Arizona Capitol Times Your Inside Source for Arizona Government, Politics and Business

For the time being, the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors can continue to hire attorneys outside the County Attorney's Office to handle the board's legal issues.

Retired Supreme Court Justice and Arizona icon Sandra Day O'Connor is spearheading an effort to make major structural changes to state government in advance of the 2012 centennial. "We love this state and see the need for a few changes," she said.

The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee has approved Dennis Burke as the next U.S. attorney for Arizona. Burke, who served as chief of staff for former Gov. Janet Napolitano, was one of four U.S. attorney nominees to be approved by the committee on Sept. 10, according to media reports. His nomination still must be approved by the full Senate before he takes his post.

TUCSON - More convicted drunk drivers could soon have to pay for their own jail stays if Pima County officials get their way. Officials at the Pima County Adult Detention Center recently met with judges and top prosecutors to remind them that drunk drivers can be ordered to reimburse counties for the cost of locking them up.

The Arizona Constitution requires the enactment of a balanced budget for the upcoming fiscal year before July 1. But two months into the fiscal 2010, the budget in place was not signed or balanced, even on paper.

Opponents of Arizona's system of publicly funded campaigns were further encouraged by a federal judge's Aug. 27 decision to eliminate Connecticut's campaign finance reform method in entirety. The ruling by District of Connecticut Judge Stefan Underhill blasted the state's Citizens' Election Program, a voluntary program enacted in 2005 to provide legislative and statewide candidates with public campaign funding.

TUCSON - The federal trial of the former Tanque Verde Unified School District superintendent has been pushed back to Dec. 1 at the request of his attorney. Albert Thomas "Tom" Rogers was indicted by a grand jury for allegedly attempting to travel to Mexico to engage in illicit sexual conduct with a minor.

A Chandler court found Sen. John Huppenthal not guilty of misdemeanor charges involving an incident on Election Day last year.

The Arizona Supreme Court is making it harder to press class-action lawsuits on behalf of groups of plaintiffs.

Nine months after being promoted, a deputy chief in the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office has filed a federal race and age discrimination complaint against the county for allegedly withholding his pay raise.