Correct Court to File Arizona Misdemeanor DUI Charges

In Arizona which is the proper court to file misdemeanor cases such as DUIs can be confusing. Each Arizona county has two court systems with jurisdiction over criminal and civil violations and which is the proper court is not always clear.

Each Arizona county is divided up into Justice Court Precincts with a Justice of the Peace presiding in each court. Justice Courts have original jurisdiction over alleged violations of State law or the County Code alleged to have occurred within the county unless the charges are brought in the County’s Superior Court.¹ The Justice Court with Proper Jurisdiction is the Justice Court Precinct where the alleged acts took place.² Municipal Courts (Town, Village, and City Courts) have jurisdiction over criminal and civil violations of that municipality’s code as well as concurrent jurisdiction with the Justice Courts for civil and criminal violations of State law occurring within that Municipality.³ Municipalities, however, are not required to have a Municipal Court and instead they may enter into an agreement to give the county’s Justice Courts, or another Municipal Court within the county, jurisdiction over violations of the municipality’s code.⁴

If a case is filed in a Justice Court or Municipal Court that does not have jurisdiction because the alleged acts did not occur within that Justice Court Precinct or Munipalities’s boundaries then what happens next depends on which type of court the case is filed in. If a case is filed in the Justice Court that does not have jurisdiction then the case may be dismissed or in Maricopa County, the case may be reassigned by the Supervising Justice of the Peace for the county or a Superior Court Judge to another Justice Court within the county.⁵ If the Justice of the Peace for the precinct where the case is filed is unable to act ⁶(for example if either the State or Defendant timely files a change of judge) then the case can also be transferred to any other Justice Court within the County.

If a case is filed in a Municipal Court and all of the acts alleged did not occur within the geographical boundaries of the Municipality then that Municipal Court has no jurisdiction over the case and the case must be dismissed.

In Maricopa County, it is the general practice to have cases where the arresting officer is a Municipal Officer (for example, Phoenix Police Department) and the acts alleged are either misdemeanors or civil violations which occurred at least in part within the Municipality (City of Phoenix) filed in that Municipal Court (Phoenix Municipal Court). If the arresting officer is not a Municipal Officer with the Municipality where the acts alleging a violation of State Law (DUI) took place (for example, a Phoenix Officer arresting someone for acts which took place in Glendale) then the case is filed in the Justice Court Precinct where the acts took place. These cases include those where the arresting officer is a Deputy Sheriff, Department of Public Safety Trooper or Arizona Game and Fish Officer. An exception to this rule is that the Cities of Chandler and Mesa and the Town of Gilbert have an agreement where their officers can make arrests within each other’s boundaries and file cases in the Municipal Court which has the jurisdiction. For example, a Chandler Police Officer can arrest and file the case in Mesa Municipal Court for acts that occurred within the Mesa City Limits.

In Navajo County, the Municipalities, such as Show Low and Pinetop-Lakeside, have entered into an agreement with Navajo County that all cases involving violations of State law will be filed in the Justice Court Precinct where the acts took place even though they could legally be filed in the Municipal Courts.

For all cases, it is important to know if the case was filed in the court with jurisdiction because if it was not then the case can be dismissed, or if in a Justice Court transferred to another Justice Court. For Municipal Court cases it is even more important to know that the case was filed in the Municipal Court with Proper Jurisdiction because if it was not the case must be dismissed. Below are links where you can check the boundaries of the Maricopa County Justice Court Precincts and Municipalities to see if a case was filed in the proper court.