CAN COMMUNITY COLLEGE RESOURCES BE USED FOR POLITICAL PURPOSES?
Specifically, under A.R.S. Section 15-1408, a community college district may not “use its personnel, equipment, materials, buildings or other resources for the purpose of influencing the outcomes of elections.” Additionally, community college district employees “may not use the authority of their positions to influence the vote or political activities of any subordinate employee.” Despite these prohibitions, however, the law expressly allows a community college district to “distribute informational reports on a proposed bond election . . ..” Moreover, the law may not be “construed as denying the civil and political liberties of any employee as guaranteed by the United States and Arizona constitutions.” The legislature’s inclusion of “other resources” among the list of things a district may not use to influence elections no doubt indicates an intent to discourage use of both intangible resources (such as employee time and computer network access) and tangible ones (such as equipment and
