She served as the Chairman of the House Agriculture, Water and Lands Committee from 2012 until giving up her position due to term limits in 2018.

She participated in the Sagebrush rebellion, and Barton is a former county officer with People for the West, an advocacy group promoting private property rights and opposing federal intervention in western lands.

Barton is also a graduate of the Dodie Londen Excellence in Public Service Series and a former state officer with the Arizona Federation of Republican Women.

[8] Frustrated by the economic impact to her rural district caused by the United States federal government shutdown in 2013, as well as the administration's initial refusal to allow Arizona to keep the park open, Barton took to Facebook to express her anger over the losses of over $1.6 million per day being suffered by her rural communities and compared President Barack Obama to Adolf Hitler.

[13][14] The proposed bill also stipulated that half of all fines imposed by the federal government must be turned over to Arizona's general fund.