Five years ago, the Pima County Superior Court took over the day-to-day operations of the Pima County Consolidated Justice Court, which at the time comprised eight elected justices of the peace operating out of the downtown Tucson courthouse.
It was an unusual — although not uncommon — legal maneuver used to manage the court and its staff. Elected judges still maintained their judicial independence, but they no longer had control of their staff or their budget and played little role in the court’s long-term operational goals.
The stated reason for the administrative order (AO) that took over the Pima County Justice Court was ”personality issues” after a string of high-profile disasters within the justice court — which includes justices of the peace (judges who handle lower-level cases like DUIs) and order of protections. It's worth noting that these are elected positions, and justices of the peace don't need a law degree.
But five years after that takeover, the Pima County Superior Court has been unwilling to give back control, even though some of those personalities are no longer with the court. One judge, Adam Watters, was barred from serving as a judge for the rest of his life.
Under the current political realities, judges have no real way to challenge administrative orders impacting their court.
A new bill from Tucson Democratic Rep. Alma Hernandez, HB2976, would give judges in the Pima County Consolidated Justice Court — as well as judges in other courts who have lost their political autonomy through similar AOs — a form of due process: a way to appeal the decision that stripped them of administrative control over their courts.
Courts under administrative control stand in stark contrast to nearly every other elected official in Pima County, who maintain control over their staff, their budgets and the day-to-day operations of their offices. After all, voters elected them specifically to do their jobs.
A second court in Pima County — the Ajo Justice Court — fell under administrative control of the Pima County Superior Court roughly three months ago. Ajo Justice of the Peace Sara Mae Williams told us she has been given multiple, conflicting reasons for the decision.
But the practice is relatively common: Once or twice per year, a court gets taken over, per Dave Byers, the Administrative Director of the Courts for the Arizona Supreme Court.
The court’s Government Affairs Director, Liana Garcia, explained why the takeovers are necessary to the Arizona House Federalism, Military Affairs and Elections Committee last month. Judges didn't like her explanation.
“If you just Google problems in JP courts in Arizona, you will get an eyeful. There have been significant issues with JP courts over the years,” Garcia said.
Byers later issued an email to judges across the state essentially apologizing for Garcia’s remarks, after she told the House committee that she could spend the rest of her time describing various issues with judges across the state.
“Both Liana and I regret that the comments caused offense rather than simply conveying information as intended. Our role at the Legislature is to represent the Judicial Branch by answering questions and explaining the practical effects of proposed legislation, and doing so in a public setting can sometimes be challenging,” Byers wrote. “Liana had a bad day. We all do. I apologize for any concern or frustration her testimony may have caused.”
It is ultimately the Arizona Supreme Court’s responsibility to manage courts throughout the state, and these AOs allow the state court to step in to fix issues. But those administrative orders are intended to be temporary — not permanent.
Even former Pima County Superior Court Presiding Judge Kyle Bryson once described the administrative takeover of the Pima County Consolidated Justice Court as “really impractical for a county presiding judge to be responsible for the day-to-day activities of all the courts in the the county.”
But some judges in Pima County told us that the process to get their court back sometimes feels more like appeasement than a clear set of concrete steps demonstrating that the underlying issues have been resolved.
Hernandez, who just took the State Bar of Arizona exam, said there is a place for judges without law degrees, and that all elected officials deserve some form of due process when accused of wrongdoing.
“We can't just simply take it and not give them an opportunity to correct the issues and somehow get to a point where they can gain their court back,” Hernandez said.
At the beginning of the week, we asked Chief Justice of the Arizona Supreme Court Ann Timmer and Presiding Judge of the Pima County Superior Court Danelle Liwski as well as several judicial court staffers and Garcia for comment about the bill. Both courts declined to grant interviews.
A spokesperson for the Arizona Supreme Court explained that the court’s leadership cannot weigh in on pending legislation that could potentially end up in front of their courts — for example if there were a constitutional challenge to HB2976.
HB2976 is expected to have a final House floor vote within the next week.
Editor’s Note: When we hired Joe in 2024, he had been working for a rural justice court in Pima County. He has been above board that he worked with some of the judges mentioned in today’s story while he was a court employee. But he left that position more than a year ago to join the Tucson Agenda, and we believe that provides enough time and distance to cover today’s story, which falls squarely within his beat.
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