Tucson restaurateur wins challenge to Arizona’s cage-free egg rule

Phoenix, Arizona; November 2, 2026: An Arizona court just handed a victory to a Tucson restaurant owner, striking down an Arizona Department of Agriculture rule that would have banned the production and sale of eggs from conventionally housed hens and raised egg costs for businesses and families across the state. On October 29, the Maricopa County Superior Court agreed with Grant Krueger’s argument that the legislature never specifically authorized the agency to impose its cage-free mandate and declared the rule invalid and unenforceable.

“Under Arizona law, agencies may only make rules the legislature has specifically authorized,” said Adi Dynar, an attorney with Pacific Legal Foundation. “A sweeping mandate on which eggs Arizonans can buy and sell is a decision for elected lawmakers, not agency officials. Krueger and his customers deserve to run their businesses and buy their groceries without paying a premium for rules the government had no power to make.”

Krueger founded Union Hospitality Group, which operates three restaurants in Tucson and employs about 225 people. His restaurants buy roughly 9,000 to 10,000 eggs a month. In 2022, the department adopted a rule requiring all eggs sold in Arizona to come from cage-free hens, exempting only producers with fewer than 20,000 hens. In its own rulemaking notice, the agency acknowledged the rule would raise consumer egg costs by $2.71 to $8.79 per person each year. After the Governor’s Regulatory Review Council denied Pacific Legal Foundation’s petition to rescind the rule, Krueger filed a lawsuit with the help of Pacific Legal Foundation and Goldwater Institute.

In its ruling, the court said the rule “is invalid because it is not ‘specifically authorized’ by the statute” the department relied on, which broadly directs the agency to adopt rules for poultry husbandry and egg production. The decision affirms that Arizona agencies cannot stretch vague grants of authority into major policy mandates.

Pacific Legal Foundation and Goldwater Institute represent Krueger free of charge. The case is Grant Krueger, et al. v. Arizona Department of Agriculture.