Title 12, Courts and Civil Proceedings

The supreme court shall consist of seven justices. The term of office of each justice shall be six years and shall take effect on the first Monday in January of the year in which it begins. Justices shall be elected at the general election next preceding the expiration of a term …

A. The supreme court shall discharge the duties imposed and exercise the jurisdiction conferred by the constitution and by law. B. As a condition of appointment to any paid position in the judicial department that is defined as a noncriminal justice agency under federal law, incl…

A. The criminal case processing and enforcement improvement fund is established consisting of monies appropriated to the fund. The purpose of the fund is to improve the processing of criminal cases in the superior court and the justice courts and the enforcement of court orders, …

A. The state aid to the courts fund is established consisting of monies appropriated to the fund and monies allocated pursuant to section 41-2421, subsections B and J. The purpose of the fund is to provide state aid to the superior court, including the clerk of the superior court…

A. The local courts assistance fund is established consisting of monies allocated to the fund pursuant to section 41-2421, subsections E and G. The purpose of the fund is to provide state aid to the superior court, including the clerk of the court and the justice courts in each c…

A. The supreme court may lease or purchase motor vehicles for use by court personnel in conducting business activities in furtherance of the supreme court's administrative supervision over all courts of this state, including the provision of adult and juvenile probation services.…

The supreme court shall have a seal as devised and adopted by the judges of the court. The seal shall be kept by the clerk of the court.

A. The seal of the supreme court need not be affixed to any proceedings in the court except a summons, writ or authentication of a copy of a record or proceedings of the court or its officers for the purpose of record or evidence in another court or place. B. The seal may be affi…

The supreme court shall at all times be open for transaction of business except on nonjudicial days.

Each justice of the supreme court shall receive an annual salary pursuant to section 41-1904.

The supreme court and, pursuant to section 12-120.07, the court of appeals shall publish their opinions as soon as practicable after they are announced. The opinions shall be published in suitable volumes which shall contain appropriate headnotes, tables of cases reported, and ta…

A. The supreme court may contract with the person who agrees to publish and sell the report of decisions on terms most advantageous to the state. The contractor shall agree to publish at the contract price the number of volumes as the supreme court may require. B. Any entity may …

A. The supreme court, by rules or administrative orders, shall regulate pleading, practice and procedure in judicial proceedings in all courts of this state to simplify pleading, practice and procedure and promote speedy determination of litigation on its merits. B. The rules and…

A. The state bar, or a representative group selected by the bar, shall act as an advisory board and shall either voluntarily or upon request of a majority of the judges of the supreme court, consult with, recommend to or advise the court on any matter dealt with or proposed to be…

All statutes relating to pleading, practice and procedure shall be deemed rules of court and shall remain in effect as such until modified or suspended by rules promulgated by the supreme court.

The supreme court shall establish a program of continuing education for justices of the peace and magistrates. The program shall include such courses of study as the supreme court deems necessary or desirable.

A. The supreme court shall provide that if a member of the state bar or a certified legal document preparer attends a continuing education program and earns continuing education credit to fulfill a state agency license renewal requirement, the state bar member or certified legal …

A. A judicial collection enhancement fund is established consisting of monies received from: 1. The time payment fee established in section 12-116. 2. The surcharge paid by a person attending a court ordered diversion program pursuant to section 12-114. 3. Monies deposited in the…

A. If a court authorizes individuals charged with civil or criminal traffic offenses to attend a court authorized diversion program, including a defensive driving school program, it shall require the assessment of a nine dollar surcharge on the fees charged by the court authorize…

A. Except as provided in section 12-269, in addition to any other penalty, fine, fee, surcharge or assessment authorized by law, a person shall pay an assessment of twenty dollars on conviction for a criminal offense or a finding of responsibility for a civil traffic violation, f…

(Rpld. 1/1/31) A. In addition to any other assessment authorized by law, the supreme court shall establish an additional fee on each filing, appearance and answer or response fee charged by a clerk of the superior court. B. The clerk shall collect the additional fee and monthly r…

A. In addition to any other assessment authorized by law, a fee of $20 shall be assessed on each person who pays a court ordered penalty, fine or sanction on a time payment basis, including parking penalties and restitution. The fee may not be assessed on a penalty, fine or sanct…

A. In addition to any penalty provided by law, a surcharge shall be levied in an amount of forty-two percent on every fine, penalty and forfeiture imposed and collected by the courts for criminal offenses and any civil penalty imposed and collected for a civil traffic violation a…

A. In addition to any penalty provided by law, a surcharge shall be levied in an amount of thirteen percent on every fine, penalty and forfeiture imposed and collected by the courts for criminal offenses and civil penalties imposed and collected for a civil traffic violation and …

A court may contract with public agencies or private entities to assist in collecting fines, fees, penalties, costs, surcharges, restitution and assessments that remain unpaid. The court may add to any underlying amount owed reasonable costs charged by the contracting agency or e…

A. In addition to any other penalty assessment provided by law, a penalty assessment shall be levied in an amount of thirteen dollars on every fine, penalty and forfeiture imposed and collected by the courts for criminal offenses and any civil penalty imposed and collected for a …

A. In addition to any other penalty, fine, fee or assessment authorized by law, a person who is convicted of an offense included in title 13, chapter 14 or 35.1, stalking pursuant to section 13-2923 or a domestic violence offense pursuant to section 13-3601 shall pay an assessmen…

In addition to any other penalty, fine, fee or assessment authorized by law, a person who is convicted of a violation of section 13-2921, 13-2921.01 or 13-2923 or an offense listed in title 13, chapter 36 shall pay an additional assessment of fifty dollars to be deposited by the …

A. In addition to any other assessment or restitution, if a person is convicted of a dangerous crime against children as defined in section 13-705 or a violation of section 13-1404, 13-1405, 13-1406 or 13-3212, the court shall order the person to pay an assessment of $500. The as…

A. In addition to any other penalty assessment provided by law, a penalty assessment shall be levied in an amount of nine dollars on every fine, penalty and forfeiture imposed and collected by the courts for criminal offenses and any civil penalty imposed and collected for a civi…

A. In addition to any other penalty assessment provided by law, a penalty assessment shall be levied in an amount of $4 on every fine, penalty and forfeiture imposed and collected by the courts for criminal offenses and any civil penalty imposed and collected for a civil traffic …

A. In addition to any other penalty assessment provided by law, a penalty assessment shall be levied in an amount of four dollars on every civil penalty imposed and collected for a civil traffic violation and fine, penalty or forfeiture for a criminal violation of the motor vehic…

A. In addition to any other penalty assessment provided by law, a penalty assessment shall be levied in an amount of $1,000 on every fine, penalty and forfeiture imposed and collected by the courts for a violation of section 28-708. B. The court shall transmit the assessments col…

(Caution: 1998 Prop 105 applies; Rpld. 1/1/33) A. Beginning from and after June 30, 2025, in addition to any other penalty, fine, fee, surcharge or assessment authorized by law, a person shall pay a penalty fee of $20 on every conviction for a criminal offense. B. The court shall…

A. The public defender training fund is established consisting of monies allocated to the fund pursuant to section 12-116. The supreme court shall administer the fund. B. Each month the supreme court shall deposit in the fund the monies collected for the fund. All monies deposite…

A. The general adjudication personnel and support fund is established consisting of monies appropriated by the legislature. The supreme court shall administer the fund. Monies in the fund are continuously appropriated and are exempt from the provisions of section 35-190 relating …

A. A court may accept a credit card, debit card, charge card, electronic transfer or other means as approved by the supreme court or the presiding judge for the payment of any monies payable to the court including but not limited to filing fees, bonds, fines, fees, sanctions, pen…

The supreme court may obtain operational and maintenance assistance from the department of administration and security assistance from the department of public safety for any supreme court facility or may employ personnel or contract for outside services for the operation, mainte…

A. Except as otherwise provided by law, fees for the supreme court shall be established and classified as follows: Class Description Fee A Initial case filing fee Petitions for review and cross petitions for Review $ 140.00 Direct appeals and cross appeal appellant 140.00 Special…

A. The supreme court may provide for the electronic filing of documents and electronic access to court records, pursuant to rules adopted by the court. B. The court may impose a fee of not more than one hundred dollars per year for an annual on-line access subscription plus a fee…

The auditor general shall conduct a performance audit, as defined in section 41-1278, of the administrative office of the courts at the request of the joint legislative audit committee that is established pursuant to section 41-1279. The auditor general shall limit the performanc…

A. The supreme court shall adopt and administer for all superior court commissioners in counties having a population of two hundred fifty thousand persons or more a process, established by court rules, for evaluating superior court commissioner performance. The rules shall includ…

The designated post of duty of a justice of the supreme court who resides outside of Maricopa county shall be deemed to be the justice's place of permanent physical residence at the time of the justice's appointment.

A. A court of appeals is established and constitutes a single court and such court shall be a court of record. B. The court of appeals shall be divided into two divisions which shall be designated as division 1 and division 2. Division 1 shall have nineteen judges, consisting of …

A. A judge of the court of appeals shall be: 1. Not less than thirty years of age. 2. Of good moral character. 3. A qualified elector of the county of his residence, and a resident of such county for not less than three years next preceding taking office. 4. A resident of the div…

A. In division 1, of the nineteen judges, ten of the judges shall be residents of and elected for retention from Maricopa county, five of the judges shall be residents of the remaining counties in the division and shall be elected for retention by the voters of the counties in di…

Each judge of the court of appeals shall receive an annual salary pursuant to section 41-1904.

A. The chief judge of each division shall be elected annually by the members of the division. The chief judge may be a member of any department of the division. The chief judge shall serve in such capacity until his successor has been elected as provided by this section. B. The c…

A. The court of appeals shall have a seal which shall be kept by the clerk of each division. B. The seal of the court of appeals need not be affixed to any proceedings in the court except a summons, writ or authentication of a copy of a record or proceedings of the court or its o…

The court of appeals shall at all times be open for transaction of business except on nonjudicial days.