SB1642 • 2026

technical correction; additional judges

SB1642 - technical correction; additional judges

Passed Legislature

This bill passed both chambers and reached final enrollment, even if later executive action is not shown here.

Sponsor: Carine Werner
Last action: 2026-06-12
Official status: Senate Rules: None
Effective date: Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

The official text shows the bill is purely technical (fixing grammar like changing 'upon' to 'on'), but it restates existing rules about population thresholds.

SB1642: Technical Correction for Adding Judges

This bill fixes wording errors in state laws about how counties can ask the governor to add more judges based on population growth.

What This Bill Does

Amends Section 12-121 of Arizona Revised Statutes to correct grammar and spelling mistakes.
Clarifies that a county with over thirty thousand people may get an additional judge if the board of supervisors asks and the governor approves.
Allows counties to request extra judges based on population growth since the last census using specific data sources.

Who It Names or Affects

County boards of supervisors who make requests for new judges
The governor who must approve these requests
Superior courts in Arizona counties

Terms To Know

Board of Supervisors: A group that manages county government and can ask for new judges.
Census Enumeration: An official count of people living in an area done by the U.S. Census Bureau.
Superior Court: The main trial court for each county that has at least one elected judge.

Limits and Unknowns

The bill does not state when the changes will take effect.
The list of data sources used to count growth is not limited only to those listed in the law.

Bill History

2026-06-12 Senate
Senate Rules: None
2026-06-12 Senate
Senate first read

Official Summary Text

SB1642 - technical correction; additional judges

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text

SB1642 - 572R - I Ver

REFERENCE TITLE:
technical correction; additional judges

State of Arizona

Senate

Fifty-seventh Legislature

Second Regular Session

2026

SB 1642

Introduced by

Senator
Werner

AN
ACT

amending
section 12-121, Arizona Revised Statutes; relating to courts of record.

(TEXT OF BILL BEGINS ON NEXT PAGE)

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

Section 1. Section 12-121, Arizona Revised
Statutes, is amended to read:

START_STATUTE
12-121
.
Number of judges; petition for approval of additional judges;
additional method

A. In each county of the state there shall be a
superior court for which at least one judge shall be elected. In
each county having a census enumeration greater than thirty thousand
inhabitants, and
upon

on
petition by
the board of supervisors of such county to the governor and
his
the governor's
approval thereof, there shall be an additional
judge of the superior court for each thirty thousand inhabitants, or majority
fraction thereof, or the additional judge of the superior court may be
authorized, based on the procedure prescribed by the terms of subsections B and
C
of this section
.

B.
Upon

On
petition
by the board of supervisors of a county to the governor and
his

the governor's
approval thereof, there shall be an
additional judge of the superior court provided that the board of supervisors
has determined, as prescribed in subsection C
of this section
,
that the county has acquired since the last census enumeration the required
number of inhabitants for an additional judge as provided in subsection A
of this section
.

C. The determination of the board of supervisors
shall be based on, but not limited to, recent estimates of population, if any,
of any area within the county issued by the
united states census

bureau
of the census
, auto registrations,
nonagricultural employment, gross utility revenues and retail sales.

D. Additional judges authorized by the terms of this
section shall be appointed or elected as provided by law.
END_STATUTE