Photo via Gage Skidmore
By Kiera Riley | State Affairs
The Arizona Department of Education is divvying up Empowerment Scholarship Account criminal case referrals, sending monetary fraud cases to the Attorney General’s Office and forgery cases to the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office.
Superintendent Tom Horne previously said his office would pivot to sending cases to the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office, citing a failure to prosecute by the attorney general.
Horne clarified the department is still sending cases to the Attorney General’s Office but is now also parsing it out based on category of offense. That means the department now sends the county attorney cases specifically related to the documents required to get into the program, like birth certificates and proofs of residency, and sends the Attorney General’s Office any other cases of “extreme” misspending.
Richie Taylor, spokesman for Attorney General Kris Mayes, said the office had received six case referrals in the last six to nine months. He confirmed the referrals typically deal with parents paying themselves with ESA funds.
In a statement, a spokesperson for the county attorney also confirmed the referrals sent to the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office have typically been for paperwork issues related to forgery or fraud in the application process.
