IN FOCUS - Feb. 21, 2025

A referendum potentially headed for the 2026 ballot would ask voters to eliminate one of the oddest quirks in Arizona law - a provision shielding lawmakers from arrest while the Legislature is in session.

So-called legislative immunity, written into Arizona’s Constitution upon statehood in 1912, protects state lawmakers from arrest for anything except “treason, felony and breach of peace.” The provision applies while the Legislature is in session and during the 15 days immediately preceding. Most states have some form of legislative immunity, originally conceived to protect lawmakers from police harassment, but the issue has become a lightning rod in Arizona following multiple cases in which lawmakers cited immunity to dodge speeding tickets.

Now, Rep. Quang Nguyen (R-Prescott Valley) is sponsoring a referendum that would ask Arizona voters to junk legislative immunity. In recent weeks, state Sens. Mark Finchem (R-Prescott) and Jake Hoffman (R-Queen Creek) have each been pulled over for speeding but not ticketed due to legislative immunity. The widely-reported cases have spurred new interest in the referendum.

Only voters can amend the State Constitution. Repealing legislative immunity would likely be broadly popular with the electorate, so the real question now is whether lawmakers will take this step to eliminate one of the more, ahem, interesting perks of the job. 

This week, Rep. Nguyen’s ballot referral advanced on a  6-3 vote out of the House Judiciary Committee; however, two of the three “no” votes acknowledged the challenging optics associated with voting against the measure. Stay tuned.