SUPREME COURT OF ARIZONA
STATE OF ARIZONA ex rel.
Attorney General Mark Brnovich,

)
)
)
Plaintiff/Counter-Defendant/ )
Appellant, )
)
v.
)
)
MARICOPA COUNTY COMMUNITY
)
COLLEGE DISTRICT BOARD,
)
)
Defendant/Appellee, )
)
ABEL BADILLO and BIBIANA VAZQUEZ, )
)
Intervenor-Defendants/ )
Counter-Plaintiffs/Appellees. )
__________________________________)

Arizona Supreme Court
No. CV-17-0215-PR
Court of Appeals
Division One
No. 1 CA-CV 15-0498
Maricopa County
Superior Court
No. CV2013-009093
FILED 04/09/2018

DECISION ORDER
On June 21, 2017, the court of appeals filed an amended opinion
in

this

case

holding,

among

other

things,

that

“[c]onsidered

together, federal and state law, [] prohibit MCCCD from granting instate tuition benefits to DACA recipients.”

State ex rel. Brnovich

v. Maricopa Cty. Cmty. Coll. Dist. Bd., 242 Ariz. 325, 340 ¶ 46 (App.
2017).

Based on this ruling, the court of appeals reversed the trial

court’s summary judgment in favor of the appellees (petitioners in
this Court) and stated that it was remanding with instructions for
the trial court to enter a judgment enjoining MCCCD from granting instate tuition to DACA recipients.

Id.

 Arizona Supreme Court
No. CV-17-0215-PR
Page 2 of 4

On February 13, 2018, this Court granted review solely on the
issue of “whether DACA recipients who are lawfully present in this
country while they are participating in the DACA program are eligible
for

resident

tuition.”

After

receiving

supplemental

briefs,

the

Court heard argument and the case was submitted on April 2, 2018.

At

the Court’s invitation, MCCCD filed a post-argument brief stating
that MCCCD’s Governing Board on February 27, 2018, adopted tuition
rates for the 2018-19 fiscal year, which begins on July 1, 2018, and
that student enrollment for summer and fall terms began on March 5,
2018.

In its post-argument brief, the State noted it had no basis to

dispute this information.
On the issue on which review was granted, the Court unanimously
agrees with the court of appeals that existing federal and state law
do

not

allow

recipients.

MCCCD

to

grant

in-state

tuition

benefits

to

DACA

The Court is issuing this decision order to afford MCCCD

and its students, as well as the State, notice of the Court’s holding
without further delay and thus allow as much time as possible for
planning by those affected.
Our decision is not intended to foreclose any measures taken by
the State, in compliance with federal law, to extend resident tuition
rates to in-state high school graduates not lawfully residing here.
Other states have done so.

See, e.g., Cal. Educ. Code § 68130.5(a);

 Arizona Supreme Court
No. CV-17-0215-PR
Page 3 of 4

Colo. Rev. Stat. § 23-7-110; N.M. Stat. Ann. § 21-1-4.6(B).

To date,

however, Arizona has no similar law, and any such enactment may be
subject to the Voter Protection Act.
A

written

opinion

further

explaining

the

Court’s

ruling

anticipated to issue by May 14, 2018.

DATED this __9th__ day of April, 2018.

____/s/________________________
SCOTT BALES
Chief Justice

is

 Arizona Supreme Court
No. CV-17-0215-PR
Page 4 of 4

TO:
Kevin D Ray
Rusty D Crandell
Mary R O'Grady
Lynne C Adams
Eric M Fraser
Daniel R Ortega Jr
Jose de Jesus Rivera
Nathan J Fidel
Noel Fidel
Eileen Dennis GilBride
Georgia A Staton
Julia A Gomez
Arizona Education Association
Andrew S Gordon
Roopali H Desai