SB 1283 Arizona Senate · 57th Legislature - Second Regular Session

appeals court; division two; elimination

SB 1283 eliminates Division 2 of the Arizona Court of Appeals, which previously handled appeals from counties including Pima, Pinal, and Cochise. The bill reorganizes the court by removing Division 2's structure, transferring any unspent funds from Division 2 to the reorganized court, and allowing current Division 2 judges to continue serving until their terms end. This change simplifies the court's organization without altering the counties covered or the court's jurisdiction.

Bill status in committee 1 of 4 stages cleared

Introduction

Jan 2026

Committee Review

Floor Vote

Governor

Introduced Jan 21, 2026 Last action Jan 28, 2026

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What changed between versions

Introduced Version → Senate Engrossed Version · 4 edits

MODERATE

This bill eliminates Division 2 of Arizona's Court of Appeals, consolidating the state's appellate judiciary into a single unified court. The changes remove specific geographic divisions, reorganize judge elections to a statewide basis, and transfer unspent funds from the eliminated division to the reorganized court to ensure continued operations.

Scope change

The bill's scope changed from maintaining two distinct judicial divisions with separate geographic jurisdictions to establishing a single, unified Court of Appeals that serves all counties in the state.

SCOPE

The specific geographic boundaries and separate structures for Division 2 of the Court of Appeals were removed entirely.

ELIGIBILITY

Judge election rules were changed from a division-based system to a statewide system, requiring judges to be residents of the division they serve but elected by voters across the entire state.

FISCAL

A new provision was added to transfer any unspent and unencumbered funds from the eliminated Division 2 to the reorganized Court of Appeals.

REQUIREMENT

The duties of the Chief Judge were expanded to include apportioning business among departments and designating specific departments to handle certain types of appeals.

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Full legislative history

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Committee

Jan 28, 2026

Upper · Passed

upper

1 primary · 0 co-sponsors