Pinal County Attorney Joins Trump’s Push to Police Teachers Over “Radical Indoctrination”

At least one county attorney’s office has pledged to work with the U.S. Department of Justice to monitor Arizona teachers and school staff for what it considers “radical indoctrination.”

LOOKOUT contacted 11 county attorneys across the state, asking whether they planned to enforce President Donald Trump’s executive order "Ending Radical Indoctrination in K-12 Schooling." The order threatens to strip federal funding from schools that teach “anti-American ideologies,” including LGBTQ+ issues.

It also repeats misinformation that schools are encouraging the “mutilation” of children, a reference to life-saving gender-affirming health care. Medical organizations widely support such care as beneficial, but Republicans have continued to push the false narrative that it harms children.

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Perhaps the most striking part of the order is its requirement that the Justice Department coordinate with state attorneys general and county attorneys to oversee investigations into school curricula. It also directs the U.S. attorney general to work with local law enforcement to find and prosecute teachers for “sexually exploiting” minors—the order applies to both classroom discussions and medical care.

Most county attorneys declined to comment. Two responded: Pinal and Pima counties.

Pima County Attorney Laura Conover said her office would not pre-comply, calling the order unconstitutional: “Moving forward, unconstitutional directives will continue to be challenged in court,” she said. “At this point, only time will tell how new federal directives are executed.”

Meanwhile, in neighboring Pinal County, Attorney Brad Miller voiced full support for the order, saying his office would comply to continue receiving federal funds. In a statement to LOOKOUT, his office said Miller “stands with President Trump in the belief that rigorous education and instilling a patriotic admiration for our nation is of utmost importance.”

Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell’s office responded that it “didn’t have anything to share” on the matter but did not answer follow-up questions on whether Mitchell was unaware of the order or if her office was planning action but had not made it public.

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Like most of Trump’s executive orders, this one pushes the limits of presidential power. Curriculum decisions rest with state governments, not the White House. The Justice Department also cannot force state or local prosecutors to work alongside the administration.

“This is signaling to county attorneys that the Justice Department is seeking this type of relationship and may engage with them or pursue this type of action,” said Darrell Hill, policy director for the ACLU of Arizona. Hill said that as he understood it, the executive order asks county attorneys to seek prosecutions for violations of federal law, something outside their scope of work: “I would wonder if that's even within the scope of their duties,” he said.

Even if the order is urging prosecutors to find local crimes to charge teachers with, Cathryn Oakley, senior director of legal policy at the Human Rights Campaign, said it is unconstitutional: “The president does not have the power to tell local prosecutors how to enforce state law,” she said, adding that the language is more of an encouragement for local prosecutors to start seeking out charges against teachers and care providers.

No judge has blocked the order from taking effect. Several provisions are scheduled to be implemented in late April, including an “Ending Indoctrination Strategy” report that would outline how to cut federal funds to schools that do not comply.

Earlier this month, members of the state LGBTQIA Caucus in the legislature sent a letter to Attorney General Kris Mayes asking for clarity on Trump's executive orders and how local officials should proceed. That same day, Mayes made a statement calling the orders unconstitutional, but didn't name any executive orders, specifically.

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"The actions of the Trump administration in the last three weeks can only be described as dictatorial and authoritarian," Mayes said. "Every day – nearly every hour – there is some new action or executive order that makes a mockery of the rule of law and the Constitution itself."

The move by the caucus and Mayes' response came after Phoenix Children's Hospital revoked gender-affirming care for youth under 19 years old. They cited complying with Trump's executive order banning gender affirming care for youth as their reason.