Housing discrimination is particularly serious because our nation was founded on the ideals of individual
freedoms, and one of the most fundamental freedoms in a democracy is the freedom to move about and live where you choose. Whether that choice involves transferring from one city to another, or just moving across the street, a person’s ethnicity, family situation, or disability should never be a barrier to selecting
a home, apartment, or any other kind of dwelling. This guide to fair housing is designed to help you if you believe you have been subjected to unfair housing practices.

As Arizona’s population continues to grow, so does the need for electricity. Retail sales of electricity in Arizona have increased along with the population, although sales per person have declined since peaking in 2007, a sign of decreased use and increased efficiency. As we progress in the twenty-first century, action must be taken to increase the sustainability of our energy resources by continuing to conserve and by shifting to the greater use of energy from renewable sources. In addition, we must work to mitigate climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Both the effect of climate change on our future water supply and the size of the population that will need to share in that supply are uncertainties that water planners must consider when making decisions regarding our future. We have options, but we have to be sure that we use water efficiently to meet our urban, agricultural, and environmental needs. This Policy Points offers a clear, succinct overview of the status of Arizona’s water supply and what the current drought really means for water availability.

In a desert city such as Phoenix, summertime heat is a way of life, but how much does the built environment contribute to the intensity of the heat on a summer night? In urbanized Phoenix, nights don’t cool down as much as in the surrounding rural areas and on more and more summer nights, the official Phoenix temperature fails to drop below 90 degrees. Climate plays a huge role in the comfort and quality of life of residents, with numerous implications for tourism, energy demand, water use, and the vulnerability of low-income families.

During the mid-part of the last decade, when the population growth rate was at its highest, the Phoenix area experienced rapid development and urban sprawl. The result has been an intensification of the Urban Heat Island effect. In this edition of Decades, author Sally Wittlinger discusses this uncomfortable consequence of urbanization.

Attorney General Opinions are issued when requested by the legislature (or either house of the legislature), any public officer of the State, or a county attorney, on a question of law relating to their office. Our office does not issue opinions for private citizens, nor do we offer legal advice to private citizens.

The following opinions were issued from 1999 to the present time. The first two digits of each opinion indicate the year it was issued (I99 indicates it was issued in 1999), and the next three digits sequentially number the order in which the opinions were issued. For example, I99-003 would be the third opinion issued in 1999. The number in parentheses (R98-025) references the request for an opinion file number. Opinions of the Attorney General are advisory, and do not have the same effect as decisions of a court of law.

The Arizona Attorney General’s Office is the largest public law firm in the state, and the practice areas include: Protecting Arizona consumers against fraud, providing Arizona taxpayers with quality representation of State agencies, ensuring that Arizona aggressively pursues and prosecutes drug dealers and predators, and defending the human rights of all Arizonans.