Arizona Center for Investigative Reporting

After judge strikes down abortion laws, Republican lawmakers press ahead with new limits

Republican lawmakers are advancing a new wave of legislation targeting abortion in Arizona, even after a judge struck down several existing restrictions and affirmed voters’ 2024 decision to enshrine ...
AZCIR

After judge strikes down abortion laws, Republican lawmakers press ahead with new limits

Republican lawmakers are advancing a new wave of legislation targeting abortion in Arizona, even after a judge struck down several existing restrictions and affirmed voters’ 2024 decision to enshrine ...
AZCIR

Can Arizona employers legally ask prospective hires about immigration status?

No. Employers cannot ask about an applicant’s national origin or citizenship status. The Legal Arizona Workers Act (LAWA) requires employers to use of E-Verify system, but only after an employee is ...
AZCIR

Dozens of people died in Arizona sober living homes as state officials fumbled Medicaid fraud response

Arizona officials acknowledged that a fraud scheme targeting Indigenous people with addictions cost taxpayers $2.5 billion. But they haven’t accounted publicly for the number of deaths tied to the ...
AZCIR

Groundwater regulation weaknesses exploited by industrial-scale agriculture

ELFRIDA, Ariz. — Elaine Bailey stood at the microphone at the Sunsites Community Center in southeastern Arizona, voice shaking as she described the massive scale of new agricultural development next ...
AZCIR

‘Sovereign citizen’ filings flood Pima County, parallel national resurgence of controversial movement

A 63-page packet arrived at the Pima County Recorder’s Office in January, postmarked from Texas with unusual formatting identifying the sender: oddly hyphenated names, stray colons and bracketed-off ...
AZCIR

Arizona gave families public money for private schools. Then private schools raised tuition.

Get AZCIR’s latest investigations and updates delivered straight into your inbox, for free. Last year, Arizona became the first state in the nation to offer universal school choice for all families.
AZCIR

Experts warn of radicalization pipeline as Sedona wellness communities, anti-government groups share space

SEDONA—Natural light filtered through New Age tapestries covering skylights at the Ultimate Light Mission community center on the outskirts of Sedona, softening the afternoon sun as the woody ...
AZCIR

God-given rights: The nationwide spread of the ‘constitutional sheriff’

Get AZCIR’s latest investigations and updates delivered straight into your inbox, for free. GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Against the background hum of the convention center, Dar Leaf settled into a club ...
AZCIR

Was a Marana prison sold to a private company that runs ICE facilities?

Get AZCIR’s latest investigations and updates delivered straight into your inbox, for free. In July 2025, Arizona sold a former Marana prison to Management & Training Corporation (MTC). The company ...
AZCIR

Corporate marijuana dispensaries flex financial muscle, overtake Arizona’s social equity program

Denzel Mason was halfway through his Friday shift as an assistant manager at Phoenix Relief Center, a marijuana dispensary in southwest Phoenix, when his phone rang with the news. He had spent much of ...