Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich discusses his Senate run on YouTube.
By Stacey Barchenger and Ray Stern | Arizona Republic
The State Bar of Arizona has reached agreements with Attorney General Mark Brnovich to resolve two ethics complaints filed against him by the Arizona Board of Regents and the Secretary of State’s Office.
The diversion agreements mean Brnovich will not face formal discipline on his record if he completes certain terms. Those terms are confidential. Brnovich announced the resolution on Friday, without mentioning the strings attached.
The State Bar of Arizona had investigated the two complaints filed against Brnovich in 2020. The complaints alleged Brnovich violated rules for attorney conduct and his duties to represent the state when he filed lawsuits against the regents; and that he failed to adequately represent the secretary of state and mishandled election-related lawsuits.
While Brnovich declared the resolution a “victory for the rule of law” in his Friday announcement, those who filed the complaints noted that diversion agreements require corrective action.
“Contrary to the attorney general’s assertion, the bar’s decision is not a vindication of the attorney general’s conduct,” a statement from Board of Regents Chair Lyndel Manson reads. “The board is hopeful these remedies will assure current and future attorneys general honor their ethical duties to their clients.”
Brnovich, a Republican running for the nomination for U.S. Senate, announced his agreement with the Bar that results in dismissal of the complaints “with no sanction or findings of professional misconduct.”
His announcement did not mention a diversion agreement — or that all diversion cases are supposed to end without official sanctions.
What is diversion?
