The attorney for the Senate is asking a judge to delay any move to force lawmakers to immediately surrender some audit documents. 

A judge on Thursday said he's not ready to cite the Arizona Senate and Karen Fann, its president, for contempt of court.

The Arizona Senate has no legal excuse to refuse to publicly produce the records of the firm it hired to audit the 2020 election returns.

An attorney for American Oversight charged on September 1 that the Senate has not complied with a court order to surrender all the documents it has dealing with the audit of the 2020 election.

The Arizona Senate must turn over audit records requested by watchdog group American Oversight, including those in the possession of Cyber Ninjas, the Court of Appeals ruled Thursday.

The Arizona Senate has an Aug. 31 deadline to produce the rest of requested internal public records related to its election audit, a superior court judge ordered Wednesday.

A judge has ordered the Senate to immediately produce the records it has related to the audit of the 2020 election -- even those in the hands of Cyber Ninjas Inc., the private firm hired to conduct the review.

The Arizona Senate doesn’t have to produce records for its election audit because they aren’t in the physical custody of the chamber, the Senate’s attorney said Wednesday in court.

Senate President Karen Fann is taking the position that Arizona courts cannot force her or any other member of the Arizona Legislature to comply with the state's Public Records Act.