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ARIZONA STATE SENATE
Fifty-Seventh Legislature, First Regular Session
AMENDED
lifetime injunction; undesignated offenses
Purpose
Requires a class 6 felony offense, before the offense has been designated as a felony or a misdemeanor by the court, to be treated as a felony for the purpose of issuing a lifetime injunction.
Background
If a person is convicted of a class 6 felony that does not involve a dangerous offense, the court may find it un duly harsh to sentence the defendant for a felony and may instead enter a judgement of conviction for a class 1 misdemeanor or place the defendant on probation and refrain from designating the offense as a felony or misdemeanor until probation is terminated. The offense must be treated as a misdemeanor for all purposes until the court enters an order designating the offense a misdemeanor or felony.
An offense, before designation as a felony or misdemeanor, must be treated as a felony conviction for the purposes of: 1) placing the defendant on felony probation; 2) DNA collection; 3) determining the defendant's right to possess a firearm; 4) being used as a historical prior felony conviction; 4) being admissible for impeachment purposes in a subsequent trial; 5) being used to enhance sentencing (A.R.S. § 13-604)
A lifetime injunction is an order of the court that prohibits the defendant from contacting the victim and is valid for the duration of the defendant's natural lifetime (A.R.S. § 13-719).
There is no anticipated fiscal impact to the state General Fund associated with this legislation.
Provisions
1. Requires a class 6 felony offense, before the offense has been designated as a felony or a misdemeanor by the court, to be treated as a felony for the purpose of issuing a lifetime injunction.
2. Specifies that a conviction's designation as a misdemeanor does not affect the validity of a lifetime injunction and does not prohibit a victim from requesting a lifetime injunction.
3. Specifies that lifetime injunctions must be issued by the superior court and petitions for lifetime injunction must be submitted to the superior court.
4. Makes technical changes.
5. Becomes effective on the general effective date.
Amendments Adopted by Committee:
Senate Action:
JUDE 2/12/25 DPA 6-0-1
Prepared by Senate Research
February 14, 2025
ZD/AW/ci