Former Arizona Supreme Court Justice Andrew Gould has been named special counsel in the state Senate’s investigation of Attorney General Kris Mayes’ decision not to prosecute Gov. Katie Hobbs over allegations of a pay-to-play scheme.

The Democratic governor, who is running for reelection against U.S. Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Gilbert, has been accused of approving rate increases by Sunshine Residential Homes because they donated more than $500,000 benefitting Hobbs' political operations and various funds. Mayes, another Democrat, is running for reelection against Senate President Warren Petersen, who's also a Republican living in Gilbert.

Sunshine received approval for per-child rate increases (a 56% hike), making them the highest-paid group home provider in Arizona, despite internal staff noting no increase was necessary, according to Sen. Jake Hoffman, R-Queen Creek, who chairs the Senate Committee on Government.

The governor has denied any wrongdoing and has said no political contributions influenced the state's approval of the rate increases for Sunshine Residential Homes.

The Senate’s Republican majority in a news release Monday accused Hobbs’ allies of discrediting an investigation into the governor “before a single witness testified or one subpoenaed record was produced.”

In an Aug. 20 memo to Mayes and others on her staff, Nick Klingerman, the state Criminal Division chief counsel, said he opened an investigation into Hobbs at the request of Republican Sen. T.J. Shope and the Maricopa County Attorney's Office.

"After two years and hundreds of hours of investigation, agents have not found evidence to substantiate a pay-for-play scheme involving Governor Hobbs and Sunshine," Klingerman wrote in his memo to Hobbs.

Mayes said at the time that she wouldn't prosecute Hobbs because of a lack of evidence.

The Attorney General's Office interviewed multiple sources, reviewed hundreds of thousands of documents and compiled nearly a terabyte of data during a two-year investigation, Richie Taylor, Mayes' director of communications, told The Center Square during a phone interview late Monday morning.

He said the office believes the Republican senators' investigation and Hoffman's previous announcement of subpoenas is a political stunt ahead of the Nov. 3 general election.

"Our office never received subpoenas," Taylor said.

Republican senators on Monday announced their investigation into Hobbs and Mayes was being transferred from the Senate Committee on Government to the Senate Committee on Appropriations.

Taylor said he thought the transfer was made to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest by Hoffman. Media reports said Hoffman's advertising agency, 1Ten LLC received $560,000 from Turning Point USA's political action committee to help Biggs' campaign against Hobbs. According to media reports, Hoffman has said the contribution had no influence on the decision to investigate Hobbs and Mayes.

The Center Square on Monday looked at Hoffman's financial disclosures for 2025, which Arizona requires of all elected officials, and saw no mention of Turning Point USA.

The Center Square reached out to Hoffman, who announced Gould’s appointment Monday morning, and Sen. David Farnsworth, who chairs the appropriations committee. Neither was immediately available for an interview.

The Center Square also reached out to the Governor's Office, but did not immediately get a response.

Senate Republicans said they will seek testimony and records related to the half million dollars in political contributions that preceded the state’s approval of the rate increases. They also blasted news coverage.

"The crooked political media decided what this investigation was before it even began, because running cover for Katie Hobbs and Kris Mayes is more important to them than exposing potential corruption," Hoffman said in the Senate Republicans’ news release. "They are more interested in attacking the investigator than investigating the scandal and the necessary policy changes. Transferring the proceedings and placing former Justice Andrew Gould at the center takes away their excuses for non-cooperation, strengthens the investigation, and ensures the evidence, not their predetermined political narrative, drives any resulting legislative reforms."

Before serving as an Arizona Supreme Court justice, Gould was a judge on the Arizona Court of Appeals, a Yuma County Superior Court judge and a prosecutor in Maricopa and Yuma counties.

"This investigation will be conducted dispassionately and according to the law, with respect for individual rights, due process, and a disciplined review of the evidence," Gould said in the news release. “Evidence will determine where this investigation leads, and which reforms, if any, are ultimately recommended to the Committee."

The Senate’s Democratic minority on Monday morning cited its letter on Friday to Petersen, requesting why the Senate president approved the investigation by Hoffman and the Senate Committee on Government into the allegations against Hobbs.

Octavio Pulido, director of communications for the Arizona State Democratic Caucus, said in an emailed statement to The Center Square that the Senate Republicans’ decision to transfer the investigation to another committee indicates the Democrats’ letter was read, but she added the Democrats did not get a response from Petersen’s office.

The Center Square on Monday requested interviews with Petersen, Gould and the Senate Democrats, but did not get an immediate response.

Gould's compensation was not revealed in the news releases.