BillCam

REFERENCE TITLE: ballot measures; judges; odd-numbered years

State of Arizona

Senate

Fifty-seventh Legislature

First Regular Session

2025

SCR 1020

Introduced by

Senator Finchem

A Concurrent Resolution

proposing an amendment to the Constitution of Arizona; amending article IV, part 1, section 1, Constitution of Arizona; amending article VI, sections 12, 28, 30 and 35, Constitution of Arizona; repealing article VI, sections 36, 37 and 38, Constitution of Arizona; amending article VI, section 39, Constitution of Arizona; repealing article VI, sections 40, 41 and 42, Constitution of Arizona; relating to elections.

(TEXT OF BILL BEGINS ON NEXT PAGE)

Be it resolved by the Senate of the State of Arizona, the House of Representatives concurring:

1. Article IV, part 1, section 1, Constitution of Arizona, is proposed to be amended as follows if approved by the voters and on proclamation of the Governor:

START_STATUTE1. Legislative authority; initiative and referendum

Section 1. (1) Senate; house of representatives; reservation of power to people. The legislative authority of the state shall be vested in the legislature, consisting of a senate and a house of representatives, but the people reserve the power to propose laws and amendments to the constitution and to enact or reject such laws and amendments at the polls, independently of the legislature; and they also reserve, for use at their own option, the power to approve or reject at the polls any act, or item, section, or part of any act, of the legislature.

(2) Initiative power. The first of these reserved powers is the initiative. Under this power ten percent of the qualified electors shall have the right to propose any measure, and fifteen percent shall have the right to propose any amendment to the constitution.

(3) Referendum power; emergency measures; effective date of acts. The second of these reserved powers is the referendum. Under this power the legislature, or five percent of the qualified electors, may order the submission to the people at the polls of any measure, or item, section or part of any measure, enacted by the legislature, except laws immediately necessary for the preservation of the public peace, health or safety, or for the support and maintenance of the departments of the state government and state institutions; but to allow opportunity for referendum petitions, no act passed by the legislature shall be operative for ninety days after the close of the session of the legislature enacting such measure, except such as require earlier operation to preserve the public peace, health or safety, or to provide appropriations for the support and maintenance of the departments of the state and of state institutions; provided, that no such emergency measure shall be considered passed by the legislature unless it shall state in a separate section why it is necessary that it shall become immediately operative, and shall be approved by the affirmative votes of two-thirds of the members elected to each house of the legislature, taken by roll call of ayes and nays, and also approved by the governor; and should such measure be vetoed by the governor, it shall not become a law unless it shall be approved by the votes of three-fourths of the members elected to each house of the legislature, taken by roll call of ayes and nays.

(4) Initiative and referendum petitions; filing. All petitions submitted under the power of the initiative shall be known as initiative petitions, and shall be filed with the secretary of state not less than four months preceding the date of the election at which the measures so proposed are to be voted upon on. All petitions submitted under the power of the referendum shall be known as referendum petitions, and shall be filed with the secretary of state not more than ninety days after the final adjournment of the session of the legislature which shall have passed the measure to which the referendum is applied. The filing of a referendum petition against any item, section or part of any measure shall not prevent the remainder of such measure from becoming operative.

(5) Effective date of initiative and referendum measures. Any measure or amendment to the constitution proposed under the initiative, and any measure to which the referendum is applied, shall be referred to a vote of the qualified electors, and for an initiative or referendum to approve a tax,shall become law when approved by sixty percent of the votes cast thereon and upon on proclamation of the governor, and not otherwise and for all other initiatives and referendums, shall become law when approved by a majority of the votes cast thereon and upon on proclamation of the governor, and not otherwise.

(6) (A) Veto of initiative or referendum. The veto power of the governor shall not extend to an initiative measure to approve a tax that is approved by sixty percent of the votes cast thereon or to a referendum measure to approve a tax that is decided by sixty percent of the votes cast thereon and for all other initiatives and referendums, the veto power of the governor shall not extend to initiatives and referendums approved by a majority of the votes cast thereon.

(6) (B) Legislature's power to repeal initiative or referendum. The legislature shall not have the power to repeal an initiative measure to approve a tax that is approved by sixty percent of the votes cast thereon or to repeal a referendum measure to approve a tax that is decided by sixty percent of the votes cast thereon and for all other initiatives and referendums, the legislature shall not have the power to repeal an initiative measure approved by a majority of the votes cast thereon and shall not have the power to repeal a referendum measure decided by a majority of the votes cast thereon.

(6) (C) Legislature's power to amend initiative or referendum. The legislature shall not have the power to amend an initiative measure to approve a tax that is approved by sixty percent of the votes cast thereon, or to amend a referendum measure to approve a tax that is decided by sixty percent of the votes cast thereon, unless the amending legislation furthers the purposes of such measure and at least three-fourths of the members of each house of the legislature, by a roll call of ayes and nays, vote to amend such measure. For all other initiatives and referendums, the legislature shall not have the power to amend an initiative measure approved by a majority of the votes cast thereon and shall not have the power to amend a referendum measure decided by a majority of the votes cast thereon, unless the amending legislation furthers the purposes of such measure and at least three-fourths of the members of each house of the legislature, by a roll call of ayes and nays, vote to amend such measure.

(6) (D) Legislature's power to appropriate or divert funds created by initiative or referendum. The legislature shall not have the power to appropriate or divert funds created or allocated to a specific purpose by an initiative measure that also approves a tax that is approved by sixty percent of the votes cast thereon, or by a referendum measure that also approves a tax that is decided by sixty percent of the votes cast thereon, unless the appropriation or diversion of funds furthers the purposes of such measure and at least three-fourths of the members of each house of the legislature, by a roll call of ayes and nays, vote to appropriate or divert such funds. For all other initiatives and referendums, the legislature shall not have the power to appropriate or divert funds created or allocated to a specific purpose by an initiative measure approved by a majority of the votes cast thereon and shall not have the power to appropriate or divert funds created or allocated to a specific purpose by a referendum measure decided by a majority of the votes cast thereon, unless the appropriation or diversion of funds furthers the purposes of such measure and at least three-fourths of the members of each house of the legislature, by a roll call of ayes and nays, vote to appropriate or divert such funds.

(7) Number of qualified electors. The whole number of votes cast for all candidates for governor at the general election last preceding the filing of any initiative or referendum petition on a state or county measure shall be the basis on which the number of qualified electors required to sign such petition shall be computed.

(8) Local, city, town or county matters. The powers of the initiative and the referendum are hereby further reserved to the qualified electors of every incorporated city, town and county as to all local, city, town or county matters on which such incorporated cities, towns and counties are or shall be empowered by general laws to legislate. Such incorporated cities, towns and counties may prescribe the manner of exercising said powers within the restrictions of general laws. Under the power of the initiative fifteen percent of the qualified electors may propose measures on such local, city, town or county matters, and ten percent of the electors may propose the referendum on legislation enacted within and by such city, town or county. Until provided by general law, said cities and towns may prescribe the basis on which said percentages shall be computed.

(9) Form and contents of initiative and of referendum petitions; verification. Every initiative or referendum petition shall be addressed to the secretary of state in the case of petitions for or on state measures, and to the clerk of the board of supervisors, city clerk or corresponding officer in the case of petitions for or on county, city or town measures; and shall contain the declaration of each petitioner, for himself, that he is a qualified elector of the state (and in the case of petitions for or on city, town or county measures, of the city, town or county affected), his post office address, the street and number, if any, of his residence, and the date on which he signed such petition. Every initiative measure shall embrace but one subject and matters properly connected therewith, which subject shall be expressed in the title; but if any subject shall be embraced in an initiative measure which shall not be expressed in the title, such initiative measure shall be void only as to so much thereof as shall not be embraced in the title. Each sheet containing petitioners' signatures shall be attached to a full and correct copy of the title and text of the measure so proposed to be initiated or referred to the people, and every sheet of every such petition containing signatures shall be verified by the affidavit of the person who circulated said sheet or petition, setting forth that each of the names on said sheet was signed in the presence of the affiant and that in the belief of the affiant each signer was a qualified elector of the state, or in the case of a city, town or county measure, of the city, town or county affected by the measure so proposed to be initiated or referred to the people.

(10) Official ballot. When any initiative or referendum petition or any measure referred to the people by the legislature is filed, in accordance with this section, with the secretary of state, the secretary of state shall cause to be printed on the official ballot at for the next regular general November election in the next odd-numbered year the title and number of said measure, together with the words "yes" and "no" in such manner that the electors may express at the polls their approval or disapproval of the measure.

(11) Publication of measures. The text of all measures to be submitted shall be published as proposed amendments to the constitution are published, and in submitting such measures and proposed amendments the secretary of state and all other officers shall be guided by the general law until legislation shall be especially provided therefor.

(12) Conflicting measures or constitutional amendments. If two or more conflicting measures or amendments to the constitution shall be approved by the people at the same election, the measure or amendment receiving the greatest number of affirmative votes shall prevail in all particulars as to which there is conflict.

(13) Canvass of votes; proclamation. It shall be the duty of the secretary of state, in the presence of the governor and the chief justice of the supreme court, to canvass the votes for and against each such measure or proposed amendment to the constitution within thirty days after the election, and upon on the completion of the canvass the governor shall forthwith issue a proclamation, giving the whole number of votes cast for and against each measure or proposed amendment, and declaring such measures or amendments to approve a tax as are approved by sixty percent of those voting thereon to be law and for all other measures or amendments, declaring such measures as are approved by a majority of those voting thereon to be law.

(14) Reservation of legislative power. This section shall not be construed to deprive the legislature of the right to enact any measure except that the legislature shall not have the power to adopt any measure that supersedes, in whole or in part, any initiative measure to approve a tax that is approved by sixty percent of the votes cast thereon or any referendum measure to approve a tax that is decided by sixty percent of the votes cast thereon unless the superseding measure furthers the purposes of the initiative or referendum measure and at least three-fourths of the members of each house of the legislature, by a roll call of ayes and nays, vote to supersede such initiative or referendum measure. For all other initiatives and referendums, the legislature shall not have the power to adopt any measure that supersedes, in whole or in part, any initiative measure approved by a majority of the votes cast thereon and shall not have the power to adopt any measure that supersedes, in whole or in part, any referendum measure decided by a majority of the votes cast thereon, unless the superseding measure furthers the purposes of the initiative or referendum measure and at least three-fourths of the members of each house of the legislature, by a roll call of ayes and nays, vote to supersede such initiative or referendum measure.

(15) Legislature's right to refer measure to the people. Nothing in this section shall be construed to deprive or limit the legislature of the right to order the submission to the people at the polls of any measure, item, section or part of any measure.

(16) Self-executing. This section of the constitution shall be, in all respects, self-executing. END_STATUTE

2. Article VI, section 12, Constitution of Arizona, is proposed to be amended as follows if approved by the voters and on proclamation of the Governor:

CONST12. Superior court; term of office

Section 12. A. Judges of the superior court in counties having a population of less than two hundred fifty thousand persons according to the most recent United States census shall be elected by the qualified electors of their counties at the general november election in an odd-numbered year. They shall hold office for a regular term of four years except as provided by this section from and after the first Monday in January next succeeding their election, and until their successors are elected and qualify. The names of all candidates for judge of the superior court in such counties shall be placed on the regular ballot without partisan or other designation except the division and title of the office.

B. The governor shall fill any vacancy in such counties by appointing a person to serve until the election and qualification of a successor. At the next succeeding general November election in an odd-numbered year following the appointment of a person to fill a vacancy, a judge shall be elected to serve for the remainder of the unexpired term.

Judges of the superior court in counties having a population of two hundred fifty thousand persons or more according to the most recent United States census shall hold office for a regular term of four years except as provided by this article. CONST

3. Article VI, section 28, Constitution of Arizona, is proposed to be amended as follows if approved by the voters and on proclamation of the Governor:

CONST28. Justices and judges; dual office holding; political activity; practice of law

Section 28. Justices and judges of courts of record shall not be eligible for any other public office or for any other public employment during their term of office, except that they may assume another judicial office, and upon qualifying therefor, the office formerly held shall become vacant. No justice or judge of any court of record shall practice law during his the justice's or judge's continuance in office, nor shall he hold any office in a political party or actively take part in any political campaign other than his the justice's or judge's own for his the justice's or judge's reelection or retention in office. Any justice or judge who files nomination papers for an elective office, other than for judge of the superior court or a court of record inferior to the superior court in a county having a population of less than two hundred fifty thousand persons according to the most recent United States census, forfeits his the justice's or judge's judicial office.CONST

4. Article VI, section 30, Constitution of Arizona, is proposed to be amended as follows if approved by the voters and on proclamation of the Governor:

CONST30. Courts of record

Section 30. A. The supreme court, the court of appeals and the superior court shall be courts of record. Other courts of record may be established by law, but justice courts shall not be courts of record.

B. All justices and judges of courts of record, except for judges of the superior court and other courts of record inferior to the superior court in counties having a population of less than two hundred fifty thousand persons according to the most recent United States census, shall be appointed in the manner provided in section 37 of this article. CONST

5. Article VI, section 35, Constitution of Arizona, is proposed to be amended as follows if approved by the voters and on proclamation of the Governor:

CONST35. Continuance in office; continued existence of offices; application of prior statute and rules

Section 35. A. All justices, judges, justices of the peace and officers of any court who are holding office as such by election or appointment at the time of the adoption of this section or any amendment to this section shall serve or continue in office for the respective terms for which they are so elected or for their respective unexpired terms, and until their successors are elected or appointed and qualify or they are retained in office pursuant to section 38 of this article; provided, however, except that any justice or judge elected at the general election at which this section is adopted shall serve for the term for which he the justice or judge is so elected. The continued existence of any office heretofore legally established or held shall not be abolished or repealed by the adoption of this article. The statutes and rules relating to the authority, jurisdiction, practice and procedure of courts, judicial officers and offices in force at the time of the adoption of this article and not inconsistent herewith, shall, so far as applicable, apply to and govern such courts, judicial officers and offices until amended or repealed.

B. All judges of the superior court holding office by appointment or retention in counties with a population of two hundred fifty thousand persons or more according to the most recent United States census at the time of the adoption of this amendment to this section shall serve or continue in office for the respective terms for which they were appointed. Upon an incumbent vacating the office of judge of the superior court, whether by failing to file a declaration for retention, by rejection by the qualified electors of the county or resignation, the appointment shall be pursuant to section 37 of this article. CONST

6. Article VI, sections 36, 37 and 38, Constitution of Arizona, are proposed to be repealed as follows if approved by the voters and on proclamation of the Governor:

Article VI, section 36, Constitution of Arizona, relating to the commission on appellate court appointments, is repealed.

Article VI, section 37, Constitution of Arizona, relating to judicial vacancies and appointments, is repealed.

Article VI, section 38, Constitution of Arizona, relating to the declaration of candidacy to be retained in office, is repealed.

7. Article VI, section 39, Constitution of Arizona, is proposed to be amended as follows if approved by the voters and on proclamation of the Governor:

CONST39. Retirement of justices and judges; vacancies

Section 39. On attaining the age of seventy years a justice or judge of a court of record shall retire and his judicial office shall be vacant, except as otherwise provided in section 35 of this article. In addition to becoming vacant as provided in this section, the office of a justice or judge of any court of record becomes vacant upon his on the justice's or judge's death or his the justice's or judge's voluntary retirement pursuant to statute or his the justice's or judge's voluntary resignation, and also, as provided in section 38 of this article, upon the expiration of his term next following a general election at which a majority of those voting on the question of his retention vote in the negative or for which general election he is required, but fails, to file a declaration of his desire to be retained in office.

This section is alternative to and cumulative with the methods of removal of judges and justices provided in article VI.1 and article VIII, parts 1 and 2 of article 8 and article 6.1 of this Constitution. CONST

8. Article VI, sections 40, 41 and 42, Constitution of Arizona, are proposed to be repealed as follows if approved by the voters and on proclamation of the Governor:

Article VI, section 40, Constitution of Arizona, relating to the option of certain counties in selecting judges, is repealed.

Article VI, section 41, Constitution of Arizona, relating to the commission on trial court appointments, is repealed.

Article VI, section 42, Constitution of Arizona, relating to retention evaluation of justices and judges, is repealed.

9. The Secretary of State shall submit this proposition to the voters at the next general election as provided by article XXI, Constitution of Arizona.