attorney general; nuisance action; defamation

Plain English Breakdown

The bill summary does not provide specific details on enforcement mechanisms or penalties.

Attorney General; Nuisance Action and Defamation

This bill makes the Attorney General liable for defamation per se if they file a lawsuit to stop a public nuisance without reasonable basis, knowing or should have known that their action lacks legal or factual support.

What This Bill Does

• Designates the Attorney General as liable for defamation per se if they bring an action relating to public nuisance to court and it is found to have no reasonable basis.
• Requires the Attorney General to know or should have known that their action lacked sufficient legal or factual basis before being liable for defamation.
• Establishes that damages and actual malice are presumed in such cases.

Who It Names or Affects

• The Attorney General of Arizona
• People who might be sued by the Attorney General for a public nuisance

Terms To Know

defamation per se

A type of defamation where certain statements are considered harmful without needing to prove damage.

public nuisance

An act or omission that interferes with the rights of a community or neighborhood as a whole.

Limits and Unknowns

• The bill does not specify what happens if the Attorney General files a lawsuit but it is later found to have had reasonable basis.
• It's unclear how this law will be enforced and what penalties might apply.

Official Summary Text

HB2169 - 572R - House Bill Summary

ARIZONA HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

57th
Legislature, 2nd Regular Session

Majority Research Staff

House:
JUD W/D | LARA DP 5-3-0-0

HB
2169
: attorney general; nuisance action; defamation

Sponsor:
Representative Diaz, LD 19

Caucus
& COW

Overview

Designates
the Attorney General as liable for defamation per se if the Attorney General
(AG)
�brings an action relating to
public nuisance to court that is found to have no reasonable basis and that
meets certain criteria.

History

Current law allows the county attorney, the AG or the city
attorney to bring an action in superior court to abate, enjoin and prevent
activities that constitute as public nuisance (
A.R.S. �
13-2917
).

A statement is
defamatory
if it tends to bring the
plaintiff into disrepute, contempt or ridicule, or to impeach the plaintiff�s
honesty, integrity, virtue or reputation. The defamatory nature of the
statement is determined by the natural and probable effect a reading of the
entire statement, publication, or broadcast in context would have on the mind
of the average reader or hearer (
RAJI (Civil), 6
th

ed.
).

Provisions

1.

Asserts the
AG as liable for defamation per se if the AG:

a.

brings an
action to abate, enjoin and prevent a public nuisance and the court finds there
is no reasonable basis for action;

b.

knew or
should have known that the action lacked sufficient legal or factual basis; and

c.

publicized
the filing of the action. (Sec. 1)

2.

Establishes
that damages and actual malice are presumed. (Sec. 1)

3.

Makes
technical and conforming changes. (Sec. 1)

4.

5.

6.

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2169

8.

2/2/2026��� Page 0 Caucus
& COW

9.

10.

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Current Bill Text

HB2169 - 572R - H Ver

House Engrossed

attorney general;
nuisance action; defamation

State of Arizona

House of Representatives

Fifty-seventh Legislature

Second Regular Session

2026

HOUSE BILL 2169

AN
ACT

amending section 13-2917, Arizona Revised
Statutes; relating to offenses against public order.

(TEXT OF BILL BEGINS ON NEXT PAGE)

Be it
enacted by the Legislature of the State of Arizona:

Section 1. Section 13-2917, Arizona Revised
Statutes, is amended to read:

START_STATUTE
13-2917.

Public nuisance; abatement; attorney general actions; liability
for defamation; classification

A. It is a public nuisance, and is no less a
nuisance because the extent of the annoyance or damage inflicted is unequal,
for anything:

1. To be injurious to health, indecent, offensive to
the senses or an obstruction to the free use of property that interferes with
the comfortable enjoyment of life or property by an entire community or
neighborhood or by a considerable number of persons.

2. To unlawfully obstruct the free passage or use,
in the customary manner, of any navigable lake, river, bay, stream, canal or
basin, or any public park, square, street or highway.

B. It is a public nuisance for any person to sell,
offer to sell, transfer, trade or disseminate any
obscene

item
which is obscene
as defined in section 13-3501,
within two thousand feet, measured in a straight line, of the nearest boundary
line of any of the following:

1. Any building used as a private or public
elementary or high school.

2. Any public park.

3. Any residence district as defined in section 28-101.

C. The county attorney, the attorney general or the
city attorney may bring an action in superior court to abate, enjoin and
prevent the activity described in subsections A and B of this section.

D. If the attorney general brings an
action to abate, enjoin and prevent a public nuisance and the court finds that
there is no reasonable basis for the action, the attorney general is liable for
defamation per se if the attorney general knew or should have known that the
action lacked a sufficient legal or factual basis, and if the attorney general
publicized the filing of the action, damages and actual malice are presumed.

D.

E.
Any
person who knowingly maintains or commits a public nuisance or who knowingly
fails or refuses to perform any legal duty relating to the removal of a public
nuisance is guilty of a class 2 misdemeanor.
END_STATUTE