Tucson Democratic Rep. Charlene Fernandez is asking a court to dismiss a defamation case brought against her by two Republican state legislators and a GOP congressman because statements Fernandez made to the FBI about the two GOP legislators are privileged. Read more»

A proposal before the Arizona Legislature would require any police body camera footage have nearly all faces blurred before it is released to the public, but critics say the bill would do much more harm than good to the public and even to law enforcement. Read more»

The Arizona Court of Appeals has ruled that a public employee's private cell phone records can be considered public records if the employee used the cell phone for a public purpose. Read more»

Every day, the thousands of voting jurisdictions in the U.S. share information about current voter registrations to guard against people being registered in multiple places. Up until earlier this year, Arizona's Secretary of State was not keeping copies of those voter registration notifications. Read more» 1

Arizona Statehouse reporters, in protest of a new “invasive” background check instituted by House Speaker Gowan, covered Thursday’s session from the public gallery instead of the House floor. Reporters believe the measures were introduced to target a journalist who has reported stories putting Gowan in an unfavorable light. Read more» 1

Gaps in government transparency and accountability in Arizona over the past few years are not hard to find. The Copper State received an overall score of 64 – a D grade — in a new State Integrity Investigation, a data-driven assessment of government accountability and transparency in all 50 states. Read more»

A bill that would keep the names of Arizona Lottery winners secret failed to win state Senate approval Thursday but will get another vote. Read more»

A state lawmaker wants to keep the names of lottery winners private, saying the change would protect them from criminals and scam artists. But media attorneys are raising questions of transparency. "If one chooses to participate, and if you’re not prepared to let the public know you won, then don’t play." Read more» 4

Arizona, like most states, tends to initiate reforms after scandals. The state may need more good government laws: Arizona landed 27th with a grade of D+ and a numerical score of 68 in rankings by the State Integrity Investigation. Read more»

An advocacy group gives Arizona an A-minus on how it helps taxpayers research online how and where state government spends their money. Read more»