Republicans want to give individual legislators the power to order arrests

State Rep. Tony Rivero thinks the Arizona Legislature doesn’t have enough power to arrest people who don’t show up when lawmakers demand.

The Peoria Republican wants to change that by giving the Arizona Senate president, the speaker of the Arizona House of Representatives or any committee chairman in either chamber the power to unilaterally issue an order of contempt for anyone who ignores legislative subpoenas.

And that would mean they could be arrested and hauled in to testify.

Right now, either chamber can issue an order of contempt for a person who ignores a subpoena only if they get approval from the majority of their legislative body. Rivero’s House Bill 2745 would instead put that power in the hands of individual lawmakers.



https://azmirror.com/briefs/republicans-want-to-give-individual-legislators-the-power-to-order-arrests/