duistatelaws.com Key takeaways
- Which courthouse you attend is decided by whose city limits you were inside. A Phoenix stop goes to Phoenix Municipal Court; a Scottsdale stop does not.
- Phoenix Municipal Court is Arizona’s largest limited jurisdiction court and states that it processes about 160,000 charges a year.
- Aggravated DUI is a felony and goes to Maricopa County Superior Court regardless of which city you were stopped in.
- Two different prosecuting offices handle the two levels: the Phoenix City Prosecutor and the Maricopa County Attorney.
- 30 days to request the MVD hearing, and the suspension takes effect on the same thirtieth day.
from the date you were served with the notice to demand a hearing from Arizona Department of Transportation, Motor Vehicle Division. The request goes to MVD, not to the court, and no judge in Maricopa County will make it for you. A.R.S. § 28-1321(G), (H).
The first question in a Phoenix DUI case is not what the reading was. It is which side of an invisible line you were on when the lights came on, because that decides the courthouse, the prosecuting office, the local charging policy and often the outcome.
Arizona builds it that way on purpose. A.R.S. section 22-402(B) gives every incorporated city and town a municipal court with jurisdiction over its own ordinances, and jurisdiction concurrently with the justice of the peace over state-law offenses committed inside the city limits. A DUI under section 28-1381 is a state-law offense committed inside somebody’s city limits, so it goes to that city’s court. In a metro where Phoenix, Tempe and Scottsdale run into each other without a visible boundary, that is a live question rather than a formality.
The same diagram as a table
| Step | Criminal case — decided by a court | License case — decided by the state licensing agency |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arrest and booking, hour 0 | Notice of suspension served, day 0 |
| 2 | Charge filed by the prosecutor | Deadline to demand a hearing, frequently 7 to 30 days |
| 3 | First court setting, on a date the court picks | Hearing held if the request was filed — the suspension is stayed until the judge rules |
| 4 | One or more pretrial settings | Suspension takes effect automatically with no hearing |
| 5 | Trial, plea or dismissal | — |
| Clock | Weeks to months. No filing deadline runs against the driver. | Counted in days from the notice, and fixed by statute. |
Where your Phoenix DUI case will be heard
Inside Phoenix city limits, a misdemeanor DUI goes to Phoenix Municipal Court on Washington Street. If the charge is aggravated DUI it is a felony, and it goes to Maricopa County Superior Court no matter which city the stop happened in.
Phoenix Municipal Court
- Hears
- Misdemeanor DUI, extreme DUI and super extreme DUI inside Phoenix city limits
- Building
- Phoenix Municipal Courthouse
- Address
- 300 West Washington Street, Phoenix, AZ 85003-2103
- Detail
- Arizona’s largest limited jurisdiction court
- Hours
- Monday to Friday, 8:00am to 5:00pm
- Phone
- 602-262-6421
- Why it matters
- The court states that it processes roughly 160,000 charges a year and that its jurisdiction runs up to class 1 misdemeanors, carrying a maximum of six months in jail and a $2,500 fine.
Maricopa County Superior Court — Central Court Building
- Hears
- Aggravated DUI and every other felony
- Building
- Central Court Building
- Address
- 201 West Jefferson Street, Phoenix, AZ 85003
- Detail
- Criminal matters
- Hours
- Court business hours
- Why it matters
- A first-ever arrest lands here rather than at Washington Street if it is charged as aggravated DUI under A.R.S. section 28-1383.
Maricopa County Superior Court — South Court Tower
- Hears
- Additional criminal courtrooms
- Building
- South Court Tower
- Address
- 175 West Madison Street, Phoenix, AZ 85003
- Detail
- Criminal matters
- Hours
- Court business hours
- Why it matters
- One block south of the Central Court Building and frequently confused with it.
Intake, Transfer and Release
- Hears
- Where an in-custody case starts
- Building
- Maricopa County Superior Court, Intake, Transfer and Release
- Address
- 2670 South 28th Drive, Phoenix, AZ 85009
- Detail
- Initial appearances
- Hours
- Continuous
- Why it matters
- Four miles from the courthouses, which surprises families trying to attend.
One provision is worth knowing because it is written for this county specifically. A.R.S. section 22-301(A)(1) gives the justice courts jurisdiction over misdemeanors punishable by up to six months and $2,500, which covers every DUI charge that is not aggravated. Subsection (B) then singles out counties with more than two million people — in practice only Maricopa — and gives the justice of the peace original jurisdiction over those misdemeanors unless the case was filed by a municipal officer in a municipal court, or consolidated with a felony. So in this county the filing decision itself moves the case.
Not sure which court your case is in?
Enter the ZIP code where the arrest happened and we will start the review from there.
The first thirty days
Arizona’s administrative suspension runs on a single number that appears three times, and reading it as three different windows is the usual mistake. Under A.R.S. section 28-1385 the order of suspension served on you is “effective thirty days after the date that the order is served”, the temporary driving permit you were issued is valid for thirty days, and the officer has thirty days to file the certified report with the department.
Your request runs on the same clock. Sections 28-1321(G) and (H) require the department to receive a written or online hearing request within thirty days of the notice, after which the order becomes final. A timely request stays the suspension until the hearing, and the department has sixty days to set it. The suspension itself is at least ninety consecutive days under section 28-1385(H), and the department may only reinstate after alcohol or drug screening.
The reason to take the thirty days seriously has nothing to do with the ninety. Driving while suspended as a result of a DUI is the first listed route to aggravated DUI in section 28-1383(A)(1), which is a class 4 felony. The administrative suspension is not the lesser half of the case. It is the thing that turns the case into a felony if it is ignored.
| What happened | First time | With a prior | Authority |
|---|---|---|---|
| Failed the test | at least 90 days | — | A.R.S. § 28-1385(H) |
| Refused the test | 12 months | 2 years | A.R.S. § 28-1321(B) |
What the prosecuting offices are working with
The sentencing floors are statewide and they are unusually rigid; the full ladder with the section numbers is on the Arizona DUI page. What is local is who is holding the file.
Misdemeanor DUI inside Phoenix is prosecuted by the Phoenix City Prosecutor’s Office, which sits in the same building as the court at 300 West Washington Street and lists DUI among the misdemeanors it handles alongside assault, shoplifting and other driving offenses. Its Charging Bureau states that it provides services and case information to approximately 29,000 victims a year.
Felony DUI goes to the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office, and specifically to its Vehicular Crimes Bureau, which states that it “reviews 3,000 to 4,000 cases a year, assigning upwards of 1,300 for prosecution” and that it runs a dedicated repeat offender program. Those are county caseload figures published by a government office. They are not the record of any attorney, and nothing on this site reports case results.
What that split means in practice is that the same conduct is negotiated with two entirely different institutions depending on how it is charged, and that the charging decision — ordinary, extreme, or aggravated — is the decision that matters most in an Arizona case.
DUI defense across the Phoenix metro
This table is the one people actually need, and it is the thing almost no page in this market prints. Same county, same statute, same reading — four different buildings.
| City or area | County | Where the case goes |
|---|---|---|
| Inside Phoenix city limits | Maricopa | Phoenix Municipal Court, 300 West Washington Street |
| Scottsdale | Maricopa | Scottsdale City Court — not Phoenix Municipal |
| Tempe | Maricopa | Tempe Municipal Court |
| Mesa | Maricopa | Mesa Municipal Court |
| Unincorporated Maricopa County | Maricopa | The justice court for the precinct where the stop happened |
| Any of the above, charged as aggravated DUI | Maricopa | Maricopa County Superior Court, regardless of which city you were in |
Every city in the Phoenix metro has its own court, and the Phoenix metro is unusually continuous: the boundary between Phoenix, Tempe and Scottsdale is not visible from the road. Same county, same statute, same prosecutorial policy question — four different buildings and four different prosecuting offices.
If you genuinely do not know which city you were in, the citation says so, and the agency named on it is usually the giveaway: a Phoenix Police Department citation is heading for Washington Street, a Department of Public Safety citation from a freeway stop may not be. The court name is on the summons; it is the line most worth reading twice.
Common questions about Phoenix DUI cases
Which court will my Phoenix DUI case be in?
If the stop was inside Phoenix city limits and the charge is a misdemeanor, Phoenix Municipal Court at 300 West Washington Street. If the charge is aggravated DUI under A.R.S. section 28-1383 it is a felony and goes to Maricopa County Superior Court, at the Central Court Building on West Jefferson Street or the South Court Tower on West Madison Street. If the stop was in Scottsdale, Tempe or Mesa it goes to that city's court instead.
How much jail is mandatory for a first Phoenix DUI?
At least ten consecutive days under A.R.S. section 28-1381(I)(1), which also says the person is not eligible for probation or suspension of execution of sentence unless the entire sentence is served. At 0.15 or more it is thirty consecutive days under section 28-1382(D)(1); at 0.20 or more, forty-five. Those floors are set by statute, not by the court, and they are the same in every Maricopa County city court.
How long do I have to request an MVD hearing?
Thirty days from the notice, under A.R.S. sections 28-1321(G) and (H). The same thirty days is when the order of suspension becomes effective and when the temporary permit expires. A timely request stays the suspension until the hearing is held, and the department has sixty days to set it.
Does a Scottsdale or Tempe arrest go to Phoenix Municipal Court?
No. Under A.R.S. section 22-402(B) each city's court has jurisdiction over state-law offenses committed inside its own limits, concurrently with the justice of the peace. A Scottsdale stop goes to Scottsdale City Court and a Tempe stop to Tempe Municipal Court. The exception is aggravated DUI, which is a felony and goes to Maricopa County Superior Court from anywhere in the county.
Who prosecutes a Phoenix DUI?
It depends on the level. Misdemeanor DUI inside Phoenix is prosecuted by the Phoenix City Prosecutor's Office, which sits on the 8th floor of the Municipal Courthouse at 300 West Washington Street. Felony DUI is prosecuted by the Maricopa County Attorney's Office through its Vehicular Crimes Bureau.
Will I have to install an ignition interlock?
On a conviction involving intoxicating liquor, yes. Section 28-1381(I)(6) requires the department, on report of the conviction, to require a certified ignition interlock device on any vehicle the person operates under section 28-3319, and the court may order a longer term. Section 28-3319(H) provides for the remainder of a twelve-month term to be deferred once six months have run and the listed conditions are met.
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Here is what happens after you submit:
- Your answers go to attorneys licensed in the state where you were arrested.
- Up to three of them may contact you using the details you gave.
- You decide who, if anyone, you speak with. You are not committed to any of them.
Submitting this request does not create an attorney–client relationship.
More for Arizona
- Arizona DUI law — the full penalty matrix, the statutes, and the rules on priors and interlock
- Refusing a breathalyzer — what implied consent costs here against what it buys
- How long it stays on your record — three records, three clocks
- SR-22 filing requirements in Arizona — in preparation
- Ignition interlock providers and costs in Arizona — what the device costs and who installs it
Sources
- Phoenix Municipal Court — read September 20, 2026
- Phoenix City Prosecutor’s Office — read September 20, 2026
- Maricopa County Superior Court locations — read September 20, 2026
- Maricopa County Attorney’s Office, Vehicular Crimes Bureau — read September 20, 2026
- Arizona Judicial Branch, limited jurisdiction courts — read September 20, 2026
- A.R.S. § 28-1381(A)(2) and the rest of the Arizona statutes cited on this page — read in force 2026
Court addresses, hours and phone numbers were read from each court’s or office’s own published page on September 20, 2026. Those change without notice; confirm before you rely on them. No judge is named anywhere on this page, because a roster is exactly the kind of detail that goes stale silently.