The
Constitution of Arizona, in its original form, was adopted in the afternoon of
Formulation
of the Constitution was authorized by an Enabling Act of Congress which
received the President's signature on June 20, 1910, after an historic
struggle waged by the people of Arizona over more than a quarter of a century,
for the right of local self-government and Arizona's recognition as a member
of the Union of States.
Conclusion
of the labors of the Constitutional Convention did not, however, automatically
admit
At
an election held
On
CONSTITUTION OF THE STATE OF
We, the people of the State of
ARTICLE I - STATE BOUN
Section 1. Designation
of boundaries
The boundaries of the State of Arizona shall be as follows, namely:
Beginning at a point on the Colorado River twenty English miles below the
junction of the Gila and Colorado Rivers, as fixed by the Gadsden Treaty
between the United States and Mexico, being in latitude thirty-two degrees,
twenty-nine minutes, forty-four and forty-five one-hundredths seconds north
and longitude one hundred fourteen degrees, forty-eight minutes, forty-four
and fifty-three one-hundredths seconds west of Greenwich; thence along and
with the international boundary line between the United States and Mexico in a
southeastern direction to Monument Number 127 on said boundary line in
latitude thirty-one degrees, twenty minutes north; thence east along and with
said parallel of latitude, continuing on said boundary line to an intersection
with the meridian of longitude one hundred nine degrees, two minutes,
fifty-nine and twenty-five one-hundredths seconds west, being identical with
the southwestern corner of New Mexico; thence north along and with said
meridian of longitude and the west boundary of New Mexico to an intersection
with the parallel of latitude thirty-seven degrees north, being the common
corner of Colorado, Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico; thence west along and with
said parallel of latitude and the south boundary of Utah to an intersection
with the meridian of longitude one hundred fourteen degrees, two minutes,
fifty-nine and twenty-five one-hundredths seconds west, being on the east
boundary line of the state of Nevada; thence south along and with said
meridian of longitude and the east boundary of said state of Nevada, to the
center of the Colorado River; thence down the mid-channel of said Colorado
River in a southern direction along and with the east boundaries of Nevada,
California, and the Mexican Territory of Lower California, successively, to
the place of beginning.
Added, election
Section 2. Alteration
of state boundaries
Section 2. The legislature, in cooperation with the properly
constituted authority of any adjoining state, is empowered to change, alter,
and redefine the state boundaries, such change, alteration and redefinition to
become effective only upon approval of the congress of the
ARTICLE II - DE
Section 1. Fundamental
principles, recurrence to
Section 1. A frequent recurrence to fundamental principles is
essential to the security of individual rights and the perpetuity of free
government.
Section 2. Political
power; purpose of government
Section 2. All political power is inherent in the people, and
governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed, and are
established to protect and maintain individual rights.
Section 2.1. Victims'
Bill of Rights
Section 2.1. (A) To preserve and protect victims' rights to justice
and due process, a victim of crime has a right:
1. To be treated with fairness, respect, and dignity, and to be
free from intimidation, harassment, or abuse, throughout the criminal justice
process.
2. To be informed, upon request, when the accused or convicted
person is released from custody or has escaped.
3. To be present at and, upon request, to be informed of all
criminal proceedings where the defendant has the right to be present.
4. To be heard at any proceeding involving a post-arrest release
decision, a negotiated plea, and sentencing.
5. To refuse an interview, deposition, or other discovery request
by the defendant, the defendant's attorney, or other person acting on behalf
of the defendant.
6. To confer with the prosecution, after the crime against the
victim has been charged, before trial or before any disposition of the case
and to be informed of the disposition.
7. To read pre-sentence reports relating to the crime against the
victim when they are available to the defendant.
8. To receive prompt restitution from the person or persons
convicted of the criminal conduct that caused the victim's loss or injury.
9. To be heard at any proceeding when any post-conviction release
from confinement is being considered.
10. To a speedy trial or disposition and prompt and final
conclusion of the case after the conviction and sentence.
11. To have all rules governing criminal procedure and the
admissibility of evidence in all criminal proceedings protect victims' rights
and to have these rules be subject to amendment or repeal by the legislature
to ensure the protection of these rights.
12. To be informed of victims' constitutional rights.
(B) A victim's exercise of any right granted by this section shall
not be grounds for dismissing any criminal proceeding or setting aside any
conviction or sentence.
(C) "Victim" means a person against whom the criminal
offense has been committed or, if the person is killed or incapacitated, the
person's spouse, parent, child or other lawful representative, except if the
person is in custody for an offense or is the accused.
(D) The legislature, or the people by initiative or referendum,
have the authority to enact substantive and procedural laws to define,
implement, preserve and protect the rights guaranteed to victims by this
section, including the authority to extend any of these rights to juvenile
proceedings.
(E) The enumeration in the constitution of certain rights for
victims shall not be construed to deny or disparage others granted by the
legislature or retained by victims.
Added, election
Section 3. Supreme law
of the land
Section 3. The Constitution of the
Section 4. No person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or
property without due process of law.
Section 5. Right of
petition and of assembly
Section 5. The right of petition, and of the people peaceably to
assemble for the common good, shall never be abridged.
Section 6. Freedom of
speech and press
Section 6. Every person may freely speak, write, and publish on all
subjects, being responsible for the abuse of that right.
Section 7. Oaths and
affirmations
Section 7. The mode of administering an oath, or affirmation, shall
be such as shall be most consistent with and binding upon the conscience of
the person to whom such oath, or affirmation, may be administered.
Section 8. No person shall be disturbed in his private affairs, or
his home invaded, without authority of law.
Section 9. Irrevocable
grants of privileges, franchises or immunities
Section 9. No law granting irrevocably any privilege, franchise, or
immunity shall be enacted.
Section 10.
Self-incrimination; double jeopardy
Section 10. No person shall be compelled in any criminal case to
give evidence against himself, or be twice put in jeopardy for the same
offense.
Section 11.
Administration of justice
Section 11. Justice in all cases shall be administered openly, and
without unnecessary delay.
Section 12.
Section 12. The liberty of conscience secured by the provisions of
this constitution shall not be so construed as to excuse acts of
licentiousness, or justify practices inconsistent with the peace and safety of
the state. No public money or property shall be appropriated for or applied to
any religious worship, exercise, or instruction, or the support of any
religious establishment. No religious qualification shall be required for any
public office or employment, nor shall any person be incompetent as a witness
or juror in consequence of his opinion on matters of religion, nor be
questioned touching his religious belief in any court of justice to affect the
weight of his testimony.
Section 13. Equal
privileges and immunities
Section 13. No law shall be enacted granting to any citizen, class
of citizens, or corporation other than municipal, privileges or immunities
which, upon the same terms, shall not equally belong to all citizens or
corporations.
Section 14. The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be
suspended by the authorities of the state.
Section 15. Excessive
bail; cruel and unusual punishment
Section 15. Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive
fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishment inflicted.
Section 16. Corruption
of blood; forfeiture of estate
Section 16. No conviction shall work corruption of blood, or
forfeiture of estate.
Section 17. Eminent
domain; just compensation for private property taken; public use as judicial
question
Section 17. Private property shall not be taken for private use,
except for private ways of necessity, and for drains, flumes, or ditches, on
or across the lands of others for mining, agricultural, domestic, or sanitary
purposes. No private property shall be taken or damaged for public or private
use without just compensation having first been made, paid into court for the
owner, secured by bond as may be fixed by the court, or paid into the state
treasury for the owner on such terms and conditions as the legislature may
provide, and no right of way shall be appropriated to the use of any
corporation other than municipal, until full compensation therefor be first
made in money, or ascertained and paid into court for the owner, irrespective
of any benefit from any improvement proposed by such corporation, which
compensation shall be ascertained by a jury, unless a jury be waived as in
other civil cases in courts of record, in the manner prescribed by law.
Whenever an attempt is made to take private property for a use alleged to be
public, the question whether the contemplated use be really public shall be a
judicial question, and determined as such without regard to any legislative
assertion that the use is public.
Amended, election
Section 18.
Imprisonment for debt
Section 18. There shall be no imprisonment for debt, except in
cases of fraud.
Section 19. Bribery or
illegal rebating; witnesses; self-incrimination no defense
Section 19. Any person having knowledge or possession of facts that
tend to establish the guilt of any other person or corporation charged with
bribery or illegal rebating, shall not be excused from giving testimony or
producing evidence, when legally called upon to do so, on the ground that it
may tend to incriminate him under the laws of the state; but no person shall
be prosecuted or subject to any penalty or forfeiture for, or on account of,
any transaction, matter, or thing concerning which he may so testify or
produce evidence.
Section 20. Military
power subordinate to civil power
Section 20. The military shall be in strict subordination to the
civil power.
Section 21. Free and
equal elections
Section 21. All elections shall be free and equal, and no power,
civil or military, shall at any time interfere to prevent the free exercise of
the right of suffrage.
Section 22. All persons charged with crime shall be bailable by
sufficient sureties, except for:
1. Capital offenses when the proof is evident or the presumption
great.
2. Felony offenses, committed when the person charged is already
admitted to bail on a separate felony charge and where the proof is evident or
the presumption great as to the present charge.
3. Felony offenses if the person charged poses a substantial danger
to any other person or the community, if no conditions of release which may be
imposed will reasonably assure the safety of the other person or the community
and if the proof is evident or the presumption great as to the present charge.
Amended, election
Section 23. Trial by
jury; number of jurors specified by law
Section 23. The right of trial by jury shall remain inviolate.
Juries in criminal cases in which a sentence of death or imprisonment for
thirty years or more is authorized by law shall consist of twelve persons. In
all criminal cases the unanimous consent of the jurors shall be necessary to
render a verdict. In all other cases, the number of jurors, not less than six,
and the number required to render a verdict, shall be specified by law.
Amended, election
Section 24. Rights of
accused in criminal prosecutions
Section 24. In criminal prosecutions, the accused shall have the
right to appear and defend in person, and by counsel, to demand the nature and
cause of the accusation against him, to have a copy thereof, to testify in his
own behalf, to meet the witnesses against him face to face, to have compulsory
process to compel the attendance of witnesses in his own behalf, to have a
speedy public trial by an impartial jury of the county in which the offense is
alleged to have been committed, and the right to appeal in all cases; and in
no instance shall any accused person before final judgment be compelled to
advance money or fees to secure the rights herein guaranteed.
Section 25. Bills of
attainder; ex post facto laws; impairment of contract obligations
Section 25. No bill or attainder, ex post facto law, or law
impairing the obligation of a contract, shall ever be enacted.
Section 26. The right of the individual citizen to bear arms in
defense of himself or the state shall not be impaired, but nothing in this
section shall be construed as authorizing individuals or corporations to
organize, maintain, or employ an armed body of men.
Section 27. Standing
army; quartering soldiers
Section 27. No standing army shall be kept up by this state in time
of peace, and no soldier shall in time of peace be quartered in any house
without the consent of its owner, nor in time of war except in the manner
prescribed by law.
Section 28. Treason against the state shall consist only in levying
war against the state, or adhering to its enemies, or in giving them aid and
comfort. No person shall be convicted of treason unless on the testimony of
two witnesses to the same overt act, or confession in open court.
Section 29. Hereditary
emoluments, privileges or powers; perpetuities or entailments
Section 29. No hereditary emoluments, privileges, or powers shall
be granted or conferred, and no law shall be enacted permitting any perpetuity
or entailment in this state.
Section 30. Indictment
or information; preliminary examination
Section 30. No person shall be prosecuted criminally in any court
of record for felony or misdemeanor, otherwise than by information or
indictment; no person shall be prosecuted for felony by information without
having had a preliminary examination before a magistrate or having waived such
preliminary examination.
Section 31. Damages for
death or personal injuries
Section 31. No law shall be enacted in this state limiting the
amount of damages to be recovered for causing the death or injury of any
person.
Section 32.
Constitutional provisions mandatory
Section 32. The provisions of this constitution are mandatory,
unless by express words they are declared to be otherwise.
Section 33. Reservation
of rights
Section 33. The enumeration in this constitution of certain rights
shall not be construed to deny others retained by the people.
Section 34. Industrial
pursuits by the state and municipal corporations
Section 34. The state of
Added, election
ARTICLE III - DISTRIBUTION OF POWERS
The
powers of the government of the State of Arizona shall be divided into three
separate departments, the Legislative, the Executive, and the Judicial; and,
except as provided in this Constitution, such departments shall be separate
and distinct, and no one of such departments shall exercise the powers
properly belonging to either of the others.
ARTICLE IV - LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT
PART 1. INITIATIVE AND REFERENDUM
Section 1. Legislative
authority; initiative and referendum
Section 1. (1) [Senate; house of representatives; reservation of
power to people] The legislative authority of the state shall be vested in a
legislature, consisting of a senate and a house of representatives, but the
people reserve the power to propose laws and amendments to the constitution
and to enact or reject such laws and amendments at the polls, independently of
the legislature; and they also reserve, for use at their own option, the power
to approve or reject at the polls any act, or item, section, or part of any
act, of the legislature.
(2) [Initiative power] The first of these reserved powers is the
initiative. Under this power ten per centum of the qualified electors shall
have the right to propose any measure, and fifteen per centum shall have the
right to propose any amendment to the constitution.
(3) [Referendum power; emergency measures; effective date of acts]
The second of these reserved powers is the referendum. Under this power the
legislature, or five per centum of the qualified electors, may order the
submission to the people at the polls of any measure, or item, section, or
part of any measure, enacted by the legislature, except laws immediately
necessary for the preservation of the public peace, health, or safety, or for
the support and maintenance of the departments of the state government and
state institutions; but to allow opportunity for referendum petitions, no act
passed by the legislature shall be operative for ninety days after the close
of the session of the legislature enacting such measure, except such as
require earlier operation to preserve the public peace, health, or safety, or
to provide appropriations for the support and maintenance of the departments
of the state and of state institutions; provided, that no such emergency
measure shall be considered passed by the legislature unless it shall state in
a separate section why it is necessary that it shall become immediately
operative, and shall be approved by the affirmative votes of two-thirds of the
members elected to each house of the legislature, taken by roll call of ayes
and nays, and also approved by the governor; and should such measure be vetoed
by the governor, it shall not become a law unless it shall be approved by the
votes of three-fourths of the members elected to each house of the
legislature, taken by roll call of ayes and nays.
(4) [Initiative and referendum petitions; filing] All petitions
submitted under the power of the initiative shall be known as initiative
petitions, and shall be filed with the secretary of state not less than four
months preceding the date of the election at which the measures so proposed
are to be voted upon. All petitions submitted under the power of the
referendum shall be known as referendum petitions, and shall be filed with the
secretary of state not more than ninety days after the final adjournment of
the session of the legislature which shall have passed the measure to which
the referendum is applied. The filing of a referendum petition against any
item, section, or part of any measure shall not prevent the remainder of such
measure from becoming operative.
(5) [Effective date of initiative and referendum measures] Any
measure or amendment to the constitution proposed under the initiative, and
any measure to which the referendum is applied, shall be referred to a vote of
the qualified electors, and shall become law when approved by a majority of
the votes cast thereon and upon proclamation of the governor, and not
otherwise.
(6) (A) Veto of initiative or referendum. The veto power of the
governor shall not extend to an initiative measure approved by a majority of
the votes cast thereon or to a referendum measure decided by a majority of the
votes cast thereon.
(6) (B) Legislature's power to repeal initiative or referendum. The
legislature shall not have the power to repeal an initiative measure approved
by a majority of the votes cast thereon or to repeal a referendum measure
decided by a majority of the votes cast thereon.
(6) (C) Legislature's power to amend initiative or referendum. The
legislature shall not have the power to amend an initiative measure approved
by a majority of the votes cast thereon, or to amend a referendum measure
decided by a majority of the votes cast thereon, unless the amending
legislation furthers the purposes of such measure and at least three-fourths
of the members of each house of the legislature, by a roll call of ayes and
nays, vote to amend such measure.
(6) (D) Legislature's power to appropriate or divert funds created
by initiative or referendum. The legislature shall not have the power to
appropriate or divert funds created or allocated to a specific purpose by an
initiative measure approved by a majority of the votes cast thereon, or by a
referendum measure decided by a majority of the votes cast thereon, unless the
appropriation or diversion of funds furthers the purposes of such measure and
at least three-fourths of the members of each house of the legislature, by a
roll call of ayes and nays, vote to appropriate or divert such funds.
(7) [Number of qualified electors] The whole number of votes cast
for all candidates for governor at the general election last preceding the
filing of any initiative or referendum petition on a state or county measure
shall be the basis on which the number of qualified electors required to sign
such petition shall be computed.
(8) [Local, city, town or county matters] The powers of the
initiative and the referendum are hereby further reserved to the qualified
electors of every incorporated city, town, and county as to all local, city,
town, or county matters on which such incorporated cities, towns, and counties
are or shall be empowered by general laws to legislate. Such incorporated
cities, towns, and counties may prescribe the manner of exercising said powers
within the restrictions of general laws. Under the power of the initiative
fifteen per centum of the qualified electors may propose measures on such
local, city, town or county matters, and ten per centum of the electors may
propose the referendum on legislation enacted within and by such city, town,
or county. Until provided by general law, said cities and towns may prescribe
the basis on which said percentages shall be computed.
(9) [Form and contents of initiative and of referendum petitions;
verification] Every initiative or referendum petition shall be addressed to
the secretary of state in the case of petitions for or on state measures, and
to the clerk of the board of supervisors, city clerk, or corresponding officer
in the case of petitions for or on county, city, or town measures; and shall
contain the declaration of each petitioner, for himself, that he is a
qualified elector of the state (and in the case of petitions for or on city,
town, or county measures, of the city, town, or county affected), his post
office address, the street and number, if any, of his residence, and the date
on which he signed such petition. Each sheet containing petitioners'
signatures shall be attached to a full and correct copy of the title and text
of the measure so proposed to be initiated or referred to the people, and
every sheet of every such petition containing signatures shall be verified by
the affidavit of the person who circulated said sheet or petition, setting
forth that each of the names on said sheet was signed in the presence of the
affiant and that in the belief of the affiant each signer was a qualified
elector of the state, or in the case of a city, town, or county measure, of
the city, town, or county affected by the measure so proposed to be initiated
or referred to the people.
(10) [Official ballot] When any initiative or referendum petition
or any measure referred to the people by the legislature shall be filed, in
accordance with this section, with the secretary of state, he shall cause to
be printed on the official ballot at the next regular general election the
title and number of said measure, together with the words "Yes" and
"No" in such manner that the electors may express at the polls their
approval or disapproval of the measure.
(11) [Publication of measures] The text of all measures to be
submitted shall be published as proposed amendments to the constitution are
published, and in submitting such measures and proposed amendments the
secretary of state and all other officers shall be guided by the general law
until legislation shall be especially provided therefor.
(Method of publication superseded by A.R.S. Section 19-123.)
(12) [Conflicting measures or constitutional amendments] If two or
more conflicting measures or amendments to the constitution shall be approved
by the people at the same election, the measure or amendment receiving the
greatest number of affirmative votes shall prevail in all particulars as to
which there is conflict.
(13) [Canvass of votes; proclamation] It shall be the duty of the
secretary of state, in the presence of the governor and the chief justice of
the supreme court, to canvass the votes for and against each such measure or
proposed amendment to the constitution within thirty days after the election,
and upon the completion of the canvass the governor shall forthwith issue a
proclamation, giving the whole number of votes cast for and against each
measure or proposed amendment, and declaring such measures or amendments as
are approved by a majority of those voting thereon to be law.
(14) [Reservation of legislative power] This section shall not be
construed to deprive the legislature of the right to enact any measure except
that the legislature shall not have the power to adopt any measure that
supersedes, in whole or in part, any initiative measure approved by a majority
of the votes cast thereon or any referendum measure decided by a majority of
the votes cast thereon unless the superseding measure furthers the purposes of
the initiative or referendum measure and at least three-fourths of the members
of each house of the legislature, by a roll call of ayes and nays, vote to
supersede such initiative or referendum measure.
(15) Legislature's right to refer measure to the people. Nothing in
this section shall be construed to deprive or limit the legislature of the
right to order the submission to the people at the polls of any measure, item,
section, or part of any measure.
(16) [Self-executing] This section of the constitution shall be, in
all respects, self-executing.
Amended, election
Section 2. Section 1 hereof shall apply retroactively to all
initiative and referendum measures decided by the voters at and after the
November 1998 general election.
Added, election
Section 2. Penalty for
violation of initiative and referendum provisions
Section 2. The legislature shall provide a penalty for any wilful
violation of any of the provisions of the preceding section.
Section 1. Senate;
house of representatives; members; special session upon petition of members;
congressional and legislative boundaries; citizen commissions
Section 1. (1) The senate shall be composed of one member elected
from each of the thirty legislative districts established pursuant to this
section.
The house of representatives shall be composed of two members
elected from each of the thirty legislative districts established pursuant to
this section.
(2) Upon the presentation to the governor of a petition bearing the
signatures of not less than two-thirds of the members of each house,
requesting a special session of the legislature and designating the date of
convening, the governor shall promptly call a special session to assemble on
the date specified. At a special session so called the subjects which may be
considered by the legislature shall not be limited.
(3) By February 28 of each year that ends in one, an independent
redistricting commission shall be established to provide for the redistricting
of congressional and state legislative districts. The independent
redistricting commission shall consist of five members. No more than two
members of the independent redistricting commission shall be members of the
same political party. Of the first four members appointed, no more than two
shall reside in the same county. Each member shall be a registered Arizona
voter who has been continuously registered with the same political party or
registered as unaffiliated with a political party for three or more years
immediately preceding appointment, who is committed to applying the provisions
of this section in an honest, independent and impartial fashion and to
upholding public confidence in the integrity of the redistricting process.
Within the three years previous to appointment, members shall not have been
appointed to, elected to, or a candidate for any other public office,
including precinct committeeman or committeewoman but not including school
board member or officer, and shall not have served as an officer of a
political party, or served as a registered paid lobbyist or as an officer of a
candidate's campaign committee.
(4) The commission on appellate court appointments shall nominate
candidates for appointment to the independent redistricting commission, except
that, if a politically balanced commission exists whose members are nominated
by the commission on appellate court appointments and whose regular duties
relate to the elective process, the commission on appellate court appointments
may delegate to such existing commission (hereinafter called the commission on
appellate court appointments' designee) the duty of nominating members for the
independent redistricting commission, and all other duties assigned to the
commission on appellate court appointments in this section.
(5) By January 8 of years ending in one, the commission on
appellate court appointments or its designee shall establish a pool of persons
who are willing to serve on and are qualified for appointment to the
independent redistricting commission. The pool of candidates shall consist of
twenty-five nominees, with ten nominees from each of the two largest political
parties in
(6) Appointments to the independent redistricting commission shall
be made in the order set forth below. No later than January 31 of years ending
in one, the highest ranking officer elected by the Arizona house of
representatives shall make one appointment to the independent redistricting
commission from the pool of nominees, followed by one appointment from the
pool made in turn by each of the following: the minority party leader of the
Arizona house of representatives, the highest ranking officer elected by the
Arizona senate, and the minority party leader of the Arizona senate. Each such
official shall have a seven-day period in which to make an appointment. Any
official who fails to make an appointment within the specified time period
will forfeit the appointment privilege. In the event that there are two or
more minority parties within the house or the senate, the leader of the
largest minority party by statewide party registration shall make the
appointment.
(7) Any vacancy in the above four independent redistricting
commission positions remaining as of March 1 of a year ending in one shall be
filled from the pool of nominees by the commission on appellate court
appointments or its designee. The appointing body shall strive for political
balance and fairness.
(8) At a meeting called by the secretary of state, the four
independent redistricting commission members shall select by majority vote
from the nomination pool a fifth member who shall not be registered with any
party already represented on the independent redistricting commission and who
shall serve as chair. If the four commissioners fail to appoint a fifth member
within fifteen days, the commission on appellate court appointments or its
designee, striving for political balance and fairness, shall appoint a fifth
member from the nomination pool, who shall serve as chair.
(9) The five commissioners shall then select by majority vote one
of their members to serve as vice-chair.
(10) After having been served written notice and provided with an
opportunity for a response, a member of the independent redistricting
commission may be removed by the governor, with the concurrence of two-thirds
of the senate, for substantial neglect of duty, gross misconduct in office, or
inability to discharge the duties of office.
(11) If a commissioner or chair does not complete the term of
office for any reason, the commission on appellate court appointments or its
designee shall nominate a pool of three candidates within the first thirty
days after the vacancy occurs. The nominees shall be of the same political
party or status as was the member who vacated the office at the time of his or
her appointment, and the appointment other than the chair shall be made by the
current holder of the office designated to make the original appointment. The
appointment of a new chair shall be made by the remaining commissioners. If
the appointment of a replacement commissioner or chair is not made within
fourteen days following the presentation of the nominees, the commission on
appellate court appointments or its designee shall make the appointment,
striving for political balance and fairness. The newly appointed commissioner
shall serve out the remainder of the original term.
(12) Three commissioners, including the chair or vice-chair,
constitute a quorum. Three or more affirmative votes are required for any
official action. Where a quorum is present, the independent redistricting
commission shall conduct business in meetings open to the public, with 48 or
more hours public notice provided.
(13) A commissioner, during the commissioner's term of office and
for three years thereafter, shall be ineligible for
(14) The independent redistricting commission shall establish
congressional and legislative districts. The commencement of the mapping
process for both the congressional and legislative districts shall be the
creation of districts of equal population in a grid-like pattern across the
state. Adjustments to the grid shall then be made as necessary to accommodate
the goals as set forth below:
A. Districts shall comply with the
B. Congressional districts shall have equal population to the
extent practicable, and state legislative districts shall have equal
population to the extent practicable;
C. Districts shall be geographically compact and contiguous to the
extent practicable;
D. District boundaries shall respect communities of interest to the
extent practicable;
E. To the extent practicable, district lines shall use visible
geographic features, city, town and county boundaries, and undivided census
tracts;
F. To the extent practicable, competitive districts should be
favored where to do so would create no significant detriment to the other
goals.
(15) Party registration and voting history data shall be excluded
from the initial phase of the mapping process but may be used to test maps for
compliance with the above goals. The places of residence of incumbents or
candidates shall not be identified or considered.
(16) The independent redistricting commission shall advertise a
draft map of congressional districts and a draft map of legislative districts
to the public for comment, which comment shall be taken for at least thirty
days. Either or both bodies of the legislature may act within this period to
make recommendations to the independent redistricting commission by memorial
or by minority report, which recommendations shall be considered by the
independent redistricting commission. The independent redistricting commission
shall then establish final district boundaries.
(17) The provisions regarding this section are self-executing. The
independent redistricting commission shall certify to the secretary of state
the establishment of congressional and legislative districts.
(18) Upon approval of this amendment, the department of
administration or its successor shall make adequate office space available for
the independent redistricting commission. The treasurer of the state shall
make $6,000,000 available for the work of the independent redistricting
commission pursuant to the year 2000 census. Unused monies shall be returned
to the state's general fund. In years ending in eight or nine after the year
2001, the department of administration or its successor shall submit to the
legislature a recommendation for an appropriation for adequate redistricting
expenses and shall make available adequate office space for the operation of
the independent redistricting commission. The legislature shall make the
necessary appropriations by a majority vote.
(19) The independent redistricting commission, with fiscal
oversight from the department of administration or its successor, shall have
procurement and contracting authority and may hire staff and consultants for
the purposes of this section, including legal representation.
(20) The independent redistricting commission shall have standing
in legal actions regarding the redistricting plan and the adequacy of
resources provided for the operation of the independent redistricting
commission. The independent redistricting commission shall have sole authority
to determine whether the
(21) Members of the independent redistricting commission are
eligible for reimbursement of expenses pursuant to law, and a member's
residence is deemed to be the member's post of duty for purposes of
reimbursement of expenses.
(22) Employees of the department of administration or its successor
shall not influence or attempt to influence the district-mapping decisions of
the independent redistricting commission.
(23) Each commissioner's duties established by this section expire
upon the appointment of the first member of the next redistricting commission.
The independent redistricting commission shall not meet or incur expenses
after the redistricting plan is completed, except if litigation or any
government approval of the plan is pending, or to revise districts if required
by court decisions or if the number of congressional or legislative districts
is changed.
Amended election Nov. 5, 1918, effective Dec. 5, 1918; election
Nov. 8, 1932, effective Nov. 28, 1932; election Nov. 2, 1948, effective Nov.
22, 1948; election Sept. 29, 1953, effective Oct. 31, 1953; election Sept. 9,
1958, effective Sept. 30, 1958; election Nov. 5, 1968, effective Dec. 4, 1968;
election Nov. 3, 1970, effective Nov. 27, 1970; election Nov. 7, 1972,
effective Dec. 1, 1972; amended, election Nov. 7, 2000, effective Dec. 7,
2000.
Section 2.
Qualifications of members of legislature
Section 2. No person shall be a member of the legislature unless he
shall be a citizen of the United States at the time of his election, nor
unless he shall be at least twenty-five years of age, and shall have been a
resident of Arizona at least three years and of the county from which he is
elected at least one year before his election.
Section 3. Sessions of
legislature; special sessions; limitation of subjects for consideration
Section 3. The sessions of the legislature shall be held annually
at the capitol of the state, and shall commence on the second Monday of
January of each year. The governor may call a special session, whenever in his
judgment it is advisable. In calling a special session, the governor shall
specify the subjects to be considered, and at such special session no laws
shall be enacted except such as relate to the subjects mentioned in the call.
Amended, election
Section 4.
Disqualification for membership in legislature
Section 4. No person holding any public office of profit or trust
under the authority of the United States, or of this state, shall be a member
of the legislature; provided, that appointments in the state militia and the
offices of notary public, justice of the peace, United States commissioner,
and postmaster of the fourth class, shall not work disqualification for
membership within the meaning of this section.
Section 5.
Ineligibility of members of legislature to other public offices
Section 5. No member of the legislature, during the term for which
he shall have been elected or appointed shall be eligible to hold any other
office or be otherwise employed by the state of
Amended, election
Section 6. Privilege
from arrest; civil process
Section 6. Members of the legislature shall be privileged from
arrest in all cases except treason, felony, and breach of the peace, and they
shall not be subject to any civil process during the session of the
legislature, nor for fifteen days next before the commencement of each
session.
Section 7. No member of the legislature shall be liable in any
civil or criminal prosecution for words spoken in debate.
Section 8.
Organization; officers; rules of procedure
Section 8. Each house, when assembled, shall choose its own
officers, judge of the election and qualification of its own members, and
determine its own rules of procedure.
Section 9. Quorum;
compelling attendance; adjournment
Section 9. The majority of the members of each house shall
constitute a quorum to do business, but a smaller number may meet, adjourn
from day to day, and compel the attendance of absent members, in such manner
and under such penalties as each house may prescribe. Neither house shall
adjourn for more than three days, nor to any place other than that in which it
may be sitting, without the consent of the other.
Section 10. Journal of
proceedings; roll call
Section 10. Each house shall keep a journal of its proceedings, and
at the request of two members the ayes and nays on roll call on any question
shall be entered.
Section 11. Disorderly
behavior; expulsion of members
Section 11. Each house may punish its members for disorderly
behavior, and may, with the concurrence of two-thirds of its members, expel
any member.
Section 12. Procedure
on bills; approval or disapproval by governor
Section 12. Every bill shall be read by sections on three different
days, unless in case of emergency, two-thirds of either house deem it
expedient to dispense with this rule. The vote on the final passage of any
bill or joint resolution shall be taken by ayes and nays on roll call. Every
measure when finally passed shall be presented to the governor for his
approval or disapproval.
Amended, election
Section 13. Subject and
title of bills
Section 13. Every act shall embrace but one subject and matters
properly connected therewith, which subject shall be expressed in the title;
but if any subject shall be embraced in an act which shall not be expressed in
the title, such act shall be void only as to so much thereof as shall not be
embraced in the title.
Section 14. Legislation
by reference prohibited
Section 14. No act or section thereof shall be revised or amended
by mere reference to the title of such act, but the act or section as amended
shall be set forth and published at full length.
Section 15. Passage of
bills by majority; signing of bills
Section 15. A majority of all members elected to each house shall
be necessary to pass any bill, and all bills so passed shall be signed by the
presiding officer of each house in open session.
Section 16. Any member of the legislature shall have the right to
protest and have the reasons of his protest entered on the journal.
Section 17. Extra
compensation prohibited; increase or decrease of compensation during term of
office
Section 17. The legislature shall never grant any extra
compensation to any public officer, agent, servant or contractor, after the
services shall have been rendered or the contract entered into, nor shall the
compensation of any public officer, other than a justice of the peace, be
increased or diminished during his term of office; provided, however, that
when any legislative increase or decrease in compensation of the members of
any court or the clerk thereof, or of any board or commission composed of two
or more officers or persons whose respective terms of office are not
coterminous, has heretofore or shall hereafter become effective as to any
member or clerk of such court, or any member of such board or commission, it
shall be effective from such date as to each thereof.
Amended, election
Section 18. Suits
against state
Section 18. The legislature shall direct by law in what manner and
in what courts suits may be brought against the state.
Section 19. Local or
special laws
Section 19. No local or special laws shall be enacted in any of the
following cases, that is to say:
2. Locating or changing county seats.
3. Changing rules of evidence.
4. Changing the law of descent or succession.
5. Regulating the practice of courts of justice.
6. Limitation of civil actions or giving effect to informal or
invalid deeds.
7. Punishment of crimes and misdemeanors.
8. Laying out, opening, altering, or vacating roads, plats,
streets, alleys, and public squares.
9. Assessment and collection of taxes.
10. Regulating the rate of interest on money.
12. Affecting the estates of deceased persons or of minors.
13. Granting to any corporation, association, or individual, any
special or exclusive privileges, immunities, or franchises.
14. Remitting fines, penalties, and forfeitures.
15. Changing names of persons or places.
16. Regulating the jurisdiction and duties of justices of the
peace.
17. Incorporation of cities, towns, or villages, or amending their
charters.
18. Relinquishing any indebtedness, liability, or obligation to
this state.
19. Summoning and empanelling of juries.
20. When a general law can be made applicable.
Section 20.
Appropriation bills
Section 20. The general appropriation bill shall embrace nothing
but appropriations for the different departments of the state, for state
institutions, for public schools, and for interest on the public debt. All
other appropriations shall be made by separate bills, each embracing but one
subject.
Section 21. Term limits
of members of state legislature
Section 21. The members of the first legislature shall hold office
until the first Monday in January, 1913. The terms of office of the members of
succeeding legislatures shall be two years. No state Senator shall serve more
than four consecutive terms in that office, nor shall any state Representative
serve more than four consecutive terms in that office. This limitation on the
number of terms of consecutive service shall apply to terms of office
beginning on or after
Amended, election
Section 22. Juvenile
justice; certain chronic and violent juvenile offenders prosecuted as adults;
community alternatives for certain juvenile offenders; public proceedings and
records
Section 22. In order to preserve and protect the right of the
people to justice and public safety, and to ensure fairness and accountability
when juveniles engage in unlawful conduct, the legislature, or the people by
initiative or referendum, shall have the authority to enact substantive and
procedural laws regarding all proceedings and matters affecting such
juveniles. The following rights, duties, and powers shall govern such
proceedings and matters:
(1) Juveniles 15 years of age or older accused of murder, forcible
sexual assault, armed robbery or other violent felony offenses as defined by
statute shall be prosecuted as adults. Juveniles 15 years of age or older who
are chronic felony offenders as defined by statute shall be prosecuted as
adults. Upon conviction all such juveniles shall be subject to the same laws
as adults, except as specifically provided by statute and by article 22,
section 16 of this constitution. All other juveniles accused of unlawful
conduct shall be prosecuted as provided by law. Every juvenile convicted of or
found responsible for unlawful conduct shall make prompt restitution to any
victims of such conduct for their injury or loss.
(2) County attorneys shall have the authority to defer the
prosecution of juveniles who are not accused of violent offenses and who are
not chronic felony offenders as defined by statute and to establish
community-based alternatives for resolving matters involving such juveniles.
(3) All proceedings and matters involving juveniles accused of
unlawful conduct shall be open to the public and all records of those
proceedings shall be public records. Exceptions shall be made only for the
protection of the privacy of innocent victims of crime, or when a court of
competent jurisdiction finds a clear public interest in confidentiality.
Former Section 22 repealed, election
Section 23. Passes and
purchase of transportation by public officers; in application to national
guard
Section 23. It shall not be lawful for any person holding public
office in this state to accept or use a pass or to purchase transportation
from any railroad or other corporation, other than as such transportation may
be purchased by the general public; provided, that this shall not apply to
members of the national guard of
Section 24. Enacting
clause of bills; initiative bills
Section 24. The enacting clause of every bill enacted by the
legislature shall be as follows: "Be it enacted by the Legislature of the
State of
Section 25. Continuity
of governmental operations in emergency
Section 25. The legislature, in order to insure continuity of state
and local governmental operations in periods of emergency resulting from
disasters caused by enemy attack, shall have the power and the immediate duty
to:
1. Provide for prompt and temporary succession to the powers and
duties of public offices, of whatever nature and whether filled by election or
appointment, the incumbents of which may become unavailable for carrying on
the powers and duties of such offices.
2. Adopt such other measures as may be necessary and proper for
insuring the continuity of governmental operations.
In the exercise of the powers hereby conferred, the legislature
shall in all respects conform to the requirements of this constitution except
to the extent that in the judgment of the legislature so to do would be
impracticable or would admit of undue delay.
Added, election
ARTICLE V - EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT
Section 1. Term limits
on Executive department and state officers; term lengths; election; residence
and office at seat of government; duties
Section 1. A. The executive department shall consist of the
governor, secretary of state, state treasurer, attorney general, and
superintendent of public instruction, each of whom shall hold office for a
term of four years beginning on the first Monday of January, 1971 next after
the regular general election in 1970. No member of the executive department
shall hold that office for more than two consecutive terms. This limitation on
the number of terms of consecutive service shall apply to terms of office
beginning on or after
B. The person having the highest number of the votes cast for the
office voted for shall be elected, but if two or more persons have an equal
and the highest number of votes for the office, the two houses of the
legislature at its next regular session shall elect forthwith, by joint
ballot, one of such persons for said office.
C. The officers of the executive department during their terms of
office shall reside at the seat of government where they shall keep their
offices and the public records, books, and papers. They shall perform such
duties as are prescribed by the constitution and as may be provided by law.
Amended, election Nov. 2, 1948, effective Nov. 22, 1948; amended,
election Nov. 5, 1968, effective Dec. 4, 1968; amended, election Nov. 8, 1988,
effective Dec. 5, 1988; amended, election Nov. 3, 1992, effective Nov. 23,
1992.
Section 2.
Eligibility to state offices
Section 2. No person shall be eligible to any of the offices
mentioned in section 1 of this article except a person of the age of not less
than twenty-five years, who shall have been for ten years next preceding his
election a citizen of the
Amended, election
Section 3.
Governor, commander-in-chief of military forces
Section 3. The governor shall be commander-in-chief of the military
forces of the state, except when such forces shall be called into the service
of the
Section 4.
Governor; powers and duties; special sessions of legislature; message and
recommendations
Section 4. The governor shall transact all executive business with
the officers of the government, civil and military, and may require
information in writing from the officers in the executive department upon any
subject relating to the duties of their respective offices. He shall take care
that the laws be faithfully executed. He may convene the legislature in
extraordinary session. He shall communicate, by message, to the legislature at
every session the condition of the state, and recommend such matters as he
shall deem expedient.
Section 5.
Reprieves, commutations and pardons
Section 5. The governor shall have power to grant reprieves,
commutation, and pardons, after convictions, for all offenses except treason
and cases of impeachment, upon such conditions and with such restrictions and
limitations as may be provided by law.
Section 6.
Death, resignation, removal or disability of governor; succession to office;
impeachment, absence from state or temporary disability
Section 6. In the event of the death of the governor, or his
resignation, removal from office, or permanent disability to discharge the
duties of the office, the secretary of state, if holding by election, shall
succeed to the office of governor until his successor shall be elected and
shall qualify. If the secretary of state be holding otherwise then by
election, or shall fail to qualify as governor, the attorney general, the
state treasurer, or the superintendent of public instruction, if holding by
election, shall, in the order named, succeed to the office of governor. The
taking of the oath of office as governor by any person specified in this
section shall constitute resignation from the office by virtue of the holding
of which he qualifies as governor. Any successor to the office shall become
governor in fact and entitled to all of the emoluments, powers and duties of
governor upon taking the oath of office.
In the event of the impeachment of the governor, his absence from
the state, or other temporary disability to discharge the duties of the
office, the powers and duties of the office of governor shall devolve upon the
same person as in case of vacancy, but only until the disability ceases.
Amended, election
Section 7.
Presentation of bills to governor; approval; veto; filing with secretary of
state; veto of items in appropriation bills; in application of veto power to
referred bills
Section 7. Every bill passed by the legislature, before it becomes
a law, shall be presented to the governor. If he approve, he shall sign it,
and it shall become a law as provided in this constitution. But if he
disapprove, he shall return it, with his objections, to the house in which it
originated, which shall enter the objections at large on the journal. If after
reconsideration it again passes both houses by an aye and nay vote on roll
call of two-thirds of the members elected to each house, it shall become a law
as provided in this constitution, notwithstanding the governor's objections.
This section shall not apply to emergency measures as referred to in section 1
of the article of the legislative department.
If any bill be not returned within five days after it shall have
been presented to the governor (Sunday excepted) such bill shall become a law
in like manner as if he had signed it, unless the legislature by its final
adjournment prevents its return, in which case it shall be filed with his
objections in the office of the secretary of state within ten days after such
adjournment (Sundays excepted) or become a law as provided in this
constitution. After the final action by the governor, or following the
adoption of a bill notwithstanding his objection, it shall be filed with the
secretary of state.
If any bill presented to the governor contains several items of
appropriations of money, he may object to one or more of such items, while
approving other portions of the bill. In such case he shall append to the bill
at the time of signing it, a statement of the item or items which he declines
to approve, together with his reasons therefor, and such item or items shall
not take effect unless passed over the governor's objections as in this
section provided.
The veto power of the governor shall not extend to any bill passed
by the legislature and referred to the people for adoption or rejection.
Section 8.
Vacancies in office
Section 8. When any office shall, from any cause, become vacant,
and no mode shall be provided by the constitution or by law for filling such
vacancy, the governor shall have the power to fill such vacancy by
appointment.
Section 9.
Powers and duties of state officers
Section 9. The powers and duties of secretary of state, state
treasurer, attorney general, and superintendent of public instruction shall be
as prescribed by law.
Amended, election
Amended, election
Section 11.
Canvass of election returns for state officers; certificates of election
Section 11. The returns of the election for all state officers
shall be canvassed, and certificates of election issued by the secretary of
state, in such manner as may be provided by law.
Section 12. All commissions shall issue in the name of the state,
and shall be signed by the governor, sealed with the seal of the state, and
attested by the secretary of state.
Section 13.
Compensation of elective state officers; commission on salaries for elective
state officers
Section 13. The salaries of those holding elective state offices
shall be as established by law from time to time, subject to the limitations
of article 6, section 33 and to the limitations of article 4, part 2, section
17. Such salaries as are presently established may be altered from time to
time by the procedure established in this section or as otherwise provided by
law, except that legislative salaries may be altered only by the procedures
established in this section.
A commission to be known as the commission on salaries for elective
state officers is authorized to be established by the legislature. The
commission shall be composed of five members appointed from private life, two
of whom shall be appointed by the governor and one each by the president of
the senate, the speaker of the house of representatives, and the chief
justice. At such times as may be directed by the legislature, the commission
shall report to the governor with recommendations concerning the rates of pay
of elected state officers. The governor shall upon receipt of such report make
recommendations to the legislature with respect to the exact rates of pay
which he deems advisable for those offices and positions other than for the
rates of pay of members of the legislature. Such recommendations shall become
effective at a time established by the legislature after the transmission of
the recommendation of the governor without aid of further legislative action
unless, within such period of time, there has been enacted into law a statute
which establishes rates of pay other than those proposed by the governor, or
unless either house of the legislature specifically disapproves all or part of
the governor's recommendation. The recommendations of the governor, unless
disapproved or altered within the time provided by law, shall be effective;
and any 1971 recommendations shall be effective as to all offices on the first
Monday in January of 1973. In case of either a legislative enactment or
disapproval by either house, the recommendations shall be effective only
insofar as not altered or disapproved. The recommendations of the commission
as to legislative salaries shall be certified by it to the secretary of state
and the secretary of state shall submit to the qualified electors at the next
regular general election the question, "Shall the recommendations of the
commission on salaries for elective state officers concerning legislative
salaries be accepted? Yes No". Such recommendations if approved by the
electors shall become effective at the beginning of the next regular
legislative session without any other authorizing legislation. All
recommendations which become effective under this section shall supersede all
laws enacted prior to their effective date relating to such salaries.
Amended, election
ARTICLE VI - JUDICIAL DEPARTMENT
Former Article VI, consisting of sections 1-25, repealed, and new
Article VI, consisting of sections 1-35, adopted by election, Nov. 8, 1960,
effective Dec. 9, 1960.
Section 1.
Judicial power; courts
Section 1. The judicial power shall be vested in an integrated
judicial department consisting of a supreme court, such intermediate appellate
courts as may be provided by law, a superior court, such courts inferior to
the superior court as may be provided by law, and justice courts.
Added, election
Section 2.
Supreme court; composition; divisions; decisions, transactions of business
Section 2. The supreme court shall consist of not less than five
justices. The number of justices may be increased or decreased by law, but the
court shall at all times be constituted of at least five justices.
The supreme court shall sit in accordance with rules adopted by it,
either in banc or in divisions of not less than three justices, but the court
shall not declare any law unconstitutional except when sitting in banc. The
decisions of the court shall be in writing and the grounds stated.
The court shall be open at all times, except on nonjudicial days,
for the transaction of business.
Added, election
Section 3.
Supreme court; administrative supervision; chief justice
Section 3. The supreme court shall have administrative supervision
over all the courts of the state. The chief justice shall be elected by the
justices of the supreme court from one of their number for a term of five
years, and may be reelected for like terms. The vice chief justice shall be
elected by the justices of the supreme court from one of their number for a
term determined by the court. A member of the court may resign the office of
chief justice or vice chief justice without resigning from the court.
The chief justice, or in his absence or incapacity, the vice chief
justice, shall exercise the court's administrative supervision over all the
courts of the state. He may assign judges of intermediate appellate courts,
superior courts, or courts inferior to the superior court to serve in other
courts or counties.
Added, election
Section 4.
Supreme court; term of office
Section 4. Justices of the supreme court shall hold office for a
regular term of six years except as provided by this article.
Added, election
Section 5.
Supreme court; jurisdiction; writs; rules; habeas corpus
Section 5. The supreme court shall have:
1. Original jurisdiction of habeas corpus, and quo warranto,
mandamus, injunction and other extraordinary writs to state officers.
2. Original and exclusive jurisdiction to hear and determine causes
between counties concerning disputed boundaries and surveys thereof or
concerning claims of one county against another.
3. Appellate jurisdiction in all actions and proceedings except
civil and criminal actions originating in courts not of record, unless the
action involves the validity of a tax, impost, assessment, toll, statute or
municipal ordinance.
4. Power to issue injunctions and writs of mandamus, review,
prohibition, habeas corpus, certiorari, and all other writs necessary and
proper to the complete exercise of its appellate and revisory jurisdiction.
5. Power to make rules relative to all procedural matters in any
court.
6. Such other jurisdiction as may be provided by law.
Each justice of the supreme court may issue writs of habeas corpus
to any part of the state upon petition by or on behalf of a person held in
actual custody, and may make such writs returnable before himself, the supreme
court, appellate court or superior court, or judge thereof.
Added, election
Section 6.
Supreme court; qualifications of justices
Section 6. A justice of the supreme court shall be a person of good
moral character and admitted to the practice of law in and a resident of the
state of
Added, election
Section 7.
Supreme court; clerk and assistants; administrative director and staff
Section 7. The supreme court shall appoint a clerk of the court and
assistants thereto who shall serve at its pleasure, and who shall receive such
compensation as may be provided by law.
The supreme court shall appoint an administrative director and
staff to serve at its pleasure to assist the chief justice in discharging his
administrative duties. The director and staff shall receive such compensation
as may be provided by law.
Added, election
Section 8.
Supreme court; publication of opinions
Section 8. Provision shall be made by law for the speedy
publication of the opinions of the supreme court, and they shall be free for
publication by any person.
Added, election
Section 9.
Intermediate appellate courts
Section 9. The jurisdiction, powers, duties and composition of any
intermediate appellate court shall be as provided by law.
Added, election
Section 10.
Superior court; number of judges
Section 10. There shall be in each county at least one judge of the
superior court. There shall be in each county such additional judges as may be
provided by law, but not exceeding one judge for each thirty thousand
inhabitants or majority fraction thereof. The number of inhabitants in a
county for purposes of this section may be determined by census enumeration or
by such other method as may be provided by law.
Added, election
Section 11.
Superior court; presiding judges; duties
Section 11. There shall be in each county a presiding judge of the
superior court. In each county in which there are two or more judges, the
supreme court shall appoint one of such judges presiding judge. Presiding
judges shall exercise administrative supervision over the superior court and
judges thereof in their counties, and shall have such other duties as may be
provided by law or by rules of the supreme court.
Added, election
Section 12.
Superior court; term of office
Section 12. A. Judges of the superior court in counties having a
population of less than two hundred fifty thousand persons according to the
most recent
B. The governor shall fill any vacancy in such counties by
appointing a person to serve until the election and qualification of a
successor. At the next succeeding general election following the appointment
of a person to fill a vacancy, a judge shall be elected to serve for the
remainder of the unexpired term.
Judges of the superior court in counties having a population of two
hundred fifty thousand persons or more according to the most recent United
States census shall hold office for a regular term of four years except as
provided by this article.
Added, election
Section 13.
Superior court; composition; salaries; judgments and proceedings; process
Section 13. The superior courts provided for in this article shall
constitute a single court, composed of all the duly elected or appointed
judges in each of the counties of the state. The legislature may classify
counties for the purpose of fixing salaries of judges or officers of the
court.
The judgments, decrees, orders and proceedings of any session of
the superior court held by one or more judges shall have the same force and
effect as if all the judges of the court had presided.
The process of the court shall extend to all parts of the state.
Added, election
Section 14.
Superior court; original jurisdiction
Section 14. The superior court shall have original jurisdiction of:
1. Cases and proceedings in which exclusive jurisdiction is not
vested by law in another court.
2. Cases of equity and at law which involve the title to or
possession of real property, or the legality of any tax, impost, assessment,
toll or municipal ordinance.
3. Other cases in which the demand or value of property in
controversy amounts to one thousand dollars or more, exclusive of interest and
costs.
4. Criminal cases amounting to felony, and cases of misdemeanor not
otherwise provided for by law.
5. Actions of forcible entry and detainer.
7. Actions to prevent or abate nuisance.
9. Divorce and for annulment of marriage.
10. Naturalization and the issuance of papers therefor.
11. Special cases and proceedings not otherwise provided for, and
such other jurisdiction as may be provided by law.
Added, election
Section 15.
Jurisdiction and authority in juvenile proceedings
Section 15. The jurisdiction and authority of the courts of this
state in all proceedings and matters affecting juveniles shall be as provided
by the legislature or the people by initiative or referendum.
Added, election
Section 16.
Superior court; appellate jurisdiction
Section 16. The superior court shall have appellate jurisdiction in
cases arising in justice and other courts inferior to the superior court as
may be provided by law.
Added, election
Section 17.
Superior court; conduct of business; trial juries; jury trial; grand juries
Section 17. The superior court shall be open at all times, except
on nonjudicial days, for the determination of non-jury civil cases and the
transaction of business. For the determination of civil causes and matters in
which a jury demand has been entered, and for the trial of criminal causes, a
trial jury shall be drawn and summoned from the body of the county, as
provided by law. The right of jury trial as provided by this constitution
shall remain inviolate, but trial by jury may be waived by the parties in any
civil cause or by the parties with the consent of the court in any criminal
cause. Grand juries shall be drawn and summoned only by order of the superior
court.
Added, election
Section 18.
Superior court; writs
Section 18. The superior court or any judge thereof may issue writs
of mandamus, quo warranto, review, certiorari, prohibition, and writs of
habeas corpus on petition by or on behalf of a person held in actual custody
within the county. Injunctions, attachments, and writs of prohibition and
habeas corpus may be issued and served on legal holidays and non-judicial
days.
Added, election
Section 19.
Superior court; service of judge in another county
Section 19. A judge of the superior court shall serve in another
county at the direction of the chief justice of the supreme court or may serve
in another county at the request of the presiding judge of the superior court
thereof.
Added, election
Section 20.
Retirement and service of retired justices and judges
Section 20. The legislature shall prescribe by law a plan of
retirement for justices and judges of courts of record, including the basis
and amount of retirement pay, and requiring except as provided in section 35
of this article, that justices and judges of courts of record be retired upon
reaching the age of seventy. Any retired justice or judge of any court of
record who is drawing retirement pay may serve as a justice or judge of any
court. When serving outside his county of residence, any such retired justice
or judge shall receive his necessary traveling and subsistence expenses. A
retired judge who is temporarily called back to the active duties of a judge
is entitled to receive the same compensation and expenses as other like active
judges less any amount received for such period in retirement benefits.
Added, election
Section 21.
Superior court; speedy decisions
Section 21. Every matter submitted to a judge of the superior court
for his decision shall be decided within sixty days from the date of
submission thereof. The supreme court shall by rule provide for the speedy
disposition of all matters not decided within such period.
Added, election
Section 22.
Superior and other courts; qualifications of judges
Section 22. Judges of the superior court, intermediate appellate
courts or courts inferior to the superior court having jurisdiction in civil
cases of one thousand dollars or more, exclusive of interest and costs,
established by law under the provisions of section 1 of this article, shall be
at least thirty years of age, of good moral character and admitted to the
practice of law in and a resident of the state for five years next preceding
their taking office.
Added, election
Section 23.
Superior court; clerk
Section 23. There shall be in each county a clerk of the superior
court. The clerk shall be elected by the qualified electors of his county at
the general election and shall hold office for a term of four years from and
after the first Monday in January next succeeding his election. The clerk
shall have such powers and perform such duties as may be provided by law or by
rule of the supreme court or superior court. He shall receive such
compensation as may be provided by law.
Added, election
Section 24.
Superior court; court commissioners, masters and referees
Section 24. Judges of the superior court may appoint court
commissioners, masters and referees in their respective counties, who shall
have such powers and perform such duties as may be provided by law or by rule
of the supreme court. Court commissioners, masters and referees shall receive
such compensation as may be provided by law.
Added, election
Section 25.
Style of process; conduct of prosecutions in name of state
Section 25. The style of process shall be "The State of
Arizona", and prosecutions shall be conducted in the name of the state
and by its authority.
Added, election
Section 26. Each justice, judge and justice of the peace shall,
before entering upon the duties of his office, take and subscribe an oath that
he will support the Constitution of the
The oath of all judges of courts inferior to the superior court and
the oath of justices of peace shall be filed in the office of the county
recorder, and the oath of all other justices and judges shall be filed in the
office of the secretary of state.
Added, election
Section 27.
Charge to juries; reversal of causes for technical error
Section 27. Judges shall not charge juries with respect to matters
of fact, nor comment thereon, but shall declare the law. No cause shall be
reversed for technical error in pleadings or proceedings when upon the whole
case it shall appear that substantial justice has been done.
Added, election
Section 28.
Justices and judges; dual office holding; political activity; practice of law
Section 28. Justices and judges of courts of record shall not be
eligible for any other public office or for any other public employment during
their term of office, except that they may assume another judicial office, and
upon qualifying therefor, the office formerly held shall become vacant. No
justice or judge of any court of record shall practice law during his
continuance in office, nor shall he hold any office in a political party or
actively take part in any political campaign other than his own for his
reelection or retention in office. Any justice or judge who files nomination
papers for an elective office, other than for judge of the superior court or a
court of record inferior to the superior court in a county having a population
of less than two hundred fifty thousand persons according to the most recent
United States census, forfeits his judicial office.
Added, election
Section 29.
Repealed, election
Section 30. A. The supreme court, the court of appeals and the
superior court shall be courts of record. Other courts of record may be
established by law, but justice courts shall not be courts of record.
B. All justices and judges of courts of record, except for judges
of the superior court and other courts of record inferior to the superior
court in counties having a population of less than two hundred fifty thousand
persons according to the most recent
Added, election
Section 31.
Judges pro tempore
Section 31. The legislature may provide for the appointment of
members of the bar having the qualifications provided in Section 22
of this article as judges pro tempore of courts inferior to the supreme court.
When serving, any such person shall have all the judicial powers of a regular
elected judge of the court to which he is appointed. A person so appointed
shall receive such compensation as may be provided by law. The population
limitation of Section 10 of this
article shall not apply to the appointment of judges pro tempore of the
superior court.
Added, election
Section 32.
Justices of the peace and inferior courts; jurisdiction, powers and duties;
terms of office; salaries
Section 32. The number of justices of the peace to be elected in
precincts shall be as provided by law. Justices of the peace may be police
justices of incorporated cities and towns.
The jurisdiction, powers and duties of courts inferior to the
superior court and of justice courts, and the terms of office of judges of
such courts and justices of the peace shall be as provided by law. The
legislature may classify counties and precincts for the purpose of fixing
salaries of judges of courts inferior to the superior court and of justices of
the peace.
The civil jurisdiction of courts inferior to the superior court and
of justice courts shall not exceed the sum of ten thousand dollars, exclusive
of interest and costs. Criminal jurisdiction shall be limited to misdemeanors.
The jurisdiction of such courts shall not encroach upon the jurisdiction of
courts of record but may be made concurrent therewith, subject to the
limitations provided in this section.
Added, election
Section 33.
Change by legislature in number of justices or judges; reduction of salary
during term of office
Section 33. No change made by the legislature in the number of
justices or judges shall work the removal of any justice or judge from office.
The salary of any justice or judge shall not be reduced during the term of
office for which he was elected or appointed.
Added, election
Section 34.
Absence of judicial officer from state
Section 34. Any judicial officer except a retired justice or judge
who absents himself from the state for more than sixty consecutive days shall
be deemed to have forfeited his office, but the governor may extend the leave
of absence for such time as reasonable necessity therefor exists.
Added, election
Section 35.
Continuance in office; continued existence of offices; application of prior
statute and rules
Section 35. A. All justices, judges, justices of the peace and
officers of any court who are holding office as such by election or
appointment at the time of the adoption of this section shall serve or
continue in office for the respective terms for which they are so elected or
for their respective unexpired terms, and until their successors are elected
or appointed and qualify or they are retained in office pursuant to section 38
of this article; provided, however, that any justice or judge elected at the
general election at which this section is adopted shall serve for the term for
which he is so elected. The continued existence of any office heretofore
legally established or held shall not be abolished or repealed by the adoption
of this article. The statutes and rules relating to the authority,
jurisdiction, practice and procedure of courts, judicial officers and offices
in force at the time of the adoption of this article and not inconsistent
herewith, shall, so far as applicable, apply to and govern such courts,
judicial officers and offices until amended or repealed.
B. All judges of the superior court holding office by appointment
or retention in counties with a population of two hundred fifty thousand
persons or more according to the most recent United States census at the time
of the adoption of this amendment to this section shall serve or continue in
office for the respective terms for which they were appointed. Upon an
incumbent vacating the office of judge of the superior court, whether by
failing to file a declaration for retention, by rejection by the qualified
electors of the county or resignation, the appointment shall be pursuant to
section 37 of this article.
Added, election
Section 36.
Commissions on appellate and trial court appointments and terms, appointments
and vacancies on such commissions
Section 36 A. There shall be a nonpartisan commission on appellate
court appointments which shall be composed of the chief justice of the supreme
court, who shall be chairman, five attorney members, who shall be nominated by
the board of governors of the state bar of Arizona and appointed by the
governor with the advice and consent of the senate in the manner prescribed by
law, and ten nonattorney members who shall be appointed by the governor with
the advice and consent of the senate in the manner prescribed by law. At least
ninety days prior to a term expiring or within twenty-one days of a vacancy
occurring for a nonattorney member on the commission for appellate court
appointments, the governor shall appoint a nominating committee of nine
members, not more than five of whom may be from the same political party. The
makeup of the committee shall, to the extent feasible, reflect the diversity
of the population of the state. Members shall not be attorneys and shall not
hold any governmental office, elective or appointive, for profit. The
committee shall provide public notice that a vacancy exists and shall solicit,
review and forward to the governor all applications along with the committee's
recommendations for appointment.
Attorney members of the commission shall have resided in the state
and shall have been admitted to practice before the supreme court for not less
than five years. Not more than three attorney members shall be members of the
same political party and not more than two attorney members shall be residents
of any one county. Nonattorney members shall have resided in the state for not
less than five years and shall not be judges, retired judges or admitted to
practice before the supreme court. Not more than five nonattorney members
shall be members of the same political party. Not more than two nonattorney
members shall be residents of any one county. None of the attorney or
nonattorney members of the commission shall hold any governmental office,
elective or appointive, for profit, and no attorney member shall be eligible
for appointment to any judicial office of the state until one year after he
ceases to be a member. Attorney members of the commission shall serve
staggered four-year terms, and nonattorney members shall serve staggered
four-year terms. Vacancies shall be filled for the unexpired terms in the same
manner as the original appointments.
B. No person other than the chief justice shall serve at the same
time as a member of more than one judicial appointment commission.
C. In making or confirming appointments to the appellate court
commission, the governor, the senate and the state bar shall endeavor to see
that the commission reflects the diversity of
In the event of the absence or incapacity of the chairman the
supreme court shall appoint a justice thereof to serve in his place and stead.
D. Prior to making recommendations to the governor as hereinafter
provided, the commission shall conduct investigations, hold public hearings
and take public testimony. An executive session as prescribed by rule may be
held upon a two-thirds vote of the members of the commission in a public
hearing. Final decisions as to recommendations shall be made without regard to
political affiliation in an impartial and objective manner. The commission
shall consider the diversity of the state's population, however the primary
consideration shall be merit. Voting shall be in a public hearing. The
expenses of meetings of the commission and the attendance of members thereof
for travel and subsistence shall be paid from the general fund of the state as
state officers are paid, upon claims approved by the chairman.
E. After public hearings the supreme court shall adopt rules of
procedure for the commission on appellate court appointments.
F. Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection A, the initial
appointments for the five additional nonattorney members and the two
additional attorney members of the commission shall be designated by the
governor for staggered terms as follows:
1. One appointment for a nonattorney member shall be for a one-year
term.
2. Two appointments for nonattorney members shall be for a two-year
term.
3. Two appointments for nonattorney members shall be for a
three-year term.
4. One appointment for an attorney member shall be for a one-year
term.
5. One appointments for an attorney member shall be for a two-year
term.
G. The members currently serving on the commission may continue to
serve until the expiration of their normal terms. All subsequent appointments
shall be made as prescribed by this section.
Added, election
Section 37.
Judicial vacancies and appointments; initial terms; residence; age
Section 37. A. Within sixty days from the occurrence of a vacancy
in the office of a justice or judge of any court of record, except for
vacancies occurring in the office of a judge of the superior court or a judge
of a court of record inferior to the superior court, the commission on
appellate court appointments, if the vacancy is in the supreme court or an
intermediate appellate court of record, shall submit to the governor the names
of not less than three persons nominated by it to fill such vacancy, no more
than two of whom shall be members of the same political party unless there are
more than four such nominees, in which event not more than sixty per centum of
such nominees shall be members of the same political party.
B. Within sixty days from the occurrence of a vacancy in the office
of a judge of the superior court or a judge of a court of record inferior to
the superior court except for vacancies occurring in the office of a judge of
the superior court or a judge of a court of record inferior to the superior
court in a county having a population of less than two hundred fifty thousand
persons according to the most recent united states census, the commission on
trial court appointments for the county in which the vacancy occurs shall
submit to the governor the names of not less than three persons nominated by
it to fill such vacancy, no more than two of whom shall be members of the same
political party unless there are more than four such nominees, in which event
no more than sixty per centum of such nominees shall be members of the same
political party. A nominee shall be under sixty-five years of age at the time
his name is submitted to the governor. Judges of the superior court shall be
subject to retention or rejection by a vote of the qualified electors of the
county from which they were appointed at the general election in the manner
provided by section 38 of this article.
C. A vacancy in the office of a justice or a judge of such courts
of record shall be filled by appointment by the governor without regard to
political affiliation from one of the nominees whose names shall be submitted
to him as hereinabove provided. In making the appointment, the governor shall
consider the diversity of the state's population for an appellate court
appointment and the diversity of the county's population for a trial court
appointment, however the primary consideration shall be merit. If the governor
does not appoint one of such nominees to fill such vacancy within sixty days
after their names are submitted to the governor by such commission, the chief
justice of the supreme court forthwith shall appoint on the basis of merit
alone without regard to political affiliation one of such nominees to fill
such vacancy. If such commission does not, within sixty days after such
vacancy occurs, submit the names of nominees as hereinabove provided, the
governor shall have the power to appoint any qualified person to fill such
vacancy at any time thereafter prior to the time the names of the nominees to
fill such vacancy are submitted to the governor as hereinabove provided. Each
justice or judge so appointed shall initially hold office for a term ending
sixty days following the next regular general election after the expiration of
a term of two years in office. Thereafter, the terms of justices or judges of
the supreme court and the superior court shall be as provided by this article.
D. A person appointed to fill a vacancy on an intermediate
appellate court or another court of record now existing or hereafter
established by law shall have been a resident of the counties or county in
which that vacancy exists for at least one year prior to his appointment, in
addition to possessing the other required qualifications. A nominee shall be
under sixty-five years of age at the time his name is submitted to the
governor.
Added, election
Section 38.
Declaration of candidacy; form of judicial ballot, rejection and retention;
failure to file declaration
Section 38. A. A justice or judge of the supreme court or an
intermediate appellate court shall file in the office of the secretary of
state, and a judge of the superior court or other court of record including
such justices or judges who are holding office as such by election or
appointment at the time of the adoption of this section except for judges of
the superior court and other courts of record inferior to the superior court
in counties having a population of less than two hundred fifty thousand
persons, according to the United States census, shall file in the office of
the clerk of the board of supervisors of the county in which he regularly sits
and resides, not less than sixty nor more than ninety days prior to the
regular general election next preceding the expiration of his term of office,
a declaration of his desire to be retained in office, and the secretary of
state shall certify to the several boards of supervisors the appropriate names
of the candidate or candidates appearing on such declarations filed in his
office.
B. The name of any justice or judge whose declaration is filed as
provided in this section shall be placed on the appropriate official ballot at
the next regular general election under a nonpartisan designation and in
substantially the following form:
Shall ____________________, (Name of Justice or Judge) of the
_________________ Court be retained in Office? Yes ______ No ______ (
C. If a majority of those voting on the question votes
"No," then, upon the expiration of the term for which such justice
or judge was serving, a vacancy shall exist, which shall be filled as provided
by this article. If a majority of those voting on the question votes
"Yes," such justice or judge shall remain in office for another
term, subject to removal as provided by this constitution.
D. The votes shall be counted and canvassed and the result declared
as in the case of state and county elections, whereupon a certificate of
retention or rejection of the incumbent justice or judge shall be delivered to
him by the secretary of state or the clerk of the board of supervisors, as the
case may be.
E. If a justice or judge fails to file a declaration of his desire
to be retained in office, as required by this section, then his office shall
become vacant upon expiration of the term for which such justice or judge was
serving.
Added, election
Section 39.
Retirement of justices and judges; vacancies
Section 39. On attaining the age of seventy years a justice or
judge of a court of record shall retire and his judicial office shall be
vacant, except as otherwise provided in section 35 of this article. In
addition to becoming vacant as provided in this section, the office of a
justice or judge of any court of record becomes vacant upon his death or his
voluntary retirement pursuant to statute or his voluntary resignation, and
also, as provided in section 38 of this article, upon the expiration of his
term next following a general election at which a majority of those voting on
the question of his retention vote in the negative or for which general
election he is required, but fails, to file a declaration of his desire to be
retained in office.
This section is alternative to and cumulative with the methods of
removal of judges and justices provided in parts 1 and 2 of article 8 and
article 6.1 of this constitution.
Added, election
Section 40.
Option for counties with less than two hundred fifty thousand persons
Section 40. Notwithstanding any provision of this article to the
contrary, any county having a population of less than two hundred fifty
thousand persons, according to the most recent United States census, may
choose to select its judges of the superior court or of courts of record
inferior to the superior court as if it had a population of two hundred fifty
thousand or more persons. Such choice shall be determined by vote of the
qualified electors of such county voting on the question at an election called
for such purpose by resolution of the board of supervisors of such county. If
such qualified electors approve, the provisions of sections 12, 28, 30, 35
through 39, 41 and 42 shall apply as if such county had a population of two
hundred fifty thousand persons or more.
Added, election
Section 41.
Superior court divisions; commission on trial court appointments; membership;
terms
A. Except as otherwise provided, judges of the superior court in
counties having a population of two hundred fifty thousand persons or more
according to the most recent
B. There shall be a nonpartisan commission on trial court
appointments for each county having a population of two hundred fifty thousand
persons or more according to the most recent
1. The chief justice of the supreme court, who shall be the
chairman of the commission. In the event of the absence or incapacity of the
chairman the supreme court shall appoint a justice thereof to serve in his
place and stead.
2. Five attorney members, none of whom shall reside in the same
supervisorial district and not more than three of whom shall be members of the
same political party, who are nominated by the board of governors of the state
bar of Arizona and who are appointed by the governor subject to confirmation
by the senate in the manner prescribed by law.
3. Ten nonattorney members, no more than two of whom shall reside
in the same supervisorial district.
C. At least ninety days prior to a term expiring or within
twenty-one days of a vacancy occurring for a nonattorney member on the
commission for trial court appointments, the member of the board of
supervisors from the district in which the vacancy has occurred shall appoint
a nominating committee of seven members who reside in the district, not more
than four of whom may be from the same political party. The make-up of the
committee shall, to the extent feasible, reflect the diversity of the
population of the district. members shall not be attorneys and shall not hold
any governmental office, elective or appointive, for profit. The committee
shall provide public notice that a vacancy exists and shall solicit, review
and forward to the governor all applications along with the committee's
recommendations for appointment. The governor shall appoint two persons from
each supervisorial district who shall not be of the same political party,
subject to confirmation by the senate in the manner prescribed by law.
D. In making or confirming appointments to trial court commissions,
the governor, the senate and the state bar shall endeavor to see that the
commission reflects the diversity of the county's population.
E. Members of the commission shall serve staggered four year terms,
except that initial appointments for the five additional nonattorney members
and the two additional attorney members of the commission shall be designated
by the governor as follows:
1. One appointment for a nonattorney member shall be for a one-year
term.
2. Two appointments for nonattorney members shall be for a two-year
term.
3. Two appointments for nonattorney members shall be for a
three-year term.
4. One appointment for an attorney member shall be for a one-year
term.
5. One appointment for an attorney member shall be for a two-year
term.
F. Vacancies shall be filled for the unexpired terms in the same
manner as the original appointments.
G. Attorney members of the commission shall have resided in this
state and shall have been admitted to practice in this state by the supreme
court for at least five years and shall have resided in the supervisorial
district from which they are appointed for at least one year. Nonattorney
members shall have resided in this state for at least five years, shall have
resided in the supervisorial district for at least one year before being
nominated and shall not be judges, retired judges nor admitted to practice
before the supreme court. None of the attorney or nonattorney members of the
commission shall hold any governmental office, elective or appointive, for
profit and no attorney member is eligible for appointment to any judicial
office of this state until one year after membership in the commission
terminates.
H. No person other than the chief justice shall serve at the same
time as a member of more than one judicial appointment commission.
I. The commission shall submit the names of not less than three
individuals for nomination for the office of the superior court judge pursuant
to section 37 of this article.
J. Prior to making recommendations to the governor, the commission
shall conduct investigations, hold public hearings and take public testimony.
An executive session as prescribed by rule may be held upon a two-thirds vote
of the members of the commission in a public hearing. Final decisions as to
recommendations shall be made without regard to political affiliation in an
impartial and objective manner. The commission shall consider the diversity of
the county's population and the geographical distribution of the residences of
the judges throughout the county, however the primary consideration shall be
merit. Voting shall be in a public hearing. The expenses of meetings of the
commission and the attendance of members thereof for travel and subsistence
shall be paid from the general fund of the state as state officers are paid,
upon claims approved by the chairman.
K. After public hearings the supreme court shall adopt rules of
procedure for the commission on trial court appointments.
L. The members of the commission who were appointed pursuant to
section 36 of this article prior to the effective date of this section may
continue to serve until the expiration of their normal terms. All subsequent
appointments shall be made as prescribed by this section.
Added, election
Section 42.
Retention evaluation of justices and judges
The supreme court shall adopt, after public hearings, and
administer for all justices and judges who file a declaration to be retained
in office, a process, established by court rules for evaluating judicial
performance. The rules shall include written performance standards and
performance reviews which survey opinions of persons who have knowledge of the
justice's or judge's performance. The public shall be afforded a full and fair
opportunity for participation in the evaluation process through public
hearings, dissemination of evaluation reports to voters and any other methods
as the court deems advisable.
Added, election
ARTICLE
Added by election
Section 1.
Composition; appointment; term; vacancies
Section 1. A. A commission on judicial conduct is created to be
composed of eleven persons consisting of two judges of the court of appeals,
two judges of the superior court, one justice of the peace and one municipal
court judge, who shall be appointed by the supreme court, two members of the
state bar of Arizona, who shall be appointed by the governing body of such bar
association, and three citizens who are not judges, retired judges nor members
of the state bar of Arizona, who shall be appointed by the governor subject to
confirmation by the senate in the manner prescribed by law.
B. Terms of members of the commission shall be six years, except
that initial terms of two members appointed by the supreme court and one
member appointed by the state bar of Arizona for terms which begin in January,
1991 shall be for two years and initial terms of one member appointed by the
supreme court and one member appointed by the state bar of Arizona for terms
which begin in January, 1991 shall be for four years. If a member ceases to
hold the position that qualified him for appointment his membership on the
commission terminates. An appointment to fill a vacancy for an unexpired term
shall be made for the remainder of the term by the appointing power of the
original appointment.
Added, election
Section 2.
Disqualification of judge
Section 2. A judge is disqualified from acting as a judge, without
loss of salary, while there is pending an indictment or an information
charging him in the
Added, election
Section 3.
Suspension or removal of judge
Section 3. On recommendation of the commission on judicial conduct,
or on its own motion, the supreme court may suspend a judge from office
without salary when, in the United States, he pleads guilty or no contest or
is found guilty of a crime punishable as a felony under Arizona or federal law
or of any other crime that involves moral turpitude under such law. If his
conviction is reversed the suspension terminates, and he shall be paid his
salary for the period of suspension. If he is suspended and his conviction
becomes final the supreme court shall remove him from office.
Added, election
Section 4.
Retirement of judge
Section 4. A. On recommendation of the commission on judicial
conduct, the supreme court may retire a judge for disability that seriously
interferes with the performance of his duties and is or is likely to become
permanent, and may censure, suspend without pay or remove a judge for action
by him that constitutes wilful misconduct in office, wilful and persistent
failure to perform his duties, habitual intemperance or conduct prejudicial to
the administration of justice that brings the judicial office into disrepute.
B. A judge retired by the supreme court shall be considered to have
retired voluntarily. A judge removed by the supreme court is ineligible for
judicial office in this state.
Added, election
Section 5.
Definitions and rules implementing article
Section 5. The term "judge" as used in this article shall
apply to all justices of the peace, judges in courts inferior to the superior
court as may be provided by law, judges of the superior court, judges of the
court of appeals and justices of the supreme court. The supreme court shall
make rules implementing this article and providing for confidentiality of
proceedings. A judge who is a member of the commission or supreme court shall
not participate as a member in any proceedings hereunder involving his own
censure, suspension, removal or involuntary retirement.
Added, election
Section 6.
Article self-executing
Section 6. The provisions of this article shall be self-executing.
Added, election
ARTICLE
Section 1.
Method of voting; secrecy
Section 1. All elections by the people shall be by ballot, or by
such other method as may be prescribed by law; provided, that secrecy in
voting shall be preserved.
Section 2.
Qualifications of voters; disqualification
Section 2. A. No person shall be entitled to vote at any general
election, or for any office that now is, or hereafter may be, elective by the
people, or upon any question which may be submitted to a vote of the people,
unless such person be a citizen of the United States of the age of eighteen
years or over, and shall have resided in the state for the period of time
preceding such election as prescribed by law, provided that qualifications for
voters at a general election for the purpose of electing presidential electors
shall be as prescribed by law. The word "citizen" shall include
persons of the male and female sex.
B. The rights of citizens of the United States to vote and hold
office shall not be denied or abridged by the state, or any political division
or municipality thereof, on account of sex, and the right to register, to vote
and to hold office under any law now in effect, or which may hereafter be
enacted, is hereby extended to, and conferred upon males and females alike.
C. No person who is adjudicated an incapacitated person shall be
qualified to vote at any election, nor shall any person convicted of treason
or felony, be qualified to vote at any election unless restored to civil
rights.
Amended, election
Section 3.
Voting residence of federal employees and certain others
Section 3. For the purpose of voting, no person shall be deemed to
have gained or lost a residence by reason of being present or absent while
employed in the service of the United States, or while a student at any
institution of learning, or while kept at any institution or other shelter at
public expense, or while confined in any public jail or prison.
Amended, election
Section 4.
Privilege of electors from arrest
Section 4. Electors shall in all cases, except treason, felony, or
breach of the peace, be privileged from arrest during their attendance at any
election, and in going thereto and returning therefrom.
Section 5.
Military duty on day of election
Section 5. No elector shall be obliged to perform military duty on
the day of an election, except in time of war or public danger.
Section 6.
Residence of military personnel stationed within state
Section 6. No soldier, seaman, or marine, in the army or navy of
the United States shall be deemed a resident of this state in consequence of
his being stationed at any military or naval place within this state.
Section 7.
Highest number of votes received as determinative of person elected
Section 7. In all elections held by the people in this state, the
person, or persons, receiving the highest number of legal votes shall be
declared elected.
Amended, election
Section 8.
Qualifications for voters at school elections
Section 8. Qualifications for voters at school elections shall be
as are now, or as may hereafter be, provided by law.
Section 9. For the purpose of obtaining an advisory vote of the
people, the legislature shall provide for placing the names of candidates for
Section 10.
Direct primary election law
Section 10. The legislature shall enact a direct primary election
law, which shall provide for the nomination of candidates for all elective
state, county, and city offices, including candidates for United States
Senator and for Representative in Congress. Any person who is registered as no
party preference or independent as the party preference or who is registered
with a political party that is not qualified for representation on the ballot
may vote in the primary election of any one of the political parties that is
qualified for the ballot.
Amended, election
Section 11.
General elections; date
Section 11. There shall be a general election of representatives in
congress, and of state, county, and precinct officers on the first Tuesday
after the first Monday in November of the first even numbered year after the
year in which
Section 12.
Registration and other laws
Section 12. There shall be enacted registration and other laws to
secure the purity of elections and guard against abuses of the elective
franchise.
Section 13.
Submission of questions upon bond issues or special assessments
Section 13. Questions upon bond issues or special assessments shall
be submitted to the vote of real property tax payers, who shall also in all
respects be qualified electors of this state, and of the political subdivision
thereof affected by such question.
Amended, election
Section 14. Fee
for placing candidate's name on ballot
Section 14. No fee shall ever be required in order to have the name
of any candidate placed on the official ballot for any election or primary.
Section 15.
Qualifications for public office
Section 15. Every person elected or appointed to any elective
office of trust or profit under the authority of the state, or any political
division or any municipality thereof, shall be a qualified elector of the
political division or municipality in which such person shall be elected.
Amended, election
Section 16.
Campaign contributions and expenditures; publicity
Section 16. The legislature, at its first session, shall enact a
law providing for a general publicity, before and after election, of all
campaign contributions to, and expenditures of campaign committees and
candidates for public office.
Section 17.
Vacancy in congress
Section 17. There shall be a primary and general election as
prescribed by law, which shall provide for nomination and election of a
candidate for
Added, election
Section 18. Term
limits on ballot appearances in congressional elections
Section 18. The name of any candidate for United States Senator
from Arizona shall not appear on the ballot if, by the end of the current term
of office, the candidate will have served (or, but for resignation, would have
served) in that office for two consecutive terms, and the name of a candidate
for United States Representative from Arizona shall not appear on the ballot
if, by the end of the current term of office, the candidate will have served
(or, but for resignation, would have served) in that office for three
consecutive terms. Terms are considered consecutive unless they are at least
one full term apart. Any person appointed or elected to fill a vacancy in the
United States Congress who serves at least one half of a term of office shall
be considered to have served a term in that office for purposes of this
section. For purposes of this section, terms beginning before
Added, election
ARTICLE VIII - REMOVAL FROM OFFICE
PART 1. RECALL OF PUBLIC OFFICERS
Section 1.
Officers subject to recall; petitioners
Section 1. Every public officer in the state of
Amended, election
Section 2.
Recall petitions; contents; filing; signatures; oath
Section 2. Every recall petition must contain a general statement,
in not more than two hundred words, of the grounds of such demand, and must be
filed in the office in which petitions for nominations to the office held by
the incumbent are required to be filed. The signatures to such recall petition
need not all be on the one sheet of paper, but each signer must add to his
signature the date of his signing said petition, and his place of residence,
giving his street and number, if any, should he reside in a town or city. One
of the signers of each sheet of such petition, or the person circulating such
sheet, must make and subscribe an oath on said sheet, that the signatures
thereon are genuine.
Section 3.
Resignation of officer; special election
Section 3. If such officer shall offer his resignation it shall be
accepted, and the vacancy shall be filled as may be provided by law. If he
shall not resign within five days after a recall petition is filed as provided
by law, a special election shall be ordered to be held as provided by law, to
determine whether such officer shall be recalled. On the ballots at such
election shall be printed the reasons as set forth in the petition for
demanding his recall, and, in not more than two hundred words, the officer's
justification of his course in office. He shall continue to perform the duties
of his office until the result of such election shall have been officially
declared.
Amended, election
Section 4.
Special election; candidates; results; qualification of successor
Section 4. Unless the incumbent otherwise requests, in writing, the
incumbent's name shall be placed as a candidate on the official ballot without
nomination. Other candidates for the office may be nominated to be voted for
at said election. The candidate who receives the highest number of votes shall
be declared elected for the remainder of the term. Unless the incumbent
receives the highest number of votes, the incumbent shall be deemed to be
removed from office, upon qualification of the successor. In the event that
the successor shall not qualify within five days after the result of said
election shall have been declared, the said office shall be vacant, and may be
filled as provided by law.
Amended, election
Section 5.
Recall petitions; restrictions and conditions
Section 5. No recall petition shall be circulated against any
officer until he shall have held his office for a period of six months, except
that it may be filed against a member of the legislature at any time after
five days from the beginning of the first session after his election. After
one recall petition and election, no further recall petition shall be filed
against the same officer during the term for which he was elected, unless
petitioners signing such petition shall first pay into the public treasury
which has paid such election expenses, all expenses of the preceding election.
Section 6.
Application of general election laws; implementary legislation
Section 6. The general election laws shall apply to recall
elections in so far as applicable. Laws necessary to facilitate the operation
of the provisions of this article shall be enacted, including provision for
payment by the public treasury of the reasonable special election campaign
expenses of such officer.
Section 1. Power
of impeachment in house of representatives; trial by senate
Section 1. The house of representatives shall have the sole power
of impeachment. The concurrence of a majority of all the members shall be
necessary to an impeachment. All impeachments shall be tried by the senate,
and, when sitting for that purpose, the senators shall be upon oath or
affirmation to do justice according to law and evidence, and shall be presided
over by the chief justice of the supreme court. Should the chief justice be on
trial, or otherwise disqualified, the senate shall elect a judge of the
supreme court to preside.
Section 2.
Conviction; grounds for impeachment; judgment; liability to trial
Section 2. No person shall be convicted without a concurrence of
two-thirds of the senators elected. The governor and other state and judicial
officers, except justices of courts not of record, shall be liable to
impeachment for high crimes, misdemeanors, or malfeasance in office, but
judgment in such cases shall extend only to removal from office and
disqualification to hold any office of honor, trust, or profit in the state.
The party, whether convicted or acquitted, shall, nevertheless, be liable to
trial and punishment according to law.
ARTICLE IX - PUBLIC DEBT, REVENUE, AND TAXATION
Section 1.
Surrender of power of taxation; uniformity of taxes
Section 1. The power of taxation shall never be surrendered,
suspended or contracted away. Except as provided by section 18 of this
article, all taxes shall be uniform upon the same class of property within the
territorial limits of the authority levying the tax, and shall be levied and
collected for public purposes only.
Amended, election
Section 2.
Property subject to taxation; exemptions
Section 2. (1) There shall be exempt from taxation all federal,
state, county and municipal property.
(2) Property of educational, charitable, and religious associations
or institutions not used or held for profit may be exempt from taxation by
law.
(3) Public debts, as evidenced by the bonds of
(4) All household goods owned by the user thereof and used solely
for noncommercial purposes shall be exempt from taxation, and such person
entitled to such exemption shall not be required to take any affirmative
action to receive the benefit of such exemption.
(5) Stocks of raw or finished materials, unassembled parts, work in
process or finished products constituting the inventory of a retailer or
wholesaler located within the state and principally engaged in the resale of
such materials, parts or products, whether or not for resale to the ultimate
consumer, shall be exempt from taxation.
(6) The legislature may exempt personal property that is used for
agricultural purposes or in a trade or business from taxation in a manner
provided by law, except that the exemption does not apply to any amount of the
full cash value of the personal property of a taxpayer that exceeds fifty
thousand dollars. The legislature may provide by law to increase the exempt
amount according to annual variations in a designated national inflation
index.
(7) The legislature may exempt the property of cemeteries that are
set apart and used to inter deceased human beings from taxation in a manner
provided by law
(8) There shall be further exempt from taxation the property of
each honorably discharged airman, soldier, sailor, United States marine,
member of revenue marine service, the coast guard, nurse corps or of any
predecessor or of the component of auxiliary of any thereof, resident of this
state, in the amount of:
(a) One thousand five hundred dollars if the total assessment of
such person does not exceed three thousand five hundred dollars.
(b) One thousand dollars if the total assessment of such person
does not exceed four thousand dollars.
(c) Five hundred dollars if the total assessment of such person
does not exceed four thousand five hundred dollars.
(d) Two hundred fifty dollars if the total assessment of such
person does not exceed five thousand dollars.
(e) No exemption if the total assessment of such person exceeds
five thousand dollars.
No such exemption shall be made for such person unless such person
shall have served at least sixty days in the military or naval service of the
(9) There shall be further exempt from taxation as herein provided
the property of each honorably discharged airman, soldier, sailor, United
States marine, member of revenue marine service, the coast guard, nurse corps
or of any predecessor or of the component of auxiliary of any thereof,
resident of this state, where such person has a service-connected disability
as determined by the United States veterans administration or its successor.
No such exemption shall be made for such person unless he shall have been a
resident of this state prior to September 1, 1945 or unless such person shall
have been a resident of this state for at least four years prior to his
original entry into service as an airman, soldier, sailor, United States
marine, member of revenue marine service, the coast guard, nurse corps or of
any predecessor or of the component of auxiliary of any thereof. The property
of such person having a compensable service-connected disability exempt from
taxation as herein provided shall be determined as follows:
(a) If such person's service-connected disability as determined by
the United States veterans administration or its successor is sixty per cent
or less, the property of such person exempt from taxation shall be determined
by such person's percentage of disability multiplied by the assessment of such
person in the amount of:
(i) One thousand five hundred dollars if the total assessment of
such person does not exceed three thousand five hundred dollars.
(ii) One thousand dollars if the total assessment of such person
does not exceed four thousand dollars.
(iii) Five hundred dollars if the total assessment of such person
does not exceed four thousand five hundred dollars.
(iv) Two hundred fifty dollars if the total assessment of such
person does not exceed five thousand dollars.
(v) No exemption if the total assessment of such person exceeds
five thousand dollars.
(b) If such person's service-connected disability as determined by
the
(i) One thousand five hundred dollars if the total assessment of
such person does not exceed three thousand five hundred dollars.
(ii) One thousand dollars if the total assessment of such person
does not exceed four thousand dollars.
(iii) Five hundred dollars if the total assessment of such person
does not exceed four thousand five hundred dollars.
(iv) Two hundred fifty dollars if the total assessment of such
person does not exceed five thousand dollars.
(v) No exemption if the total assessment of such person exceeds
five thousand dollars.
(10) There shall be further exempt from taxation the property of
each honorably discharged airman, soldier, sailor, United States marine,
member of revenue marine service, the coast guard, nurse corps or of any
predecessor or of the component of auxiliary of any thereof, resident of this
state, where such person has a nonservice-connected total and permanent
disability, physical or mental, as so certified by the United States veterans
administration, or its successor, or such other certification as provided by
law, in the amount of:
(a) One thousand five hundred dollars if the total assessment of
such person does not exceed three thousand five hundred dollars.
(b) One thousand dollars if the total assessment of such person
does not exceed four thousand dollars.
(c) Five hundred dollars if the total assessment of such person
does not exceed four thousand five hundred dollars.
(d) Two hundred fifty dollars if the total assessment of such
person does not exceed five thousand dollars.
(e) No exemption if the total assessment of such person exceeds
five thousand dollars.
No such exemption shall be made for such person unless he shall
have served at least sixty days in the military or naval service of the
(11) There shall be further exempt from taxation the property of
each widow, resident of the state, in the amount of:
(a) One thousand five hundred dollars if the total assessment of
such widow does not exceed three thousand five hundred dollars.
(b) One thousand dollars if the total assessment of such widow does
not exceed four thousand dollars.
(c) Five hundred dollars if the total assessment of such widow does
not exceed four thousand five hundred dollars.
(d) Two hundred fifty dollars if the total assessment of such widow
does not exceed five thousand dollars.
(e) No exemption if the total assessment of such widow exceeds five
thousand dollars.
In order to qualify for this exemption, the income from all sources
of such widow, together with the income from all sources of all children of
such widow residing with the widow in her residence in the year immediately
preceding the year for which such widow applies for this exemption, shall not
exceed:
1. Seven thousand dollars if none of the widow's children under the
age of eighteen years resided with her in such widow's residence; or
2. Ten thousand dollars if one or more of the widow's children
residing with her in such widow's residence was under the age of eighteen
years, or was totally and permanently disabled, physically or mentally, as
certified by competent medical authority as provided by law.
Such widow shall have resided with her last spouse in this state at
the time of the spouse's death if she was not a widow and a resident of this
state prior to
(12) No property shall be exempt which has been conveyed to evade
taxation. The total exemption from taxation granted to the property owned by a
person who qualifies for any exemption in accordance with the terms of
subsections (7), (8), (9) or (10) shall not exceed one thousand five hundred
dollars. The provisions of this section shall be self-executing.
(13) All property in the state not exempt under the laws of the
Amended, election Nov. 6, 1928, effective Nov. 28, 1928; election
Nov. 5, 1946, effective Nov. 25, 1946; election Nov. 3, 1964, effective Dec.
3, 1964; election Nov. 5, 1968, effective Dec. 4, 1968; election June 3, 1980,
effective June 28, 1980; election Nov. 5, 1996, effective Dec. 6, 1996;
amended, election Nov. 7, 2000, effective Dec. 7, 2000.
Section 2.1.
Exemption from tax; property of widowers
Section 2.1. There shall be further exempt from taxation the
property of each widower, resident of this state, in the amount of:
1. One thousand five hundred dollars if the total assessment of
such widower does not exceed three thousand five hundred dollars.
2. One thousand dollars if the total assessment of such widower
does not exceed four thousand dollars.
3. Five hundred dollars if the total assessment of such widower
does not exceed four thousand five hundred dollars.
4. Two hundred fifty dollars if the total assessment of such
widower does not exceed five thousand dollars.
5. No exemption if the total assessment of such widower exceeds
five thousand dollars.
In order to qualify for this exemption, the income from all sources
of such widower, together with the income from all sources of all children of
such widower residing with the widower in his residence in the year
immediately preceding the year for which such widower applies for this
exemption, shall not exceed:
1. Seven thousand dollars if none of the widower's children under
the age of eighteen years resided with him in such widower's residence; or
2. Ten thousand dollars if one or more of the widower's children
residing with him in such widower's residence was under the age of eighteen
years, or was totally and permanently disabled, physically or mentally, as
certified by competent medical authority as provided by law.
Such widower shall have resided with his last spouse in this state
at the time of the spouse's death if he was not a widower and a resident of
this state prior to
No property shall be exempt which has been conveyed to evade
taxation. The total exemption from taxation granted to the property owned by a
person who qualifies for any exemption in accordance with the terms of this
section shall not exceed one thousand five hundred dollars. This section shall
be self-executing.
Added, election
Section 2.2.
Exemption from tax; property of persons who are disabled
Section 2.2 A. There shall be further exempt from taxation the
property of each person who, after age seventeen, has been medically certified
as totally and permanently disabled, in the amount of:
1. One thousand five hundred dollars if the total assessment of
such person does not exceed three thousand five hundred dollars.
2. One thousand dollars if the total assessment of such person does
not exceed four thousand dollars.
3. Five hundred dollars if the total assessment of such person does
not exceed four thousand five hundred dollars.
4. Two hundred fifty dollars if the total assessment of such person
does not exceed five thousand dollars.
5. No exemption if the total assessment of such person exceeds five
thousand dollars. The legislature may by law prescribe criteria for medical
certification of such disability.
B. The income from all sources of the person who is disabled, the
person's spouse and all of the persons's children who reside in the person's
residence in the year immediately preceding the year for the person applies
for this exemption shall not exceed:
1. Seven thousand dollars if none of the person's children under
the age of eighteen years resided in the person's residence; or
2. Ten thousand dollars if one or more of the person's children
residing in the residence was under the age of eighteen years or was totally
and permanently disabled, physically or mentally, as certified by competent
medical authority as provided by law.
C. No property shall be exempt which has been conveyed to evade
taxation. The total exemption from taxation granted to the property owned by a
person who qualifies for any exemption in accordance with the terms of this
section shall not exceed one thousand five hundred dollars. This section shall
be self-executing.
Added, election
Section 2.3.
Exemption from tax; increase in amount of exemptions, assessments and income
Section 2.3 The legislature may by law increase the amount of the
exemptions, the total permissible amount of assessments or the permissible
amount of income from all sources prescribed in Section Section 2,
2.1 and 2.2 of this article.
Added, election
Section 3.
Annual tax; purposes; amount; tax laws; payment of taxes into state treasury
Section 3. The legislature shall provide by law for an annual tax
sufficient, with other sources of revenue, to defray the necessary ordinary
expenses of the state for each fiscal year. And for the purpose of paying the
state debt, if there be any, the legislature shall provide for levying an
annual tax sufficient to pay the annual interest and the principal of such
debt within twenty-five years from the final passage of the law creating the
debt.
No tax shall be levied except in pursuance of law, and every law
imposing a tax shall state distinctly the object of the tax, to which object
only it shall be applied.
All taxes levied and collected for state purposes shall be paid
into the state treasury in money only.
Section 4.
Fiscal year; annual statement of receipts and expenditures; deficit
Section 4. The fiscal year shall commence on the first day of July
in each year. An accurate statement of the receipts and expenditures of the
public money shall be published annually, in such manner as shall be provided
by law. Whenever the expenses of any fiscal year shall exceed the income, the
legislature may provide for levying a tax for the ensuing fiscal year
sufficient, with other sources of income, to pay the deficiency, as well as
the estimated expenses of the ensuing fiscal year.
Section 5. Power
of state to contract debts; purposes; limit; restrictions
Section 5. The state may contract debts to supply the casual
deficits or failures in revenues, or to meet expenses not otherwise provided
for; but the aggregate amount of such debts, direct and contingent, whether
contracted by virtue of one or more laws, or at different periods of time,
shall never exceed the sum of three hundred and fifty thousand dollars; and
the money arising from the creation of such debts shall be applied to the
purpose for which it was obtained or to repay the debts so contracted, and to
no other purpose.
In addition to the above limited power to contract debts the state
may borrow money to repel invasion, suppress insurrection, or defend the state
in time of war; but the money thus raised shall be applied exclusively to the
object for which the loan shall have been authorized or to the repayment of
the debt thereby created. No money shall be paid out of the state treasury,
except in the manner provided by law.
Section 6. Local
assessments and taxes
Section 6. Incorporated cities, towns, and villages may be vested
by law with power to make local improvements by special assessments, or by
special taxation of property benefited. For all corporate purposes, all
municipal corporations may be vested with authority to assess and collect
taxes.
Section 7. Gift
or loan of credit; subsidies; stock ownership; joint ownership
Section 7. Neither the state, nor any county, city, town,
municipality, or other subdivision of the state shall ever give or loan its
credit in the aid of, or make any donation or grant, by subsidy or otherwise,
to any individual, association, or corporation, or become a subscriber to, or
a shareholder in, any company or corporation, or become a joint owner with any
person, company, or corporation, except as to such ownerships as may accrue to
the state by operation or provision of law or as authorized by law solely for
investment of the monies in the various funds of the state.
Amended, election
Section 8. Local
debt limits; assent of taxpayers
Section 8. (1) No county, city, town, school district, or other
municipal corporation shall for any purpose become indebted in any manner to
an amount exceeding six per centum of the taxable property in such county,
city, town, school district, or other municipal corporation, without the
assent of a majority of the property taxpayers, who must also in all respects
be qualified electors, therein voting at an election provided by law to be
held for that purpose, the value of the taxable property therein to be
ascertained by the last assessment for state and county purposes, previous to
incurring such indebtedness; except, that in incorporated cities and towns
assessments shall be taken from the last assessment for city or town purposes;
provided, that under no circumstances shall any county or school district
become indebted to an amount exceeding fifteen per centum of such taxable
property, as shown by the last assessment roll thereof; and provided further,
that any incorporated city or town, with such assent, may be allowed to become
indebted to a larger amount, but not exceeding twenty per centum additional,
for supplying such city or town with water, artificial light, or sewers, when
the works for supplying such water, light, or sewers are or shall be owned and
controlled by the municipality, and for the acquisition and development by the
incorporated city or town of land or interests therein for open space
preserves, parks, playgrounds and recreational facilities.
(2) The provisions of Section 18,
subsections (3), (4), (5) and (6) of this article shall not apply to this
section.
Amended, election
Section 8.1.
Unified school district debt limit
Section 8.1. (1) Notwithstanding the provisions of section 8 of
this article a unified school district may become indebted to an amount not
exceeding thirty per cent of the taxable property of the school district, as
shown by the last assessment roll thereof. For purposes of this section, a
unified school district is a single school district which provides education
to the area within the district for grades kindergarten through twelve and
which area is not subject to taxation by any other common or high school
district.
(2) The provisions of Section 18,
subsections (3), (4), (5) and (6) of this article shall not apply to this
section.
Added, election
Section 9.
Statement of tax and objects
Section 9. Every law which imposes, continues, or revives a tax
shall distinctly state the tax and the objects for which it shall be applied;
and it shall not be sufficient to refer to any other law to fix such tax or
object.
Section 10. Aid
of church, private or sectarian school, or public service corporation
Section 10. No tax shall be laid or appropriation of public money
made in aid of any church, or private or sectarian school, or any public
service corporation.
Section 11.
Taxing procedure; license tax on registered vehicles
Section 11. From and after
From and after
In the event that a vehicle is destroyed after the beginning of a
registration year, the license tax paid for such year on such vehicle may be
reduced as provided by law.
From and after December 31, 1973, mobile homes, as defined by law
for tax purposes, shall not be subject to the license tax imposed under the
provisions of this section but shall be subject to ad valorem property taxes
on any mobile homes in the manner provided by law. Distribution of the
proceeds derived from such tax shall be as provided by law.
From and after
Amended, election
Section 12.
Authority to provide for levy and collection of license and other taxes
Section 12. The law-making power shall have authority to provide
for the levy and collection of license, franchise, gross revenue, excise,
income, collateral and direct inheritance, legacy, and succession taxes, also
graduated income taxes, graduated collateral and direct inheritance taxes,
graduated legacy and succession taxes, stamp, registration, production, or
other specific taxes.
Section 13.
Inventory tax on materials and products of manufacturers
Section 13. No tax shall be levied on:
1. Raw or unfinished materials, unassembled parts, work in process
or finished products, constituting the inventory of a manufacturer or
manufacturing establishment located within the state and principally engaged
in the fabrication, production and manufacture of products, wares and articles
for use, from raw or prepared materials, imparting thereto new forms,
qualities, properties and combinations, which materials, parts, work in
process or finished products are not consigned or billed to any other party.
2. Livestock, poultry, aquatic animals and honeybees owned by a
person who is principally engaged in agricultural production, subject to such
conditions as may be prescribed by law.
Added, election
Section 14. Use
and distribution of vehicle, user, and gasoline and diesel tax receipts
Section 14. No moneys derived from fees, excises, or license taxes
relating to registration, operation, or use of vehicles on the public highways
or streets or to fuels or any other energy source used for the propulsion of
vehicles on the public highways or streets shall be expended for other than
highway and street purposes including the cost of administering the state
highway system and the laws creating such fees, excises, or license taxes,
statutory refunds and adjustments provided by law, payment of principal and
interest on highway and street bonds and obligations, expenses of state
enforcement of traffic laws and state administration of traffic safety
programs, payment of costs of publication and distribution of Arizona Highways
Magazine, state costs of construction, reconstruction, maintenance or repair
of public highways, streets or bridges, costs of rights of way acquisitions
and expenses related thereto, roadside development, and for distribution to
counties, incorporated cities and towns to be used by them solely for highway
and street purposes including costs of rights of way acquisitions and expenses
related thereto, construction, reconstruction, maintenance, repair, roadside
development, of county, city and town roads, streets, and bridges and payment
of principal and interest on highway and street bonds. As long as the total
highway user revenues derived equals or exceeds the total derived in the
fiscal year ending June 30, 1970, the state and any county shall not receive
from such revenues for the use of each and for distribution to cities and
towns, fewer dollars than were received and distributed in such fiscal year.
This section shall not apply to moneys derived from the automobile license tax
imposed under section 11 of article IX of the Constitution of Arizona. All
moneys collected in accordance with this section shall be distributed as
provided by law.
Added, election
Section 15.
License tax on aircraft
Section 15. Commencing
1. Regularly scheduled aircraft operated by an air line company for
the primary purpose of carrying persons or property for hire in interstate,
intrastate, or international transportation.
2. Aircraft owned and held by an aircraft dealer solely for
purposes of sale.
3. Aircraft owned by a nonresident who operates aircraft for a
period not in excess of ninety days in any one calendar year, provided that
such aircraft are not engaged in any intrastate commercial activity.
4. Aircraft owned and operated exclusively in the public service by
the state or by any political subdivision thereof, or by the civil air patrol.
The amount, manner, method and mode of assessing, equalizing and
levying such license tax and the distribution of the proceeds therefrom shall
be prescribed by law.
Added, election
Section 16.
Exemption of watercraft from ad valorem property taxes
Section 16. Commencing
"Watercraft", used in this section, shall be defined as
provided by law.
Added, election
Section 17.
Economic estimates commission; appropriation limitation; powers and duties of
commission
Section 17. (1) The economic estimates commission shall be
established by law, with a membership of not to exceed three members, and
shall determine and publish prior to February 1 of each year the estimated
total personal income for the following fiscal year. By April 1 of each year
the commission shall determine and publish a final estimate of the total
personal income for the following fiscal year, which estimate shall be used in
computing the appropriations limit for the legislature. For the purposes of
this section, "total personal income" means the dollar amount that
will be reported as total income by persons for the state of
(2) For purposes of this section, "state revenues":
(a) Include all monies, revenues, fees, fines, penalties, funds,
tuitions, property and receipts of any kind whatsoever received by or for the
account of the state or any of its agencies, departments, offices, boards,
commissions, authorities, councils and institutions except as provided in this
subsection.
(i) Any amounts or property received from the issuance or
incurrence of bonds or other lawful long-term obligations issued or incurred
for a specific purpose. For the purpose of this subdivision long-term
obligations shall not include warrants issued in the ordinary course of
operation or registered for payment by the state.
(ii) Any amounts or property received as payment of dividends or
interest.
(iii) Any amounts or property received by the state in the capacity
of trustee, custodian or agent.
(iv) Any amounts received from employers for deposit in the
unemployment compensation fund or any successor fund.
(v) Any amounts collected by the state for distribution to
counties, cities and towns without specific restrictions on the use of the
funds other than the restrictions included in Section 14
of this article.
(vi) Any amounts received as grants, aid, contributions or gifts of
any type, except voluntary contributions or other contributions received
directly or indirectly in lieu of taxes.
(vii) Any amounts received as the proceeds from the sale, lease or
redemption of property or as consideration for services or the use of
property.
(viii) Any amounts received pursuant to a transfer during a fiscal
year from another agency, department, office, board, commission, authority,
council or institution of the state which were included as state revenues for
such fiscal year or which are excluded from state revenue under other
provisions of this subsection.
(ix) Any amounts attributable to an increase in the rates of tax
subsequent to July 1, 1979 on vehicle users, gasoline and diesel fuel which
were levied on July 1, 1979.
(x) Any amounts received during a fiscal year as refunds,
reimbursements or other recoveries of amounts appropriated which were applied
against the appropriation limitation for such fiscal year or which were
excluded from state revenues under other provisions of this subsection.
(3) The legislature shall not appropriate for any fiscal year state
revenues in excess of seven per cent of the total personal income of the state
for that fiscal year as determined by the economic estimates commission. The
limitation may be exceeded upon affirmative vote of two-thirds of the
membership of each house of the legislature on each measure that appropriates
amounts in excess of the limitation. If the legislature authorizes a specific
dollar amount of appropriation for more than one fiscal year, for the purpose
of measuring such appropriation against the appropriation limitation, the
entire amount appropriated shall be applied against the limitation in the
first fiscal year during which any expenditures are authorized, and in no
other fiscal year.
(4) In order to permit the transference of governmental functions
or funding responsibilities between the federal and state governments and
between the state government and its political subdivisions without abridging
the purpose of this section to limit state appropriations to a percentage of
total personal income, the legislature shall provide for adjustments of the
appropriation percentage limitation consistent with the following principles:
(a) If the federal government assumes all or any part of the cost
of providing a governmental function which the state previously funded in
whole or in part, the appropriation limitation shall be commensurately
decreased.
(b) If the federal government requires the state to assume all or
any part of the cost of providing a governmental function the appropriation
limitation shall be commensurately increased.
(c) If the state assumes all or any part of the cost of providing a
governmental function and the state requires the political subdivision, which
previously funded all or any part of the cost of the function to
commensurately decrease its tax revenues, the appropriation percentage
limitation shall be commensurately increased.
(d) If a political subdivision assumes all or any part of the cost
of providing a governmental function previously funded in whole or in part by
the state, the appropriation percentage limitation shall be commensurately
decreased.
Any adjustments made pursuant to this subsection shall be made for
the first fiscal year of the assumption of the cost. Such adjustment shall
remain in effect for each subsequent fiscal year.
Added, election
Section 18.
Residential ad valorem tax limits; limit on increase in values; definitions
Section 18. (1) The maximum amount of ad valorem taxes that may be
collected from residential property in any tax year shall not exceed one per
cent of the property's full cash value as limited by this section.
(2) The limitation provided in subsection (1) does not apply to:
(a) Ad valorem taxes or special assessments levied to pay the
principal of and interest and redemption charges on bonded indebtedness or
other lawful long-term obligations issued or incurred for a specific purpose.
(b) Ad valorem taxes or assessments levied by or for property
improvement assessment districts, improvement districts and other special
purpose districts other than counties, cities, towns, school districts and
community college districts.
(c) Ad valorem taxes levied pursuant to an election to exceed a
budget, expenditure or tax limitation.
(3) Except as otherwise provided by subsections (5), (6) and (7) of
this section the value of real property and improvements and the value of
mobile homes used for all ad valorem taxes except those specified in
subsection (2) shall be the lesser of the full cash value of the property or
an amount ten per cent greater than the value of property determined pursuant
to this subsection for the prior year or an amount equal to the value of
property determined pursuant to this subsection for the prior year plus
one-fourth of the difference between such value and the full cash value of the
property for current tax year, whichever is greater.
(4) The legislature shall by law provide a method of determining
the value, subject to the provisions of subsection (3), of new property.
(5) The limitation on increases in the value of property prescribed
in subsection (3) does not apply to equalization orders that the legislature
specifically exempts by law from such limitation.
(6) Subsection (3) does not apply to:
(a) Property used in the business of patented or unpatented
producing mines and the mills and the smelters operated in connection with the
mines.
(b) Producing oil, gas and geothermal interests.
(c) Real property, improvements thereto and personal property used
thereon used in the operation of telephone, telegraph, gas, water and electric
utility companies.
(d) Aircraft that is regularly scheduled and operated by an airline
company for the primary purpose of carrying persons or property for hire in
interstate, intrastate or international transportation.
(f) Property used in the operation of pipelines.
(g) Personal property regardless of use except mobile homes.
(7) A resident of this state who is sixty-five years of age or
older may apply to the county assessor for a property valuation protection
option on the person's primary residence, including not more than ten acres of
undeveloped appurtenant land. The resident may apply for a property valuation
protection option after residing in the primary residence for two years. If
one person owns the property, the person's total income from all sources
including nontaxable income shall not exceed four hundred per cent of the
supplemental security income benefit rate established by section 1611 of the
social security act. If the property is owned by two or more persons,
including a husband and wife, at least one of the owners must be sixty-five
years of age or older and the owners' combined total income from all sources
including nontaxable income shall not exceed five hundred per cent of the
supplemental security income benefit rate established by section 1611 of the
social security act. The assessor shall review the owner's income
qualifications on a triennial basis and shall use the owner's average total
income during the previous three years for the review. If the county assessor
approves a property valuation protection option, the value of the primary
residence shall remain fixed at the full cash value in effect during the year
the property valuation protection option is filed and as long as the owner
remains eligible. To remain eligible, the county assessor shall require a
qualifying resident to reapply for the property valuation protection option
every three years and shall send a notice of reapplication to qualifying
residents six months before the three year reapplication requirement. If title
to the prpoperty is conveyed to any person who does not qualify for the
property valuation protection option, the property valuation protection option
terminates, and the property shall revert to its current full cash value.
(8) The legislature shall provide by law a system of property
taxation consistent with the provisions of this section.
(9) For purposes of this section:
(a) "Owner" means the owner of record of the property and
includes a person who owns the majority beneficial interest of a living trust.
(b) "Primary residence" means all owner occupied real
property and improvements to that real property in this state that is a single
family home, condominium, townhouse, or an owner occupied mobile home and that
is used for residential purposes.
Added, election
Section 19.
Limitation on ad valorem tax levied; exceptions
Section 19. (1) The maximum amount of ad valorem taxes levied by
any county, city, town or community college district shall not exceed an
amount two per cent greater than the amount levied in the preceding year.
(2) The limitation prescribed by subsection (1) does not apply to:
(a) Ad valorem taxes or special assessments levied to pay the
principal of and the interest and redemption charges on bonded indebtedness or
other lawful long-term obligations issued or incurred for a specific purpose.
(b) Ad valorem taxes or assessments levied by or for property
improvement assessment districts, improvement districts and other special
purpose districts other than counties, cities, towns and community college
districts.
(c) Ad valorem taxes levied by counties for support of common, high
and unified school districts.
(3) This section applies to all tax years beginning after
(4) The limitation prescribed by subsection (1) shall be increased
each year to the maximum permissible limit, whether or not the political
subdivision actually levies ad valorem taxes to such amounts.
(5) The voters, in the manner prescribed by law, may elect to allow
ad valorem taxation in excess of the limitation prescribed by this section.
(6) The limitation prescribed by subsection (1) of this section
shall be increased by the amount of ad valorem taxes levied against property
not subject to taxation in the prior year and shall be decreased by the amount
of ad valorem taxes levied against property subject to taxation in the prior
year and not subject to taxation in the current year. Such amounts of ad
valorem taxes shall be computed using the rate applied to property not subject
to this subsection.
(7) The legislature shall provide by law for the implementation of
this section.
Added, election
Section 20.
Expenditure limitation; adjustments; reporting
Section 20. (1) The economic estimates commission shall determine
and publish prior to April 1 of each year the expenditure limitation for the
following fiscal year for each county, city and town. The expenditure
limitations shall be determined by adjusting the amount of actual payments of
local revenues for each such political subdivision for fiscal year 1979-1980
to reflect the changes in the population of each political subdivision and the
cost of living. The governing board of any political subdivision shall not
authorize expenditures of local revenues in excess of the limitation
prescribed in this section, except as provided in subsections (2), (6) and (9)
of this section.
(2) Expenditures in excess of the limitations determined pursuant
to subsection (1) of this section may be authorized as follows:
(a) Upon affirmative vote of two-thirds of the members of the
governing board for expenditures directly necessitated by a natural or
man-made disaster declared by the governor. Any expenditures in excess of the
expenditure limitation, as authorized by this paragraph, shall not affect the
determination of the expenditure limitation pursuant to subsection (1) of this
section in any subsequent years. Any expenditures authorized pursuant to this
paragraph shall be made either in the fiscal year in which the disaster is
declared or in the succeeding fiscal year.
(b) Upon the affirmative vote of seventy per cent of the members of
the governing board for expenditures directly necessitated by a natural or
man-made disaster not declared by the governor, subject to the following:
(i) The governing board reducing expenditures below the expenditure
limitation determined pursuant to subsection (1) of this section by the amount
of the excess expenditure for the fiscal year following a fiscal year in which
excess expenditures were made pursuant to this paragraph; or
(ii) Approval of the excess expenditure by a majority of the
qualified electors voting either at a special election held by the governing
board or at a regularly scheduled election for the nomination or election of
the members of the governing board, in the manner provided by law. If the
excess expenditure is not approved by a majority of the qualified electors
voting, the governing board shall for the fiscal year which immediately
follows the fiscal year in which the excess expenditures are made, reduce
expenditures below the expenditure limitation determined pursuant to
subsection (1) of this section by the amount of the excess expenditures. Any
expenditures in excess of the expenditure limitation, as authorized by this
paragraph, shall not affect the determination of the expenditure limitation
pursuant to subsection (1) of this section in any subsequent years. Any
expenditures pursuant to this paragraph shall be made either in the fiscal
year in which the disaster occurs or in the succeeding fiscal year.
(c) Upon affirmative vote of at least two-thirds of the members of
the governing board and approval by a majority of the qualified electors
voting either at a special election held by the governing board in a manner
prescribed by law, or at a regularly scheduled election for the nomination or
election of the members of the governing board. Such approval by a majority of
the qualified electors voting shall be for a specific amount in excess of the
expenditure limitation, and such approval must occur prior to the fiscal year
in which the expenditure limitation is to be exceeded. Any expenditures in
excess of the expenditure limitation, as authorized by this subdivision, shall
not affect the determination of the expenditure limitation pursuant to
subsection (1) of this section, in subsequent years.
(a) "Base limit" means the amount of actual payments of
local revenues for fiscal year 1979-1980 as used to determine the expenditure
limitation pursuant to subsection (1) of this section.
(b) "Cost of living" means either:
(i) The price of goods and services as measured by the implicit
price deflator for the gross national product or its successor as reported by
the United States department of commerce or its successor agency.
(ii) A different measure or index of the cost of living adopted at
the direction of the legislature, by concurrent resolution, upon affirmative
vote of two-thirds of the membership of each house of the legislature. Such
measure or index shall apply for subsequent fiscal years, except it shall not
apply for the fiscal year following the adoption of such measure or index if
the measure or index is adopted after March 1 of the preceding fiscal year.
(c) "Expenditure" means any authorization for the payment
of local revenues.
(d) "Local revenues" includes all monies, revenues,
funds, fees, fines, penalties, tuitions, property and receipts of any kind
whatsoever received by or for the account of a political subdivision or any of
its agencies, departments, offices, boards, commissions, authorities, councils
and institutions, except:
(i) Any amounts or property received from the issuance or
incurrence of bonds or other lawful long-term obligations issued or incurred
for a specific purpose, or collected or segregated to make payments or
deposits required by a contract concerning such bonds or obligations. For the
purpose of this subdivision long-term obligations shall not include warrants
issued in the ordinary course of operation or registered for payment, by a
political subdivision.
(ii) Any amounts or property received as payment of dividends or
interest, or any gain on the sale or redemption of investment securities, the
purchase of which is authorized by law.
(iii) Any amounts or property received by a political subdivision
in the capacity of trustee, custodian or agent.
(iv) Any amounts received as grants and aid of any type received
from the federal government or any of its agencies.
(v) Any amounts received as grants, aid, contributions or gifts of
any type except amounts received directly or indirectly in lieu of taxes
received directly or indirectly from any private agency or organization or any
individual.
(vi) Any amounts received from the state which are included within
the appropriation limitation prescribed in Section 17
of this article.
(vii) Any amounts received pursuant to a transfer during a fiscal
year from another agency, department, office, board, commission, authority,
council or institution of the same political subdivision which were included
as local revenues for such fiscal year or which are excluded from local
revenue under other provisions of this section.
(viii) Any amounts or property accumulated for the purpose of
purchasing land, buildings or improvements or constructing buildings or
improvements, if such accumulation and purpose have been approved by the
voters of the political subdivision.
(ix) Any amounts received pursuant to Section 14
of this article which are greater than the amount received in fiscal year
1979-1980.
(x) Any amounts received in return for goods or services pursuant
to a contract with another political subdivision, school district, community
college district or the state, and expended by the other political
subdivision, school district, community college district or the state pursuant
to the expenditure limitation in effect when the amounts are expended by the
other political subdivision, school district, community college district or
the state.
(xi) Any amounts expended for the construction, reconstruction,
operation or maintenance of a hospital financially supported by a city or town
prior to
(xii) Any amounts or property collected to pay the principal of and
interest on any warrants issued by a political subdivision and outstanding as
of
(xiii) Any amounts received during a fiscal year as refunds,
reimbursements or other recoveries of amounts expended which were applied
against the expenditure limitation for such fiscal year or which were excluded
from local revenues under other provisions of this subsection.
(xiv) Any amounts received collected by the counties for
distribution to school districts pursuant to state law.
(e) "Political subdivision" means any county, city or
town. This definition applies only to this section and does not otherwise
modify the commonly accepted definition of political subdivision.
(f) "Population" means either:
(i) The periodic census conducted by the United States department
of commerce or its successor agency, or the annual update of such census by
the department of economic security or its successor agency.
(ii) A different measure or index of population adopted at the
direction of the legislature, by concurrent resolution, upon affirmative vote
of two-thirds of the membership of each house of the legislature. Such measure
or index shall apply for subsequent fiscal years, except it shall not apply
for the fiscal year following the adoption of such measure or index if the
measure or index is adopted after March 1 of the preceding fiscal year.
(4) The economic estimates commission shall adjust the base limit
to reflect subsequent transfers of all or any part of the cost of providing a
governmental function, in a manner prescribed by law. The adjustment provided
for in this subsection shall be used in determining the expenditure limitation
pursuant to subsection (1) of this section beginning with the fiscal year
immediately following the transfer.
(5) The economic estimates commission shall adjust the base limit
to reflect any subsequent annexation, creation of a new political subdivision,
consolidation or change in the boundaries of a political subdivision, in a
manner prescribed by law. The adjustment provided for in this subsection shall
be used in determining the expenditure limitation pursuant to subsection (1)
of this section beginning with the fiscal year immediately following the
annexation, creation of a new political subdivision, consolidation or change
in the boundaries of a political subdivision.