Court Opinion

ID: 9608374
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 03:11:10.518795+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T11:28:01.889118
License: Public Domain

*220LIVERMORE, Chief Judge,
dissenting.
If A.R.S. § 41-1041 is viewed as a veto power by the attorney general over corporation commission action, it is, as the majority contends, unconstitutional. If, on the other hand, attorney general certification is viewed only as determining what mechanism of judicial review will be undertaken, it is procedural. For pragmatic reasons, I would choose the latter characterization. First, the APA, by its terms, “creates only procedural rights.” A.R.S. § 41-1002(B). Second, all that turns on attorney general certification or refusal to certify is whether the propriety of commission action will be tested by a mandamus action brought by the commission or by other means of judicial review sought by affected public service companies. The APA is a coherent set of rules to guide agency action. It should not be eviscerated by creating a subset of instances in which it is not applicable. Nor should parties be encouraged to waste resources on determining what method of judicial review is appropriate, litigating where to litigate.