Attorney General Mayes Announces Conviction of Former Legislator Austin Smith
PHOENIX – Attorney General Kris Mayes announced today that Austin Cole Smith, age 30 of Buckeye, entered two guilty pleas in Maricopa County Superior Court this morning as a part of an agreement to resolve the felony case announced earlier this year.
“Forging signatures, including those of people who have died, in order to get yourself on the ballot is illegal, and it erodes trust in our elections,” said Attorney General Mayes. “My office will continue to hold accountable anyone who tries to cheat the system and mislead Arizona voters.”
Smith, a former Arizona State Representative for District 29 from 2023-2025, was indicted by the State Grand Jury in June, 2025, for 14 criminal counts - including 4 felonies – involving forged candidate nomination petitions for his 2024 re-election campaign. The petitions were filed by Smith with the Arizona Secretary of State in March of 2024, with Smith signing the back of a number of those petitions indicating that he had circulated them.
As a part of his guilty plea today, Smith admitted signing the name of a deceased woman on one of his candidate nomination petitions in March of 2024. He also admitted that he attempted to deceive the Secretary of State’s Office by knowingly filing petitions containing forged signatures of purported supporters of his nomination for the Republican primary for State Representative from LD 29.
The agreement entered today, attached, includes an agreement that Smith will be sentenced to a term of probation, a fine of at least $5,500.00, and a five-year prohibition on seeking public office. Certain terms of plea agreements are not binding on the Court, and may be subject to potential rejection at the time Smith is sentenced. Smith is scheduled to appear for sentencing before Judge Aryeh Schwartz of the Maricopa County Superior Court on Tuesday, January 6, 2026, at 9:30am.
A copy of the plea agreement is available here. Mr. Smith's photograph is available here.