A.R.S. tit. 1 ch. 2 — Arizona Revised Statutes Title 1 Chapter 2 — Law And Statutes

1-201. Adoption of common law; exceptions The common law only so far as it is consistent with and adapted to the natural and physical conditions of this state and the necessities of the people thereof, and not repugnant to or inconsistent with the Constitution of the United States or the constitution or laws of this state, or established customs of the people of this state, is adopted and shall be the rule of decision in all courts of this state. 1-202. Private and corporate seals or scrolls; effect Unless otherwise specifically required by law, no private or corporate seal or scroll is necessary to establish the validity of any contract, bond, conveyance or other instrument of writing, nor shall the addition or omission of any private or corporate seal or scroll in any way affect any such instrument heretofore or hereafter made. 1-211. Rules of construction and definitions A. The rules and the definitions set forth in this chapter shall be observed in the construction of the laws of the state unless such construction would be inconsistent with the manifest intent of the legislature. B. Statutes shall be liberally construed to effect their objects and to promote justice. C. The rule of the common law that penal statutes shall be strictly construed has no application to these Revised Statutes. Penal statutes shall be construed according to the fair import of their terms, with a view to effect their object and to promote justice. 1-212. Section headings; source notes; reviser's notes; cross references; exception Except as provided in section 47-1107, headings to sections, source notes, reviser's notes and cross references are supplied for the purpose of convenient reference and do not constitute part of the law. 1-213. Words and phrases Words and phrases shall be construed according to the common and approved use of the language. Technical words and phrases and those which have acquired a peculiar and appropriate meaning in the law shall be construed according to such peculiar and appropriate meaning. 1-214. Words of tense, number and gender A. Words in the present tense include the future as well as the present. B. Words in the singular number include the plural, and words in the plural number include the singular. C. Words of the masculine gender include the feminine and the neuter. D. Words of the feminine gender include the masculine and the neuter. 1-215. Definitions In the statutes and laws of this state, unless the context otherwise requires: 1. "Action" includes any matter or proceeding in a court, civil or criminal. 2. "Adopted rule" means a final rule as defined in section 41-1001. 3. "Adult" means a person who has attained eighteen years of age. 4. "Alternative fuel" means: (a) Electricity. (b) Solar energy. (c) Liquefied petroleum gas, natural gas, hydrogen or a blend of hydrogen with liquefied petroleum or natural gas that complies with any of the following: (i) Is used in an engine that is certified to meet at a minimum the United States environmental protection agency low emission vehicle standard pursuant to 40 Code of Federal Regulations section 88.104-94 or 88.105-94. (ii) Is used in an engine that is certified by the engine modifier to meet the addendum to memorandum 1-A of the United States environmental protection agency as printed in the federal register, volume 62, number 207, October 27, 1997, pages 55635 through 55637. (iii) Is used in an engine that is the subject of a waiver for that specific engine application from the United States environmental protection agency's memorandum 1-A addendum requirements and that waiver is documented to the reasonable satisfaction of the director of the department of environmental quality. (d) Only for vehicles that use alcohol fuels before August 21, 1998, alcohol fuels that contain not less than eighty-five percent alcohol by volume. (e) A combination of at least seventy percent alternative fuel and not more than thirty percent petroleum based fuel that operates in an engine that meets the United States environmental protection agency low emission vehicle standard pursuant to 40 Code of Federal Regulations section 88.104-94 or 88.105-94 and that is certified by the engine manufacturer to consume at least seventy percent alternative fuel during normal vehicle operations. 5. "Bribe" means anything of value or advantage, present or prospective, asked, offered, given, accepted or promised with a corrupt intent to influence, unlawfully, the person to whom it is given in that person's action, vote or opinion, in any public or official capacity. 6. "Child" or "children" as used in reference to age of persons means persons under eighteen years of age. 7. "Clean burning fuel" means: (a) An emulsion of water-phased hydrocarbon fuel that contains not less than twenty percent water by volume and that complies with any of the following: (i) Is used in an engine that is certified to meet at a minimum the United States environmental protection agency low emission vehicle standard pursuant to 40 Code of Federal Regulations section 88.104-94 or 88.105-94. (ii) Is used in an engine that is certified by the engine modifier to meet the addendum to memorandum 1-A of the United States environmental protection agency as printed in the federal register, volume 62, number 207, October 27, 1997, pages 55635 through 55637. (iii) Is used in an engine that is the subject of a waiver for that specific engine application from the United States environmental protection agency's memorandum 1-A addendum requirements and that waiver is documented to the reasonable satisfaction of the director of the department of environmental quality. (b) A diesel fuel substitute that is produced from nonpetroleum renewable resources if the qualifying volume of the nonpetroleum renewable resources meets the standards for California diesel fuel as adopted by the California air resources board pursuant to 13 California Code of Regulations sections 2281 and 2282 in effect on January 1, 2000, the diesel fuel substitute meets the registration requirement for fuels and additives established by the United States environmental protection agency pursuant to section 211 of the clean air act as defined in section 49-401.01 and the use of the diesel fuel substitute complies with the requirements listed in 10 Code of Federal Regulations part 490, as printed in the federal register, volume 64, number 96, May 19, 1999. (c) A diesel fuel that complies with all of the following: (i) Contains a maximum of fifteen parts per million by weight of sulfur. (ii) Meets ASTM D975. (iii) Meets the registration requirements for fuels and additives established by the United States environmental protection agency pursuant to section 211 of the clean air act as defined in section 49-401.01. (iv) Is used in an engine that is equipped or has been retrofitted with a device that has been certified by the California air resources board diesel emission control strategy verification procedure, the United States environmental protection agency voluntary diesel retrofit program or the United States environmental protection agency verification protocol for retrofit catalyst, particulate filter and engine modification control technologies for highway and nonroad use diesel engines. (d) A blend of unleaded gasoline that contains at minimum eighty-five percent ethanol by volume or eighty-five percent methanol by volume. (e) Neat methanol. (f) Neat ethanol. 8. "Corruptly" means a wrongful design to acquire or cause some pecuniary or other advantage to the person guilty of the act or omission referred to, or to some other person. 9. "Daytime" means the period between sunrise and sunset. 10. "Depose" includes every manner of written statement under oath or affirmation. 11. "Federal poverty guidelines" means the poverty guidelines as updated annually in the federal register by the United States department of health and human services. 12. "Grantee" includes every person to whom an estate or interest in real property passes, in or by a deed. 13. "Grantor" includes every person from or by whom an estate or interest in real property passes, in or by a deed. 14. "Includes" or "including" means not limited to and is not a term of exclusion. 15. "Inhabitant" means a resident of a city, town, village, district, county or precinct. 16. "Issue" as used in connection with descent of estates includes all lawful, lineal descendants of the ancestor. 17. "Knowingly": (a) Means only a knowledge that the facts exist that bring the act or omission within the provisions of the statute using such word. (b) Does not require any knowledge of the unlawfulness of the act or omission. 18. "Magistrate" means an officer having power to issue a warrant for the arrest of a person charged with a public offense and includes the chief justice and justices of the supreme court, judges of the superior court, judges of the court of appeals, justices of the peace and judges of a municipal court. 19. "Majority" or "age of majority" as used in reference to the age of persons means eighteen years of age or more. 20. "Malice" and "maliciously" mean a wish to vex, annoy or injure another person, or an intent to do a wrongful act, established either by proof or presumption of law. 21. "Minor" means a person under eighteen years of age. 22. "Minor children" means persons under eighteen years of age. 23. "Month" means a calendar month unless otherwise expressed. 24. "Moral turpitude" means an offense, whether a misdemeanor or felony, that is related to extortion, burglary, larceny, bribery, embezzlement, robbery, racketeering, money laundering, forgery, fraud, murder, voluntary manslaughter or a sexual offense that requires the individual to register pursuant to section 13-3821. 25. "Neglect", "negligence", "negligent" and "negligently" import a want of such attention to the nature or probable consequence of the act or omission as a prudent man ordinarily bestows in acting in his own concerns. 26. "Nighttime" means the period between sunset and sunrise. 27. "Oath" includes an affirmation or declaration. 28. "Peace officers" means sheriffs of counties, constables, marshals, policemen of cities and towns, commissioned personnel of the department of public safety, personnel who are employed by the state department of corrections and the department of juvenile corrections and who have received a certificate from the Arizona peace officer standards and training board, peace officers who are appointed by a multicounty water conservation district and who have received a certificate from the Arizona peace officer standards and training board, police officers who are appointed by community college district governing boards and who have received a certificate from the Arizona peace officer standards and training board, police officers who are appointed by the Arizona board of regents and who have received a certificate from the Arizona peace officer standards and training board, police officers who are appointed by the governing body of a public airport pursuant to section 28-8426 and who have received a certificate from the Arizona peace officer standards and training board, peace officers who are appointed by a private postsecondary institution pursuant to section 15-1897 and who have received a certificate from the Arizona peace officer standards and training board and special agents from the office of the attorney general, or of a county attorney, and who have received a certificate from the Arizona peace officer standards and training board. 29. "Person" includes a corporation, company, partnership, firm, association or society, as well as a natural person. When the word "person" is used to designate the party whose property may be the subject of a criminal or public offense, the term includes the United States, this state, or any territory, state or country, or any political subdivision of this state that may lawfully own any property, or a public or private corporation, or partnership or association. When the word "person" is used to designate the violator or offender of any law, it includes a corporation, a partnership or any association of persons. 30. "Personal property" includes money, goods, chattels, things in action and evidences of debt. 31. "Population" means the population according to the most recent United States decennial census. 32. "Process" means a citation, writ or summons issued in the course of judicial proceedings. 33. "Property" includes both real and personal property. 34. "Real property" is coextensive with lands, tenements and hereditaments. 35. "Registered mail" includes certified mail. 36. "Seal" as used in reference to a paper issuing from a court or public office to which the seal of such court or office is required to be affixed means an impression of the seal on that paper, an impression of the seal affixed to that paper by a wafer or wax, a stamped seal, a printed seal, a screened seal or a computer generated seal. 37. "Signature" or "subscription" includes a mark, if a person cannot write, with the person's name written near it and witnessed by a person who writes the person's own name as witness. 38. "State", as applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia, this state and the territories. 39. "Testify" includes every manner of oral statement under oath or affirmation. 40. "United States" includes the District of Columbia and the territories. 41. "Vessel", as used in reference to shipping, includes ships of all kinds, steamboats, steamships, barges, canal boats and every structure adapted to navigation from place to place for the transportation of persons or property. 42. "Wilfully" means, with respect to conduct or to a circumstance described by a statute defining an offense, that a person is aware or believes that the person's conduct is of that nature or that the circumstance exists. 43. "Will" includes codicils. 44. "Workers' compensation" means workmen's compensation as used in article XVIII, section 8, Constitution of Arizona. 45. "Writ" means an order or precept in writing issued in the name of the state or by a court or judicial officer. 46. "Writing" includes printing. 1-216. Joint authority of public officers; quorum of board or commission A. Words purporting to give a joint authority to three or more public officers or other persons shall be construed as giving the authority to a majority of the officers or persons unless it is otherwise expressly declared in the law giving the authority. B. A majority of a board or commission shall constitute a quorum. 1-217. Definitions of certain words when used in pleadings In pleadings, civil or criminal: 1. "Horse" includes all kinds, ages and sexes of the horse species. 2. "Mule" includes all kinds, ages and sexes of the mule species. 3. "Neat animal" includes all kinds, ages and sexes of the bovine species. 1-218. Filing by mail; date of filing A. Any report, claim, tax return, statement, payment, deposit or other material dealing in any way or manner with taxation, other than petitions or notices of appeal, that is required or authorized to be filed with or made to this state or any agency or political subdivision of this state and that is deposited, properly addressed and postage prepaid, in an official depository of the United States mail shall be deemed filed and received by the addressee on the date shown by the postmark or other official mark of the United States mail stamped thereon, or, if the sender disputes the dates contained on such mark or no such mark appears or is legible, on the mailing date as established by competent evidence introduced by the sender. B. Any filing that is described in subsection A of this section and that is not received by the addressee shall be deemed filed and received on the date of mailing if the sender establishes the date of mailing as provided in subsection A of this section and files with the addressee a duplicate filing within ten days after written notification of nonreceipt of such filing is given to the sender by the addressee. C. If any filing described in subsection A of this section is sent by United States certified or registered mail or certificate of mailing, the date of such registration, certification or certificate, as established by a record authenticated by proper officials of the United States mail, shall be deemed the date of filing. D. If the due date of any filing described in subsection A of this section falls upon a Saturday, Sunday or legal holiday, the filing shall be considered timely if performed on the next business day. E. Any filing described in subsection A of this section that does not contain a postmark or other official mark of the United States mail stamped thereon shall be considered timely if received within five business days after the due date of the filing. F. For the purposes of tax administration, references in this section to: 1. "United States mail" are considered to include any designated delivery service provided by a trade or business if the service has been designated by the United States secretary of the treasury pursuant to section 7502(f) of the United States internal revenue code of 1986. 2. "Postmark" are considered to include any date recorded or marked by any designated delivery service and described in section 7502(f)(2)(C) of the internal revenue code. 3. "Registered" and "certified" are considered to include any equivalent service maintained by a designated delivery service. 1-219. Interpretation of laws; unborn child; definition A. The laws of this state shall be interpreted and construed to acknowledge, on behalf of an unborn child at every stage of development, all rights, privileges and immunities available to other persons, citizens and residents of this state, subject only to the Constitution of the United States and decisional interpretations thereof by the United States Supreme Court. B. This section does not create a cause of action against: 1. A person who performs in vitro fertilization procedures as authorized under the laws of this state. 2. A woman for indirectly harming her unborn child by failing to properly care for herself or by failing to follow any particular program of prenatal care. C. For the purposes of this section, "unborn child" has the same meaning prescribed in section 36-2151. 1-241. Time statutes take effect A. An act or statute which by its terms is to take effect on a specified day shall, unless otherwise provided in the act or statute, take effect at twelve o'clock noon on the day specified. B. An act or statute, which by its terms is to take effect from and after a specified day, shall take effect at midnight of the day specified. 1-242. Standard time A. The standard time in Arizona shall be the solar time of the one hundred fifth meridian west of Greenwich, commonly known as standard mountain time. B. This section shall not be construed to affect the standard time established by United States law governing the movements of common carriers engaged in interstate commerce or the time for performance of an act by an officer or department of the United States, as established by a statute, lawful order, rule or regulation of the United States or an agency thereof. C. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary by the United States government relating to adoption of daylight saving time by all of the states, the state of Arizona elects to reject such time and elects to continue in force the terms of subsection A, relating to standard time in Arizona. D. The rejection of daylight saving time as provided for in this section may be changed by future legislative action. 1-243. Computation of time A. Except as provided in subsection B, the time in which an act is required to be done shall be computed by excluding the first day and including the last day, unless the last day is a holiday, and then it is also excluded. B. In cases in which notice of a decision by the state, any agency thereof or any political subdivision must be given to a petitioner and in which the petitioner must file a notice of appeal of such decision within a time certain of less than ten days, such time shall be computed starting with the day after the day during which the notice of decision is received by the petitioner by personal service or registered or certified mail. 1-244. Retroactivity of statutes No statute is retroactive unless expressly declared therein. 1-245. Subsequent statute as superseding former law When a statute has been enacted and has become a law, no other statute or law is continued in force because it is consistent with the statute enacted, but in all cases provided for by the subsequent statute, the statutes, laws and rules theretofore in force, whether consistent or not with the provisions of the subsequent statute, unless expressly continued in force by it, shall be deemed repealed and abrogated. 1-246. Penalty altered by subsequent law; effect When the penalty for an offense is prescribed by one law and altered by a subsequent law, the penalty of such second law shall not be inflicted for a breach of the law committed before the second took effect, but the offender shall be punished under the law in force when the offense was committed. 1-247. Repeal of law and substitution of penalty; effect When by the provisions of a repealing statute a new penalty is substituted for an offense punishable under the law repealed, such repealing statute shall not exempt from punishment a person who has offended against the repealed law while it was in force, but in such case the rule prescribed in section 1-246 shall govern. 1-248. Repealing acts; certain laws not affected A repealing act shall not affect: 1. Any law funding the territorial or state debt. 2. Any law authorizing the issuance of, funding of, or payment of principal or interest on, territorial bonds, bonds of the state, bonds of an agency, institution, department or political subdivision of the state, or bonds of a county, city, town or municipal corporation. 3. Any act incorporating or chartering municipal corporations. 1-249. Repealing act; effect on pending action or accrued right No action or proceeding commenced before a repealing act takes effect, and no right accrued is affected by the repealing act, but proceedings therein shall conform to the new act so far as applicable. 1-250. Change of limitation; effect When a limitation or period of time prescribed in a law for acquiring a right or barring a remedy or for any purpose has begun to run before an act repealing such law takes effect and the same or any other limitation is prescribed in any other act passed at the same session of the legislature, the time which has already run shall be deemed part of the time prescribed as such limitation by any act passed at the same session of the legislature. 1-251. Act abolishing office; effect on tenure A person who at the time an act takes effect holds office under a law repealed by such act continues to hold the office according to the tenure of the law repealed, unless the duties of the office are expressly transferred to some other office. 1-252. Repeal of repealing statute; effect The repeal or abrogation of a statute, law or rule does not revive the former statute, law or rule theretofore repealed or abrogated, nor does it affect any right then already existing or accrued at the time of such repeal, nor any action or proceeding theretofore taken, except such as may be provided in the subsequent repealing statute, nor shall it affect any private statute not expressly repealed thereby. 1-253. Effect of penal laws on civil remedies, forfeitures, military laws and contempts A. The omission to specify or affirm by law liability to damages, penalty, forfeiture or other remedy imposed by law and allowed to be recovered or enforced in a civil action or proceeding for an act or omission declared punishable by law, does not affect a right to recover or enforce such liability. B. The omission to specify or affirm by law any ground of forfeiture of a public office, or other trust, or special authority conferred by law, or to impeach, remove, depose or suspend a public officer or other person holding a trust, appointment or other special authority conferred by law, does not affect such forfeiture or power, or any proceeding authorized by law to carry into effect such impeachment, removal, deposition or suspension. C. Laws defining and punishing criminal offenses do not affect any power conferred by law upon courts martial, or other military authority or officer, to impose or inflict punishment upon offenders against military law, nor any power conferred by law to impose or inflict punishment for a contempt. 1-254. Limitation on duty of statutory implementation; legislative appropriation requirement No statute may be construed to impose a duty on an officer, agent or employee of this state to discharge a responsibility or to create any right in a person or group if the discharge or right would require an expenditure of state monies in excess of the expenditure authorized by legislative appropriation made for that specific purpose. 1-255. Adopting statute by reference; subsequent amendments A reference to a statute or portion of a statute applies to all reenactments, revisions or amendments of the statute or portion of the statute. 1-271. Sovereign authority; affordable care act; definition A. Pursuant to the sovereign authority of this state and article II, section 3, Constitution of Arizona, this state and all political subdivisions of this state are prohibited from using any personnel or financial resources to enforce, administer or cooperate with the affordable care act by: 1. Funding or implementing a state-based health care exchange or marketplace. 2. Limiting the availability of self-funded health insurance programs or the reinsurance or other products that are traditionally used with self-funded health insurance programs. 3. Funding or aiding in the prosecution of any entity for a violation of the act, except as necessary to maintain the program integrity of the Arizona health care cost containment system. 4. Funding or administering any program or provision of the act except for regulatory activities that: (a) Are associated with section 20-238 and title 20, chapter 2, article 3.4. (b) Are administered under sections 36-2901.08 and 36-2901.09. (c) Involve the Arizona health care cost containment system. (d) Are associated with initiatives, grants or other funding related to public health treatment, preparedness, education or prevention programs authorized by the affordable care act, provided that the funding does not impose unrelated requirements on this state or its political subdivisions that are outside the scope of the specific program. B. This state and all political subdivisions of this state may use personnel or financial resources to provide employee health insurance benefits, and such employee health insurance benefits may be in compliance with all provisions of the act. C. For the purposes of this section, "act" or "affordable care act" means the patient protection and affordable care act (P.L. 111-148) as amended by the health care and education reconciliation act of 2010 (P.L. 111-152) and any rules adopted pursuant to those acts. 1-272. Sovereign authority; right of the people to keep and bear arms Pursuant to the sovereign authority of this state and article II, section 3, Constitution of Arizona, this state and all political subdivisions of this state are prohibited from using any personnel or financial resources to enforce, administer or cooperate with any act, law, treaty, order, rule or regulation of the United States government that is inconsistent with any law of this state regarding the regulation of firearms.