ABOR calls tuition lawsuit ‘unprecedented,’ ’embarrassing’
Mar 1, 2019, 4:30 AM | Updated: 6:36 am
PHOENIX – The Arizona Board of Regents filed a defiant response Wednesday in the legal fight picked by Attorney General Mark Brnovich over tuition rates at the state’s three universities.
Last month, Brnovich filed a petition to have the appeal of his dismissed lawsuit against ABOR, which governs Arizona State University, the University of Arizona and Northern Arizona University, transferred to the Arizona Supreme Court.
ABOR’s 36-page court response says Brnovich’s request “is unprecedented and takes forum shopping to an embarrassing level.”
It argues there is no reason for the state’s highest court to have jurisdiction of the case and that ABOR “is immune from suit under the legislative immunity doctrine.”
“The attorney general’s office appears to be trying to circumvent the court of appeals,” ABOR chair Ron Shoopman said in a Thursday press release.
“Without discussing his concerns with the regents, the attorney general instead seeks to advance a lawsuit that willfully ignores the facts.”
The lawsuit was initially filed in September 2017 and argued that tuition rates for the state’s universities didn’t comply with a section of Arizona’s constitution that says the educational institutions “shall be as nearly free as possible.”
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ABOR contends its tuition rates are fair and necessary and that Brnovich’s arguments are misleading.
“The perpetuation of this lawsuit and its false narrative ultimately impacts the people of Arizona in a negative way, at a time when we should all encourage students to seek education past high school,” Shoopman said Thursday.
In April 2018, a Maricopa County Superior Court judge tossed the case, saying the attorney general had no legal authority to sue the board about tuition. Brnovich appealed the decision in October.
Brnovich’s January petition argued that the Supreme Court should hear the appeal because it “involves a dispute over an important public policy at the highest levels of state government.”
His lawsuit noted that tuition at all three universities rose by more than 300 percent since 2002-03.
