attorney general; nuisance action; defamation

Plain English Breakdown

The official text confirms the bill passed both chambers but does not list an effective date or Governor's signature status in the provided metadata.

HB2169: Rules for Attorney General Nuisance Lawsuits

This bill makes the Arizona Attorney General liable for defamation if they file a public nuisance lawsuit without a reasonable basis, knew or should have known it was weak, and publicly announced it.

What This Bill Does

• Allows county attorneys, city attorneys, or the state attorney general to sue in court to stop activities that are considered public nuisances.
• Makes the Attorney General liable for defamation per se if a court finds their nuisance lawsuit had no reasonable basis.
• Requires proof that the Attorney General knew or should have known the case lacked sufficient legal or factual support before filing it.
• Applies only if the Attorney General publicly announced the filing of the lawsuit.
• Presumes that actual malice and financial harm exist in these specific cases.

Who It Names or Affects

• The Arizona Attorney General
• People or businesses accused of public nuisance by the state

Terms To Know

Public Nuisance

An activity that harms health, offends senses, blocks property use, obstructs public spaces like streets and parks, or involves selling obscene items near schools.

Defamation Per Se

A false statement so harmful to a person's reputation that the law assumes it caused damage without needing extra proof of harm.

Actual Malice

Knowing a statement is false or acting with reckless disregard for whether it is true or not; this bill presumes actual malice exists in these cases.

Limits and Unknowns

• This rule applies only to the Attorney General, not county or city attorneys.
• The law does not take effect until signed by the Governor and assigned an effective date.
• It does not change how courts define what counts as a public nuisance.

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.

---------- DOCUMENT
FOOTER ---------

7.

Initials CW��������������������� HB
2169

8.

2/2/2026��� Page 0 Caucus
& COW

9.

10.

---------- DOCUMENT
FOOTER ---------

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