Title 1, General Provisions

The Arizona Revised Statutes adopted and enacted into law by this act, and as hereafter amended and supplemented and printed and published pursuant to section 1-106, shall be known as Arizona Revised Statutes and may be cited as "A.R.S." followed by the number of the title and th…

All laws and statutes of a general, public and permanent nature now in force and effect are repealed effective twelve o'clock noon on January 9, 1956.

Each and all of the laws and statutes as herein contained and hereby enacted shall take effect and be in force on and after twelve o'clock noon on January 9, 1956, except where a later effective date is expressly provided in any section of these Revised Statutes, the later effect…

A. The adoption and enactment of these Revised Statutes shall not be construed to repeal or in any way to affect or modify: 1. Any special, local or temporary laws. 2. Any law making an appropriation. 3. Any law affecting any bond issue or by which any bond issue may have been au…

A. No fine, forfeiture or penalty incurred under laws existing prior to the time these Revised Statutes take effect shall be affected by repeal of such existing laws, but the recovery of such fines and forfeitures and the enforcement of such penalties shall be effected as if the …

A. The laws contained in current pocket parts or supplements to these Revised Statutes, printed and published hereafter as may be authorized by law, shall constitute, prima facie, a part of these Revised Statutes, if such laws, as so contained, purport to represent reproductions …

The common law only so far as it is consistent with and adapted to the natural and physical conditions of this state and the necessities of the people thereof, and not repugnant to or inconsistent with the Constitution of the United States or the constitution or laws of this stat…

Unless otherwise specifically required by law, no private or corporate seal or scroll is necessary to establish the validity of any contract, bond, conveyance or other instrument of writing, nor shall the addition or omission of any private or corporate seal or scroll in any way …

A. The rules and the definitions set forth in this chapter shall be observed in the construction of the laws of the state unless such construction would be inconsistent with the manifest intent of the legislature. B. Statutes shall be liberally construed to effect their objects a…

Except as provided in section 47-1107, headings to sections, source notes, reviser's notes and cross references are supplied for the purpose of convenient reference and do not constitute part of the law.

Words and phrases shall be construed according to the common and approved use of the language. Technical words and phrases and those which have acquired a peculiar and appropriate meaning in the law shall be construed according to such peculiar and appropriate meaning.

A. Words in the present tense include the future as well as the present. B. Words in the singular number include the plural, and words in the plural number include the singular. C. Words of the masculine gender include the feminine and the neuter. D. Words of the feminine gender …

In the statutes and laws of this state, unless the context otherwise requires: 1. "Action" includes any matter or proceeding in a court, civil or criminal. 2. "Adopted rule" means a final rule as defined in section 41-1001. 3. "Adult" means a person who has attained eighteen year…

A. Words purporting to give a joint authority to three or more public officers or other persons shall be construed as giving the authority to a majority of the officers or persons unless it is otherwise expressly declared in the law giving the authority. B. A majority of a board …

In pleadings, civil or criminal: 1. "Horse" includes all kinds, ages and sexes of the horse species. 2. "Mule" includes all kinds, ages and sexes of the mule species. 3. "Neat animal" includes all kinds, ages and sexes of the bovine species.

A. Any report, claim, tax return, statement, payment, deposit or other material dealing in any way or manner with taxation, other than petitions or notices of appeal, that is required or authorized to be filed with or made to this state or any agency or political subdivision of t…

A. The laws of this state shall be interpreted and construed to acknowledge, on behalf of an unborn child at every stage of development, all rights, privileges and immunities available to other persons, citizens and residents of this state, subject only to the Constitution of the…

A. An act or statute which by its terms is to take effect on a specified day shall, unless otherwise provided in the act or statute, take effect at twelve o'clock noon on the day specified. B. An act or statute, which by its terms is to take effect from and after a specified day,…

A. The standard time in Arizona shall be the solar time of the one hundred fifth meridian west of Greenwich, commonly known as standard mountain time. B. This section shall not be construed to affect the standard time established by United States law governing the movements of co…

A. Except as provided in subsection B, the time in which an act is required to be done shall be computed by excluding the first day and including the last day, unless the last day is a holiday, and then it is also excluded. B. In cases in which notice of a decision by the state, …

No statute is retroactive unless expressly declared therein.

When a statute has been enacted and has become a law, no other statute or law is continued in force because it is consistent with the statute enacted, but in all cases provided for by the subsequent statute, the statutes, laws and rules theretofore in force, whether consistent or…

When the penalty for an offense is prescribed by one law and altered by a subsequent law, the penalty of such second law shall not be inflicted for a breach of the law committed before the second took effect, but the offender shall be punished under the law in force when the offe…

When by the provisions of a repealing statute a new penalty is substituted for an offense punishable under the law repealed, such repealing statute shall not exempt from punishment a person who has offended against the repealed law while it was in force, but in such case the rule…

A repealing act shall not affect: 1. Any law funding the territorial or state debt. 2. Any law authorizing the issuance of, funding of, or payment of principal or interest on, territorial bonds, bonds of the state, bonds of an agency, institution, department or political subdivis…

No action or proceeding commenced before a repealing act takes effect, and no right accrued is affected by the repealing act, but proceedings therein shall conform to the new act so far as applicable.

When a limitation or period of time prescribed in a law for acquiring a right or barring a remedy or for any purpose has begun to run before an act repealing such law takes effect and the same or any other limitation is prescribed in any other act passed at the same session of th…

A person who at the time an act takes effect holds office under a law repealed by such act continues to hold the office according to the tenure of the law repealed, unless the duties of the office are expressly transferred to some other office.

The repeal or abrogation of a statute, law or rule does not revive the former statute, law or rule theretofore repealed or abrogated, nor does it affect any right then already existing or accrued at the time of such repeal, nor any action or proceeding theretofore taken, except s…

A. The omission to specify or affirm by law liability to damages, penalty, forfeiture or other remedy imposed by law and allowed to be recovered or enforced in a civil action or proceeding for an act or omission declared punishable by law, does not affect a right to recover or en…

No statute may be construed to impose a duty on an officer, agent or employee of this state to discharge a responsibility or to create any right in a person or group if the discharge or right would require an expenditure of state monies in excess of the expenditure authorized by …

A reference to a statute or portion of a statute applies to all reenactments, revisions or amendments of the statute or portion of the statute.

A. Pursuant to the sovereign authority of this state and article II, section 3, Constitution of Arizona, this state and all political subdivisions of this state are prohibited from using any personnel or financial resources to enforce, administer or cooperate with the affordable …

Pursuant to the sovereign authority of this state and article II, section 3, Constitution of Arizona, this state and all political subdivisions of this state are prohibited from using any personnel or financial resources to enforce, administer or cooperate with any act, law, trea…

A. The following days shall be holidays: 1. Sunday of each week. 2. January 1, "New Year's Day". 3. Third Monday in January, "Martin Luther King, Jr./Civil Rights Day". 4. Third Monday in February, "Lincoln/Washington Presidents' Day". 5. Second Sunday in May, "Mothers' Day". 6. …

A. Public offices shall not be open, and no court of justice shall be open or any judicial business transacted on a legal holiday, except for the following purposes: 1. To give upon its request, instructions to a jury deliberating on its verdict. 2. To receive a verdict or discha…

When anything of a secular nature, other than a work of necessity or charity, is provided or agreed to be done upon a day named or within a time named, and the day or the last day thereof falls on a holiday, it may be performed on the next ensuing business day with effect as thou…

A. The last Friday in April, in each year, shall be known as Arbor Day. B. The governor shall make proclamation of Arbor Day and recommend that it be observed in planting trees, shrubs and vines, in the promotion of forest orchard growth and culture in the adornment of public and…

A. The fourth Saturday in July, in each year, shall be observed as the national day of the cowboy. B. National day of the cowboy is not a legal holiday.

A. July 27, in each year, shall be observed as Korean war veterans' day. B. Korean war veterans' day is not a legal holiday.

A. April 9, in each year, shall be observed as prisoners of war remembrance day. B. The governor shall make proclamation of prisoners of war remembrance day to commemorate the sacrifices of men and women who suffered captivity in foreign lands while in the service of our country.…

A. March 31, in each year, shall be observed as Dr. Cesar Estrada Chavez day. B. Dr. Cesar Estrada Chavez day is not a legal holiday.

A. February 8, in each year, shall be observed as boy scouts of America day. B. Boy scouts of America day is not a legal holiday.

A. March 12, in each year, shall be observed as girl scouts of the United States of America day. B. Girl scouts of the United States of America day is not a legal holiday.

A. The fourth Thursday in March, each year, shall be observed as the Tuskegee airmen commemoration day. B. Tuskegee airmen commemoration day is not a legal holiday.

A. March 29, in each year, shall be observed as Vietnam veterans' day. B. Vietnam veterans' day is not a legal holiday.

A. August 14, in each year, shall be observed as Navajo code talkers' day. B. Navajo code talkers' day is not a legal holiday.

A. September 27, in each year, shall be observed as Arizona first responders' day of gratitude and remembrance. B. Arizona first responders' day of gratitude and remembrance is not a legal holiday. C. On Arizona first responders' day of gratitude and remembrance, residents of thi…

A. June 19, in each year, shall be observed as Juneteenth day. B. Juneteenth day is not a legal holiday.

A. August 7, in each year, shall be observed as purple heart day. B. Purple heart day is not a legal holiday.