For Judge John Nelson of Yuma County Superior Court, there weren’t many options in his county for dealing with mentally ill criminal defendants who violated probation.

He and his fellow judges often were limited to just sending them to prison.

The Arizona Supreme Court is set to hear arguments June 4 in a case that will determine the financial future of Arizona’s employee pensions.

Whatever the Supreme Court decides in Fields v. Elected Officials Retirement Plan will also settle two other lawsuits sparked by SB1609, a 2011 law that overhauled state pensions, and determine whether retirees will continue to receive generous cost-of-living increases.

The fever pitch for economic development legislation has died down somewhat following signs of recovery and passage of blockbuster bills in the past two sessions. But lawmakers are still pushing job-creating legislation, which has been stalled for months over the ongoing budget stalemate.

Voters in the 2014 general election will decide whether Arizona can reject federal actions and programs that the Legislature or the voters deem unconstitutional.

Just when it appeared the controversial election bills involving the Permanent Early Voting List were dead, they received new life last week after Senate leadership introduced an elections omnibus bill incorporating five measures.

Then they stalled again.

Lobbying reports show how much was spent, who spent it, but not necessarily who was being courted


The Arizona Capitol Times obtained the electronic quarterly lobbying reports for the first quarter of 2013 under the state’s public records laws, analyzed the expenditures across hundreds of transactions and interviewed many of those involved in the spending.

Arizona Capitol Times journalists won a total of 16 awards, including six first-place awards, in this year’s Arizona Press Club contest. The winners were announced May 18.

Gov. Jan Brewer made a major concession to her transaction privilege tax reform bill that eliminates the most contentious provision, but that wasn’t enough to get the League of Arizona Cities and Towns on board.

A debate that lasted nearly 12 hours ended late Thursday night, when the Arizona state Senate approved a budget proposal that includes a plan to expand Medicaid coverage as desired by Gov. Jan Brewer.

Six Republican senators joined forces with Senate Democrats to wrest control of the chamber from Sen. President Andy Biggs and provided momentum to Brewer’s proposal by giving preliminary approval to the bills during floor debate.

A federal judge has rejected an activist group’s request for an injunction against Gov. Jan Brewer’s executive order denying drivers’ licenses to young illegal immigrants who are allowed, under a federal program, to stay in the country.