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
Official status
Effective date: Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

The official source material does not provide information on whether or how many judges will be added and which counties will receive them.

Technical Fix for Adding Judges

This bill amends an existing statute to clarify how additional judges are added in Arizona counties based on population growth.

What This Bill Does

Changes the wording of an existing law about adding more judges when a county's population grows.
Requires that boards of supervisors use recent estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau and other data to decide if their county needs another judge.

Who It Names or Affects

Counties in Arizona with growing populations
Boards of supervisors who can ask for more judges

Terms To Know

Census Bureau: A government agency that counts the population and collects other data about people in the United States.
Superior Court: The main trial court in a county where serious cases are heard.

Limits and Unknowns

Does not specify how many judges will be added or which counties will get them.
Only changes the wording of an existing law, it does not create new laws.

Bill History

No action history is stored for this bill yet.

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