Domestic Violence in Arizona Is a Designation, Not a Charge

Last updated September 28, 2026 · Reviewed by James E. Novak

Arizona has no criminal offense called domestic violence. Under A.R.S. § 13-3601, an Arizona domestic violence charge is an underlying offense, such as assault, disorderly conduct, criminal damage, or criminal trespass, carrying a designation the State attaches when the accused and the alleged victim share one of six relationships the statute lists. The underlying offense keeps its own class and its own sentencing range, and the designation brings a separate set of consequences with it.

Those separate consequences are where most of the long-term cost of an Arizona DV case sits. A misdemeanor conviction carrying the designation requires the judge to order a domestic violence offender treatment program at the defendant’s expense, makes the person a prohibited possessor of firearms for any term of probation that follows, and counts toward the rule that turns a third DV offense within 84 months into a class 5 felony. James E. Novak has defended domestic violence cases in Maricopa County for more than 20 years, and I treat the charge and the designation as two separate fights.

What Turns an Ordinary Charge Into a DV Case

A domestic violence designation is the letters DV added to an Arizona criminal charge because of the relationship between the accused and the alleged victim. Section 13-3601(H) requires every complaint, summons, or warrant in a DV case to state that the offense involved domestic violence and carry that label. The designation applies when the offense is on the statute’s list and the two people share any one of these relationships:

• Marriage or a shared home: current or former spouses, or people who live or have lived in the same household.
• A child in common: the two people are parents of the same child.
• Pregnancy: either person is pregnant by the other.
• Family ties: relation by blood, court order, or marriage, including parents, grandparents, children, siblings, in-laws, and step-relatives.
• A child in the household: a child who lives or has lived with the accused and is related by blood to a former spouse or to another member of the household.
• A romantic or sexual relationship: current or past, judged by its type, its length, how often the two interacted, and how long ago it ended.

A dating relationship that ended some time ago may still qualify under the last category. The offense list has limits too. Disorderly conduct under paragraphs 1, 2, 3, and 6 of § 13-2904(A) can carry the designation, while paragraphs 4 and 5 cannot.

Why DV Calls So Often End in an Arrest

Section 13-3601(B) lets an officer arrest without a warrant on probable cause that domestic violence occurred, for a misdemeanor as well as a felony, whether or not the officer saw it happen. Where the call involves a physical injury or the use or threatening display of a deadly weapon or dangerous instrument, the officer is required to arrest anyone 15 or older who the officer has probable cause to believe committed the offense, unless the officer has reasonable grounds to believe the alleged victim will be protected from further injury.

The same subsection sets two limits. An officer may arrest both people only with probable cause that each one independently committed an act of domestic violence, and an act of self-defense justified under Arizona law is not domestic violence at all. Under § 13-3601(I), any release order after a DV arrest must also include the conditions the court considers necessary to protect the alleged victim and anyone else the order names.

Those conditions take effect long before any trial date, which is hardest on people who share a home or children. I would rather look at this with you before the court date than after it. Call (480) 413-1499, and there is no charge for the conversation.

What a DV Conviction Adds to the Sentence

On a first misdemeanor DV conviction, A.R.S. § 13-3601.01(A) directs the judge to order completion of a domestic violence offender treatment program at an approved facility. The defendant pays for the program. On a later conviction the judge still orders treatment unless alternative sanctions are more appropriate, and a second DV conviction within 60 months allows the court to impose supervised probation with jail as a condition.

The firearm consequence is easier to miss. Section 13-3101(A)(7)(d) makes a person serving probation for a domestic violence offense a prohibited possessor, and a misdemeanor conviction is enough to trigger it. Possessing a gun during that probation is itself a weapons charge under § 13-3102(A)(4), a new case built entirely on the old one.

How a Third DV Offense Becomes a Felony

Aggravated domestic violence under A.R.S. § 13-3601.02 is a class 5 felony charged when a person commits a third or subsequent DV offense within 84 months. The two earlier convictions can be misdemeanors, and convictions from another state, a federal court, or a tribal court count if the conduct would have been domestic violence in Arizona. With two priors in that window, the person must serve at least four months in jail before any release, and with three or more priors the floor is eight months.

The 84 months is measured by the dates the offenses were committed, regardless of the order of the convictions, and convictions arising from the same series of acts do not stack. This is why the designation on a first misdemeanor assault deserves the same attention as the charge itself. Each DV conviction becomes a building block for the next case.

Questions About Arizona Domestic Violence Charges

Is Domestic Violence a Felony in Arizona?

It depends on the underlying offense. Section 13-3601(M) provides that an offense designated DV keeps the classification of the statute it is charged under, so a misdemeanor assault stays a misdemeanor and an aggravated assault stays a felony. The exception is aggravated domestic violence, which is a class 5 felony for a third DV offense within 84 months.

Can Police Arrest Both People After a DV Call?

Only if the officer has probable cause to believe each person independently committed an act of domestic violence. A person who acted in justified self-defense has not committed domestic violence under the statute, and that distinction is often the center of a dual-arrest case.

Does a DV Conviction From Another State Count in Arizona?

Yes, for both of the repeat-offense rules. A prior conviction from another state, a federal court, or a tribal court counts toward aggravated domestic violence, and toward the 60-month rule for supervised probation, if the conduct would have been a domestic violence offense in Arizona. Misdemeanor priors count only for offenses committed on or after January 1, 1999.

Talk to a Tempe Domestic Violence Defense Attorney

A DV arrest brings release conditions the same day, and the designation stays attached to the record long after the case ends. The Law Office of James E. Novak defends domestic violence charges in the Tempe, Mesa, Chandler, Gilbert, Scottsdale, and Phoenix courts and throughout Maricopa County. If you would like me to look at your case, call (480) 413-1499 or contact my office online. There is no charge for the first conversation.