Arizona law has long required counties with a population of more than 200,000 to have 5 county supervisors. Arizona county supervisors are elected on a partisan basis. Smaller counties may have 3 county supervisors.

In 2009, the legislature passed a bill that pertains only to Pinal County, and tells Pinal County to have a 5-member board, and to elect two new members in 2010. Pinal County had under 200,000 people in the 2000 census, so it only has 3 county supervisors. Populations estimates are that Pinal County is far above that level now, but this won’t be known officially until the 2010 census is taken, so if the 2009 bill had not passed, Pinal County wouldn’t have gone from a 3-member Board to a 5-member Board until 2011.

On October 30, a Superior Court Judge in Phoenix declared that the 2009 law violates the state Constitution, which bans “local or special laws.” The case was heard in Phoenix because all the judges in Pinal County had recused themselves. The Arizona legislature has a Republican majority, and Pinal County has a Democratic majority on its county Board, so the motivation for the bill had been Republican hopes that adding two new members to the Board in 2010 would give a Republican majority. Pinal County occupies most of the territory between Phoenix and Tucson. See this story.