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In a letter to Brnovich, Jean-Jacques Cabou said a 2016 law requires him to investigate when a legislator asks whether any ordinance, regulation, order or other official action taken by a city council runs afoul of state law.

But he said the complaint by Sen. John Kavanagh, R-Fountain Hills, concerns a police department 鈥渙perations order.鈥�

鈥淭he order is not an ordinance or regulation, nor was it an action adopted or taken by the governing board of a city,鈥� Cabou told Brnovich. 鈥淭herefore your office lacks jurisdiction to investigate or report.鈥�

And Cabou said even if Brnovich is empowered to review the order 鈥� a point he is not conceding 鈥� he said Kavanagh鈥檚 complaint 鈥渓acks merit.鈥�

He said the order simply details the procedures Phoenix鈥檚 police chief determines are necessary for officers to lawfully carry out their duties. And he noted the U.S. Supreme Court has said there are 鈥渓imited circumstances in which state officers may perform the functions of an immigration officer.鈥�

鈥淭he complaint is an unfounded attempt by a legislator from Fountain Hills to micromanage the police of a city he neither lives in nor represents,鈥� Cabou told Brnovich. 鈥淣either Arizona law nor common sense allows him to do so.鈥�

If Brnovich disagrees and concludes the order about how police deal with suspected undocumented immigrants violates state law, he can seek to withhold the city鈥檚 state revenues.

The implications stretch beyond Phoenix.

Several other cities, including Tucson, have similar policies about what officers can and cannot do when they encounter people who they believe may be in this country illegally. Those policies could be voided if Brnovich determines they are precluded by state law and courts uphold his conclusions.

Kavanagh鈥檚 complaints are based on SB 1070, a 2010 state law designed to give police more power to detain and arrest those in this country illegally.

Some of the provisions were declared illegal by the U.S. Supreme Court. But the justices did leave some provisions intact.

One says when an officer stops someone for any reason, he or she must make 鈥渁 reasonable attempt ... when practicable, to determine the immigration status of the person.鈥� Another section says police cannot be prohibited from sending or receiving information from federal officials to determine if someone is in the country legally.

Kavanagh finds fault with Phoenix鈥檚 directives to officers on when they must contact Immigration and Customs Enforcement and when they cannot ask immigration-related questions during traffic stops.

He said another order illegally keeps police and school-resource officers from asking immigration questions or contacting ICE while on school grounds.

鈥淭his blanket ban makes schools sanctuary sites, where anyone 鈥� child, adult, student, staff member or visitor 鈥� in the country illegally is protected from otherwise lawful immigration inquiries mandated by law,鈥� the senator contends.

Cabou told Brnovich that the 2016 law empowering him to investigate the actions of city councils does not extend to what in effect are policies enacted by the Phoenix police chief, who alone is entitled to alter them.

Anyway, Cabou said, nothing in the order tells police officers to violate SB 1070 but instead instructs them on how and when to enforce immigration laws.

For example, he said the procedures for school-resource officers recognize that their primary duty is to 鈥渇oster trust and cooperation when interacting with students and provide for the overall safety and security of everyone on school campuses.鈥� Cabou said that means placing emphasis on being educators and mentors, acting 鈥渁s enforcement officers when necessary.鈥�

He also said it would be 鈥渋mpractical鈥� for officers to inquire about the immigration status of everyone they stop for a traffic violation. Also, he said, police cannot use someone鈥檚 race or ethnicity in deciding who to question about their legal presence in the country.