The short version
Arizona runs a single, unified state court system with four levels, and a Scottsdale resident can end up at any of them. Where you land depends on what kind of case it is and how much is at stake.
The ladder, bottom to top
Scottsdale City Court is the city’s municipal court. It hears misdemeanors and civil traffic violations that happen inside city limits, along with violations of city code and protective orders. It handles tens of thousands of cases a year, and most of its civil traffic docket comes from the city’s photo-enforcement cameras. Its presiding judge is one of the council’s six charter officers; the police, fire and courts guide covers how it runs.
Justice courts are the county’s neighborhood courts, with elected justices of the peace. They hear traffic and misdemeanor cases from outside city limits, evictions, civil suits of $10,000 or less, and small claims.
Maricopa County Superior Court is the general trial court, with about 98 judges. Felonies, divorces and custody, probate, juvenile cases, civil suits over $10,000, lawsuits against the city and election challenges all start here. It also hears appeals from city and justice courts.
The Court of Appeals, Division One, based in Phoenix, reviews Superior Court decisions from Maricopa and several other counties. Above it, the Arizona Supreme Court has the final word on state law and the state constitution. It has had seven justices since 2016.
What it means for you
A speeding camera ticket on Hayden Road: Scottsdale City Court. A divorce, or a felony: Superior Court. A neighborhood group suing over a council rezoning: Superior Court, with appeals possible up the ladder. A challenge to signatures on a city referendum: Superior Court on a fast track, often straight to the Supreme Court.
How judges get the job
Arizona uses two systems. In small counties, superior court judges are still elected in nonpartisan races. But in Maricopa County, and for the Supreme Court and Court of Appeals statewide, judges come through merit selection. A nominating commission of lawyers and non-lawyers screens applicants and sends the governor at least three names; the governor picks one. After roughly two years on the bench, the judge faces a retention election, a simple yes or no. Superior court judges who are retained serve four-year terms; appellate judges and justices serve six.
To help voters decide, a Judicial Performance Review commission surveys lawyers, jurors and litigants about each judge and publishes whether each one meets its standards. Those findings appear in the state’s voter information before every general election.
Justices of the peace are the exception at the county level: they run in partisan elections for four-year terms, covered in the county elected officers guide. City judges are appointed by their councils.
Federal court is separate
The U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona sits in downtown Phoenix, in the Sandra Day O’Connor U.S. Courthouse. It hears federal crimes, constitutional claims and disputes under federal law, and its appeals go to the Ninth Circuit. Its judges are nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate for life, with no state role at all.
Why merit selection
The 1910 convention made judges elected and even recallable, which is what drew President Taft’s veto; voters put recall back in 1912. By the 1970s, fast-growing Maricopa and Pima counties had long ballots full of judicial races few voters could evaluate, and in 1974 voters approved a constitutional amendment adopting merit selection for the appellate courts and for superior courts in counties above 150,000 people. A 1992 amendment raised that threshold to 250,000 and added Judicial Performance Review. Pinal and Coconino counties have since joined the system.
The system still sparks fights. Voters have removed very few judges in retention elections. In 2016 the legislature expanded the Supreme Court from five justices to seven, a move supporters said would handle a growing caseload and critics called court packing. In 2024 the legislature referred Prop 137, which would have ended most retention elections; voters rejected it by nearly four to one, and in the same election retained Justices Clint Bolick and Kathryn King despite a campaign against them over an abortion ruling.
The courts and the city
For Scottsdale, the courts are the referee between the city and the state. Whether a city ordinance survives a conflicting state law turns on the judges’ reading of home rule and “statewide concern,” the doctrine behind the preemption guide. Challenges to city initiatives and referendums, like the petition drives in the voters and ballot measures guide, are heard on expedited schedules so they can be settled before ballots print. After the legislature passed SB 1543 in 2025 to end the Axon referendum, the city filed suit and later dropped it, which left the law standing. And zoning decisions made under the General Plan can be challenged in Superior Court by neighbors or property owners.