Arizona Court Information

There are various state courts in the legal system of Arizona. Here’s a list of them:

•    Arizona Supreme Court
•    Arizona Court of Appeals (there are 2 divisions)
•    Superior Courts of Arizona, trial courts in the state and also general jurisdiction courts (there are 15 courts –each county has one)
•    Justices of the Peace (county courts) and Arizona Municipal Courts, city trial courts and courts of limited jurisdiction

Arizona Supreme Court

This is the highest Arizona court in the state.  There is a Chief Justice and there is a Vice Chief Justice. There are also 3 Associate Justices. The state Governor appoints the justices from a recommended list from the bipartisan commission. Once they have completed 2 years in office, the justices need to be re-elected, and the process is repeated every six years. Each justice must retire at the age of 70.

The Chief Justice supervises the administration of all the inferior courts and is selected for a term of 5 years. The person also becomes the Chairman of the Commission on Appellate Court Appointments that is in charge of nominating the candidates to fill vacancies in the appellate courts.

The Vice Chief Justice is chosen by the court for a term determined by the court. The person acts as the Chief Justice when the Chief Justice is absent or is incapacitated.

The court’s jurisdiction is prescribed by Article VI, Section 5 of the Arizona Constitution. Most of the appeals are heard by the Court of Appeals, the only exceptions being penalties of death, which go directly to the state Supreme Court.

The website of the Arizona Supreme Court is http://www.supreme.state.az.us.

Arizona Court of Appeals

There are two divisions of this court and they are Division One and Division Two. The Division One website is http://www.cofad1.state.az.us and the Division Two website is http://www.apltwo.ct.state.az.us.

This is actually the intermediate appellate court in the state. With both the divisions combined, there are 22 judges. There are 16 judges in Division One at Phoenix, and there are 6 judges in Division Two at Tucson.

The Court of Appeals considers appeals in all civil cases from the Arizona Superior Court. It also reviews domestic relations and juvenile issues from superior court, workers’ compensation and unemployment benefits decisions, tax court decisions, and certain corporation commission decisions.

It has jurisdiction over appeals in criminal matters from the superior court, except for cases in which a death sentence has been imposed. Cases with a death penalty reach the state Supreme Court directly.

Arizona Superior Courts

These are the trial courts in the state. There are actually 15 of them – 1 in each county.

•    Maricopa County Superior Court
•    Pima County Superior Court
•    Cochise County Superior Court
•    Coconino County Superior Court
•    Gila County Superior Court
•    Mohave County Superior Court
•    Pinal County Superior Court
•    Yuma County Superior Court
•    Apache County Superior Court
•    Graham County Superior Court
•    Greenlee County Superior Court
•    La Paz County Superior Court
•    Navajo County Superior Court
•    Santa Cruz County Superior Court
•    Yavapai County Superior Court