The Tolleson Union High School District has become the first Arizona public school district to refuse to provide financial records to state lawmakers. Instead, they're demanding more than $26,000 in fees that officials acknowledge are meant to discourage the request.
The dispute began after a July 21 hearing by the Joint Legislative Audit Committee, which reviews district finances. Following that meeting, Committee Co-Chairman Matt Gress requested two years of the district's financial transaction records, including all purchase orders. These standard documents demonstrate how public funds are being allocated.
He submitted his formal request on August 26th, expecting the routine cooperation that other school districts have provided in similar situations.
Instead of complying with the records request, the Tolleson district refused to provide the electronic files and demanded payment of more than $26,000. District officials have admitted the high fee is intended to discourage such requests from lawmakers.
When Matt Gress sent a follow-up letter on September 17th to clarify his request, the district continued to resist providing the records.
Legal Questions
The standoff has raised questions about Arizona's public records laws. State law allows public entities to charge fees only for the actual costs of copying or mailing physical records, not for producing electronic files that already exist in digital form.
"Exporting purchase orders from financial software is simple, and other districts have complied quickly," he explained.
According to Gress, this is the first time in his experience that an Arizona public organization has demanded payment from the state legislature for public records or claimed it could withhold electronic documents from legislative oversight.
"This refusal denies lawmakers the basic financial information needed to evaluate reforms and ensure tax dollars are spent responsibly," he explained. "Arizonans have a right to know how their money is used, and blocking these records sets a dangerous and unacceptable precedent."
Attorney General Involvement
The situation has become more complicated with the district's decision to involve the Arizona Attorney General's Office for advice, despite having already hired private legal counsel.
Gress expressed concern about this development, noting that Attorney General Kris Mayes previously provided records to the Legislature when her own office was under review. He warned that any advice to withhold documents from legislative oversight would "undermine Arizona's transparency laws."
“This is a flagrant disregard of legislative oversight,” he concluded.
