages if successful. Earlier in the hearing, Chenal Horne told the court she was voluntarily dismissing the five board members and the superintendent from the suit without prejudice, effectively taking the damages claim along with it. Arrowsmith claimed the damages portion of the law implies that a plaintiff would need to establish an injury. “An individual who does not live in the Creighton School District, or has a child that attends a Creighton school cannot have any actual or compensatory damages against Creighton,” Arrowsmith said. Moskowitz said he would consider the standing issue first, but ordered Chenal Horne to file a new complaint, removing the since-dismissed defendants and considering the damages issue, and asked Creighton and the AG to file supplemental briefing in response so “we’re all talking about the same world, the same universe.” Chenal Horne’s amended complaint is due to the court on Sept. 23.

Appeals Court rules transgender sports ban discriminatory

Posted on by Yellow Sheet Report Staff

Arizona’s transgender sports ban discriminates based on transgender status, according to an opinion from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals issued Monday. In a ruling, the panel upheld a district court’s injunction on the law as it pertains to two transgender girls seeking to play school sports at their middle and high schools. Parents of two unnamed transgender girls, represented by attorneys for the National Center for Lesbian Rights, sued Horne to see the “Save Women’s Sports Act” struck down for violations of the Equal Protection Clause, Title IX and the Americans with Disabilities Act in addition to asking the two girls be allowed to participate on their respective school sports teams. Arizona District Court Judge Jennifer Zipps, an Obama nominee, entered an injunction on the law as it applied to the two girls. She further found the two were likely to succeed on their equal protection and Title IX claim as the act discriminates against transgender girls, and Horne, Petersen and Toma failed to demonstrate an important government interest to justify such a ban. Zipps wrote that Horne and the legislative leaders’ stated aim to “protect girls’ sports” to be “based on overbroad generalizations and stereotypes that erroneously equate transgender status with athletic ability.” On appeal to the Ninth Circuit, Horne, Petersen and Toma argued the district court’s findings relied on erroneous evidence showing no significant difference between pre-pubescent boys and girls and offered their own counter-evidence they claimed showed pre-pubescent boys did, in fact, have a biological advantage. But the Ninth Circuit found Horne and the legislative leaders relied on information that was disputed and selectively cited. As for the equal protection claim, the superintendent and legislative leaders again claimed the law served an important governmental interest in preventing cisgender women and girls’ displacement, injury or competitive disadvantage. The appeals court found their claims to be unfounded and insufficient to justify the ban’s application to “all transgender women and girls in Arizona, regardless of circulating testosterone levels or other medically accepted indicia of competitive advantage” and to “all sports, regardless of the physical contact involved, the type or level of competition, or the age or grade of the participants.” The panel found the act to be discriminatory as its “burden falls exclusively on transgender girls.” Judge Morgan Christen, an Obama nominee, wrote, “This conclusion is consistent not only with common sense—there is simply no denying that a transgender sports ban discriminates based on transgender status—but also with the decisions of other courts, which have held that transgender sports bans like the one challenged here discriminate on their face against transgender women and girls.” 

Maricopa County Recorder debates scheduled; Heap may not show

Posted on by Yellow Sheet Report Staff

Two debates are scheduled this week for the candidates running for Maricopa County Recorder, but it’s unclear if Heap will show up to either. Both Arizona PBS and the Citizens Clean Elections Commission will hold debates on Wednesday and Thursday respectively, with Democratic candidate Tim Stringham signed on to attend both. But according to the Clean Elections website, Heap has not yet responded to a request to attend that debate, and it’s unclear whether he will attend the AZPBS debate. Stringham did not directly answer a question from our reporter about whether Heap will attend either debate, but sounded hopeful that he would face off against his opponent this week. “The debates are still a few days away and everyone runs behind when campaigning so still plenty of time for him to respond,” Stringham said in a statement. Polls in the race began to circulate last week, indicating Stringham has a lead over Heap. The first poll, conducted by Noble Predictive Insights, showed 38% of voters surveyed choose Stringham and 34% prefer Heap. An internal poll conducted by Stringham’s campaign and obtained by Garrett Archer of ABC15 showed similar numbers, with Stringham up 45% to Heap’s 42%, with fewer voters indicating they were undecided. Stringham’s internal poll also found 57% of voters surveyed have trust in reliable election results, compared to 34% who don’t. The first debate, hosted by AZPBS, will air at 5 p.m. Wednesday. The Clean Elections debate will air at 4 p.m. Thursday.

DCS seeks more money for foster youth housing, new vehicles

Posted on by Yellow Sheet Report Staff

The Department of Child Safety submitted its FY 2026 budget request to Hobbs on Sept. 1, asking for an additional $99.7 million in funding compared to the upcoming fiscal year. If approved, that would amount to about $1.4 billion as the agency surpasses 10 years since its formation. The request, rubber-stamped by interim director Ben Hendersen, highlighted a $32.6 spending increase request to put toward kinship support and caseload for developmentally disabled children. The second-highest request was $29.4 million for operation of the Comprehensive Child Welfare Information System and other software programs. The agency also asked for about $6 million to put toward 90 new vehicles to supplement the agency’s “aging fleet” and vehicle maintenance and repairs. The department requested an increase of $2.2 million to focus on growth in “durable permanency strategy while maintaining relationships with the child’s family.” Notably, DCS also asked for $400,000 to put toward stable housing for youth aging out of the foster care system. The department hopes to maintain its increase in hiring and retaining caseworkers, an issue that has “plagued the Department for the last 4 years,” primarily through pay increases, improved training and recruitment, according to the letter. “Reasonable caseloads lead to improving caseworker retention, which ultimately produces better outcomes for children and families, permitting caseworkers the time they need to invest in activities to support families,” the letter said. DCS also asked for $75.1 million in supplemental funding for FY2025 to “address the unexpected rise of caseworker filled rates; service provider stability, permanent guardianship caseload growth and kinship caregiver supports and the AHCCCS State Directed programs.”

Justices, judges up for retention receive high marks

Posted on by Yellow Sheet Report Staff

 The Arizona Commission on Judicial Performance Review released the official survey results underpinning decisions on whether judges and justices met or failed to meet standards necessary for the bench. The results show how judges scored in surveys on legal ability, integrity, communication, temperament and administrative performance circulated to litigants, attorneys, jurors, witnesses and court staff. In April, the commission found only one judge, Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Jo Lynn Gentry, did not meet JPR standards. Members found the remaining 69 judges and two Supreme Court justices met judicial standards in a single vote. The judicial reports come as campaigns and counter-campaigns target the retention of Justices Clint Bolick and Kathryn King. About 99% of those surveyed lauded Bolick’s integrity and communication skills as satisfactory, superior or very good; 98% found the same of his legal ability and judicial temperament. As for King, 96% found her judicial temperament and communication skills satisfactory or above, 94% greenlit her legal ability and administrative performance and 90% of survey respondents found King had above-board integrity. Four judges across both divisions of the Court of Appeals similarly received high marks across the evaluated categories, as did the vast majority of superior court judges across Maricopa, Pima, Coconino and Pinal County. The judges’ survey scores and the commission’s “meets JPR standards” designation will appear in the Secretary of State’s publicity pamphlet. The commission’s website houses the same, along with a link to full bios for all judges, and lists of decisions for appellate judges and justices. 

Presidential race aside, what’s at stake for Georgians in the November election?

Posted on by Tammy Joyner

The Gist

Despite all 236 members of the state House and Senate up for reelection in November, the presidential race has taken center stage in Georgia with the nomination of Vice President Kamala Harris for U.S. president.

Nonetheless, Georgia Democrats  will be in a push-and-pull contest to gain more seats in both the House and Senate while Republicans stay focused on maintaining their solid control of state government. Republicans hold the governor, attorney general and secretary of state seats as well as both legislative chambers. The House could be particularly vulnerable.

“Democrats might actually get Republicans knocked down to below 100 seats in the House, which would be the first time since 2005,” University of Georgia political science professor Charles Bullock III told State Affairs. 

Continue reading “Presidential race aside, what’s at stake for Georgians in the November election?”

Half a billion dollars in Opportunity Scholarship funding approved by Senate

Posted on by Matthew Sasser

Most of the Senate debate Monday revolved around the conference report for House Bill 10, a series of spending items added to a bill requiring the state’s sheriffs to comply with federal detainer warrants from immigration officials. 

The most discussed of the spending measures was the $463.5 million in increased funding for private school vouchers. The money would clear the Opportunity Scholarship waitlist for the current school year and be retroactive, making families eligible for tuition reimbursement from schools.

“I hope we can reconsider our priorities because one of the things that happens in these local communities when voucher funds are draining public funds from local schools is you’re going to see job losses in local school systems,” Sen. Lisa Grafstein, D-Wake, said about the voucher program. 

“When I think about these taxpayer-funded vouchers for private schools, I think the majority of taxpayers know that we are looking at fool’s gold,” Sen. Graig Meyer, D-Orange, said. “I understand every parent’s desire to make sure that their child is well educated. I cannot understand how we, as a body, would sanction taxpayer-funded spending on private schools that have almost no standards to ensure that children actually receive the education we know they deserve.”

On the Senate floor, Sen. Michael Garrett, D-Guilford, called the Opportunity Scholarship proposal a “betrayal of our state’s core values, one that threatens the very foundation of our public education system, and the principles of equality and opportunity that I know we all hold dear.”

Senate leader Phil Berger characterized concerns from Democrats as more of the same. 

“We’ve heard those concerns,” he said after the session. “I would just say that the emphasis that we have placed on opportunity scholarships is in giving parents more of a say in their child’s education. And every bill that we’ve had that addresses those kinds of issues, the Democrats have been opposed to. Whether it was a Parents Bill of Rights, whether it’s Opportunity Scholarships, they seem to be more inclined to be supportive of bureaucracies, as opposed to parents and students.”

In a news release, Sen. Michael Lee, R-New Hanover, said that as school choice is expanded, North Carolina will have an educational landscape that provides a high-quality option for those who choose private, traditional, charter or home schooling. 

HB 10 also allocates $377 million to cover a Medicaid rebase to account for projected changes in enrollment, $95 million to the Department of Public Instruction to fund growing public school units, $64 million to the Community College System general fund for enrollment adjustment and $24.7 million to the State Education Assistance Authority to clear a waiting list for the Children with Disabilities Program.

Sen. Ralph Hise, R-Mitchell, said the conference report also permits the authorization of a broadband funding expansion to make the state eligible to receive $1.5 billion in federal dollars. 

The Senate approved HB 10 on Monday along party lines, with 27 Republicans voting yes and 17 Democrats voting no. The House is expected to take up a vote on Wednesday.

For questions or comments, or to pass along story ideas, please write to Matthew Sasser at [email protected] or contact the NC Insider at [email protected] or @StateAffairsNC 

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