Domestic Violence Isn’t a Separate Charge in Arizona — Here’s What That Actually Means
People who are arrested on a domestic violence allegation in Arizona often go looking for the statute that defines the crime they have been charged with. They do not find it, because it does not exist in the form they expect. Arizona does not have a standalone offense called domestic violence. What it has instead is a designation, applied under A.R.S. § 13-3601, that attaches to an existing criminal charge when the relationship between the parties falls into a defined category. The underlying charge…









