Former assistant state AG enters JP race

A former Arizona assistant attorney general plans to run for justice of the peace for the Maricopa-Stanfield Justice Court.

Lyle Riggs, who was general counsel for the Arizona Department of Agriculture from 1996 to 1999, has announced his intent to run for the position.

Riggs serves as a part-time judge in Maricopa County and Pinal County justice courts and in the Chandler Municipal Court, according to a press release.

“I’ve been doing the pro tem work for three years now and I really enjoy it,” Riggs told InMaricopa.com. “I enjoy interacting with the people who come into the court.”

Riggs, a native Arizonan who’s been practicing law in the state since 1995, estimated he’s spent about 1,000 hours on the bench.

Riggs has lived in Maricopa for about a month. He moved with his family to the city from Casa Grande to run for the justice of the peace position.

Riggs said the recent investigation of the court’s financial handlings factored into his decision to run. He said he’s someone with experience who can “restore confidence in the judicial system here.”

In addition to his work as a part-time judge, Riggs currently runs a general practice firm out of his home and teaches as an adjunct professor at Chandler Gilbert Community College and Central Arizona College.

From 2000 to 2003, he worked as an attorney at the Phoenix-based law firm Gallagher & Kennedy where he advised small businesses and Fortune 500 companies in civil litigation and regulatory matters, according to the press release.

Riggs received his bachelor’s degree in agriculture-economics from the University of Arizona in 1991. He graduated from Drake University Law School in Iowa in 1995.

He is a member of the Pinal County Air Quality Control Advisory Council, the Pinal County Air Quality Control Hearing Board and the Casa Grande Board of Adjustments, the release states.

Riggs and his wife Veean Mayberry Riggs have four children, including two teenagers who still live at home.

He is a Republican.

He can be contacted at [email protected] or 480-280-0688.