By Howard Fischer, Capitol Media Services | Arizona Capitol Times
Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich announces a lawsuit against the Arizona Board of Regents on Sept. 8. The suit alleges ABOR is not adhering to a constitutional requirement that tuition for residents attending state universities be “nearly as free as possible.”
Two months after throwing out a lawsuit against the Arizona Board of Regents the judge who heard the case ordered the state to pay nearly $1 million in the agency’s legal fees.
In an extensive ruling, Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Christopher Whitten rejected arguments by Attorney General Mark Brnovich, who sued the regents over what he claimed was an illegal lease deal at Arizona State University, that the hourly fees charged by the attorneys defending the board were too high. The judge said while the hourly rate was above the average for what lawyers in Phoenix charge – the order did not say how much – that by itself doesn’t mean anything.
