Formal charges filed against Sen. Justine Wadsack for 'excessive speeding'

Charges were filed Tuesday against Tucson state Sen. Justine Wadsack for “excessive speeding” in March.

Tucson police say Wadsack was stopped on March 15 for going 71 mph in a 35-mph zone on Speedway near Euclid, but they waited to cite her because of legislative immunity while the Legislature is in session. Wadsack has claimed the charges are “political persecution” and refused to sign the criminal citation, police have said.

The legislative immunity clause prevents elected officials from being cited or arrested while in legislative session. The session, which began in January, ended June 15.

Wadsack was formally charged Tuesday with excessive speeding and a failure to produce proof of insurance, court records show. She is set to appear in Tucson City Court on Aug. 21.

Tuesday was also Election Day, in which Wadsack, a first-term senator representing District 17, faced a challenge in the Republican primary from former legislator Vince Leach.

Exceeding the posted speed limit by more than 20 mph is considered a class three misdemeanor. Wadsack could face up to 30 days in jail and up to a year of probation and a fine of up to $500.

Wadsack did not respond to multiple inquiries for comment from the Star, including phone calls, text messages and a direct message on X, formerly Twitter.

Back to homepage

Subscriber Login

Keep reading with a digital access subscription.

Subscribe now

She posted July 20 on Facebook: “I am not ‘above the law’, I have acted within the law and the Constitution. The media and my opponent are desperate for content.”

Wadsack wrote that she hasn’t been summoned and that, “Had I been given a ticket by the officer, I would have taken it to the Capitol and asked Legislative Council what the next steps were. … As a new legislator, I didn’t know my rights, and neither did he (the officer), so he let me go.”

“In July, I got a call from a TPD officer … to come sign for a ticket they’re giving me based on a body cam footage from 4-months prior. As a new legislator, I had never heard of ticketing me months later as it’s not in the language of the law. I still get mixed messages as to how this should have been handled by police … and have talked to different legal advisors in the know.”

The incident, and Wadsack’s reaction, caused the Arizona Fraternal Order of Police to retract its primary election endorsement of her.

“Wadsack argued that the ticket amounted to ‘political persecution’ and refused to sign the citation before hanging up on the lieutenant,” the group, which represents more than 9,400 members statewide, said in a statemen last week. “In a subsequent social media post, Wadsack claimed that she is ‘investigating the TPD’ and accused the department of acting in a ‘highly irregular’ manner.”