On November 2, 2010, Horne defeated Felecia Rotellini in the race for
Arizona Attorney General in the
2010 elections. Horne defeated Rotellini by a margin of 51.9% to 48.1%.
Arizona v. United States Within a few weeks of becoming A.G., his office had filed an appearance in
Arizona v. United States, defending the governor and the state against the Obama administration's federal court challenge to
S.B. 1070. The previous A.G.,
Terry Goddard, had withdrawn from the case, acceding to the demands of Governor
Jan Brewer.
Consumer and antitrust litigation Shortly after winning the 2010 election, Horne announced an intent to pursuing violations of the
Arizona Consumer Fraud Act and other
consumer protections violation. This led to a string of
sting operations against
auto repair businesses in
the Valley. Along with state attorney generals in many other states, Horne's office represented Arizona in multi-state settlements with the nation's five largest
mortgage servicers (Arizona's share was $1.6 billion of a $25 billion nationwide deal involving 49 AGs); with
Sirius XM (Arizona's share was $230,000 of the $3.8 million settlement), and with
Pfizer Inc. (over allegations of
unlawful promotion of
Rapamune; Arizona's share was $721,169 out of the nationwide $35 million settlement). Along with Attorneys General of the other 49 States and the District of Columbia, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), and the Federal Communications Commission, Tom Horne reached a $105 million settlement with AT&T Mobility LLC (“AT&T”), resolving allegations that AT&T engaged in “mobile cramming.” Arizona received $325,770, and it is estimated that roughly 482,000 accounts in Arizona were eligible for refunds.
Sex Trafficking In 2013, Horne requested additional funds to combat sex trafficking, saying the funding was especially crucial in Arizona prepared to host the Super Bowl in 2015. He said the influx of men for events like that tends to increase underage sex trafficking.
Arizona v. Inter Tribal Council case In a 2012
United States Supreme Court case,
Arizona v. Inter Tribal Council of Arizona, Inc., Horne argued that Arizona's voter registration requirements were not preempted by the
National Voter Registration Act of 1993. The Court ruled in favor of the Native American tribes, and against Horne and Arizona, by a 7–2 vote. The decision stated: "Arizona is correct that the Elections Clause empowers Congress to regulate
how federal elections are held, but not
who may vote in them. The latter is the province of the states." However, because Horne's predecessor as Attorney General had not appealed an adverse decision by the commission, the case was sent back for a new petition to the commission to be appealed. It was consolidated with a 10th circuit case, which ruled adversely, and the Supreme Court chose not to review a second time. The Court also held that Arizona may petition to have more requirements added to the federal standard.
School Resource Officers and Firearms Regulations In 2013 Horne wrote an opinion that defended the state preemption of regulation of firearms; he found that Tucson's city gun laws were unenforceable. In 2012, after the recent Connecticut school massacre, Horne proposed that a principal or a designee be trained and armed in each school. “The ideal solution would be to have an armed police officer in each school,” Horne stated. "The next best solution is to have one person in the school trained to handle firearms, to handle emergency situations, and possessing a firearm in a secure location.” In 2013, he proposed legislation that would allow teachers to carry guns in public schools.
Same-sex Marriage Horne threatened to sue the city of
Bisbee, Arizona, over its 2013 ordinance recognizing same-sex couples. He withdrew the threat several days later when Bisbee agreed to rewrite the ordinance, removing rights reserved for married couples under Arizona law. In October 2014, a federal judge ruled that Arizona's law banning gay marriage was unconstitutional, and Horne did not appeal, stating he felt there was "zero" chance of the ruling being overturned, adding, "I think it is over."
Immigration In 2013, Horne sued
Maricopa County Community College District and
Pima Community College, seeking to compel the community colleges to end their policy of providing in-state tuition for "dreamers" (undocumented immigrants who came to the U.S. as children). Horne argued that these students were disqualified from in-state tuition by state law, even if the federal government had approved them to remain and work in the U.S. under the
Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. Horne denied being anti-immigrant, saying he was one himself, being born in Canada. However, the State appealed the decision, and in 2017, the
Arizona Court of Appeals sided with the AG's office (then led by Horne's successor,
Mark Brnovich), ruling that the dreamers were not eligible for in-state tuition. In 2014, Horne criticized
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for sending undocumented immigrants from Texas to Arizona.
Colorado City Disputes In 2014 a federal jury awarded a couple living in
Colorado City, Arizona, $5.2 million, for religious discrimination. Horne on behalf of Arizona and the
Utah attorney general intervened in the case of
Cooke v. Colorado City. Colorado City and
Hildale, Utah (both dominated by the
FLDS Church, a
Mormon fundamentalist group), as well as the
twin cities' utility companies, were found liable for violating federal and state
housing discrimination laws by refusing to provide water and sewer services to a non-FLDS couple because of their religion. Horne criticized the Colorado City police force (known as "the marshal's office"), saying it acted as an arm of the FLDS Church instead of the law. In 2012 Horne allocated $420,000 to the
Mohave County Sheriff's Office to patrol Colorado City. In 2012, Horne renewed an effort to persuade the state legislature to abolish Colorado City's six-member police department, and assign the Mohave County Sheriff's Office to carry out law enforcement functions in the city. After this effort failed, Horne asked for a federal judge to disband the Colorado City police force, after legislation he supported to do so failed to pass. The court denied the motion, but also instructed the office to avoid discrimination.
Campaign-Finance Investigations Winn-Horne investigation In 2012, after an FBI investigation that was concluded in September, 2012, Maricopa County Attorney
Bill Montgomery concluded that Horne coordinated with an independent expenditure committee run by Kathleen Winn during his 2010 general election campaign for attorney general, thus violating
campaign finance laws. In 2013, Tom Horne and his wife sued the Arizona Public Integrity Alliance and three of its directors, in Maricopa County Court. Horne claims in court that a conservative group defamed him on TV, Facebook, and a website, falsely claiming that the FBI was still investigating him for campaign violations. The Hornes claimed the defendants made the statements to "intentionally to deceive the public as part of a strategy to illegitimately undermine Mr. Horne's public standing before the 2014 election where Mr. Horne will be campaigning to be re-elected as the Arizona attorney general." In April 2014, an
administrative law judge concluded that the prosecution in the case "failed to establish by a preponderance of the evidence" that Horne illegally coordinated with the independent expenditure committee and recommended that the case be dropped. In May 2014, Yavapai County Attorney Sheila Polk, to whom that matter had been referred, rejected the administrative judge's recommendation and issued a final administrative decision ordering Horne and Winn to reimburse campaign donors $400,000. Horne and Winn appealed to the Maricopa County Superior Court, which upheld Polk's decision. In May 2017, however, the
Arizona Supreme Court voided the lower-court decisions, agreeing with Horne and Winn that they were denied due process because Polk was involved in the prosecution's strategy and case preparation. The case was sent back to the Attorney General's Office for a final administrative decision. The state AG's office referred the case to Cochise County Attorney Brian McIntyre for a final administrative decision, and in July 2017, McIntyre issued a report clearing Horne of wrongdoing. McIntyre wrote that "Both sides to this dispute present equally plausible explanations as to what did or did not occur" during communications between Horne and Winn, and wrote "The record, unfortunately, supports a conclusion that the investigation being conducted was not a search for the truth, but rather, only intended to shore up conclusions already drawn." After the decision, Horne's attorney said that "Justice has finally prevailed" for Horne, and described Polk as "an overzealous prosecutor who chose to act as 'judge, jury and executioner.'" In 2014, a former AG staff member and ex-Horne campaign volunteer alleged that much of Horne's executive office staff was involved in "substantial campaigning" for his 2014 re-election, "while on state time and utilizing State resources," in violation of law. Horne denied the allegations. In July 2014, the Arizona Secretary of State's Office found
probable cause that Horne violated several campaign-finance laws by having employees do campaign work for his campaign on state time, at the AG's office. Horne was denounced by several fellow Arizona Republicans, including congressmen
Jeff Flake and
Matt Salmon and Maricopa County Attorney
Bill Montgomery. The allegations contributed to Horne's defeat in the 2014 Republican primary to
Mark Brnovich (a campaign in which Governor
Jan Brewer endorsed Brnovich). The Maricopa County Attorney's Office declined to bring any criminal charges, determining that the
statute of limitations on misdemeanor charges had lapsed and that there was not a reasonable likelihood of convicting Horne of a felony. Separately, the complaint to the Secretary of State's office led to the appointment of two independent investigators (one of whom was a former
Arizona Court of Appeals judge) as special attorneys general. They concluded, in an October 2017 report, that Horne illegally used his office staff to work on his re-election campaign, but that criminal charges are unwarranted and that the $10,000 civil penalty that Horne paid to the Arizona Citizens Clean Elections Commission in 2014 was "deemed sufficient" to resolve the issue. The decision also ordered Horne to refile his 2014 campaign finance reports to account for the value of campaign work performed by office staff, as well as for the "market value of rent on a campaign office." ==Unsuccessful campaign for renomination in 2014==