Criminal Damage in Arizona: ARS 13-1602 click for a free consultation

Posted on March 20, 2025 in Arizona Revised Statutes

In Arizona, Arizona Revised Statutes (ARS) 13-1602 is the law that makes it illegal to cause damage to another person’s property.

In this post, we examine ARS 13-1602. We will cover how it defines criminal damage, the penalties for criminal damage upon conviction, and some possible defenses to a charge of criminal damage.

If you have been charged with criminal damage under ARS 13-1602, call AZ Defenders for elite legal defense at (480) 456-6400 or use our contact form.

What is Criminal Damage in Arizona?

ARS 13-1602 has two parts. The first part identifies criminal damage variations. The second part establishes the levels of punishment for different kinds of criminal damage.

A person commits criminal damage in Arizona in any of six ways:

• Recklessly defacing or damaging the property of another person.
  • ARS 13-1601(1) defines damage as physical or visual impairment of any surface, per ARS 13-1701.
    
  • ARS 13-1601(2) defines defacing as unnecessarily and substantially marring any surface or place by putting up, affixing, fastening, printing, or painting any notice on any structure without the owner’s permission.
    
• Recklessly tampering with someone else’s property to the point where you substantially impair its function or value.
  • ARS 13-1601(5) defines tampering as any act of interference.
    
• Recklessly damaging utility property.
  
• Recklessly or physically obstructing a passageway in a way that deprives livestock of access to their only reasonably available water.
  
• Without the owner’s permission, recklessly drawing or inscribing a message, slogan, sign, or symbol on any private or public building, structure, or surface (except for on the ground).
  • When determining the value of damage to property this way, the costs include any reasonable labor costs, reasonable material costs, and equipment costs needed to repair the damage.
    
• Intentionally tampering with the property of a utility.

Recklessness Requirement for Most Criminal Damage Variations

All but one of the six criminal damage crimes requires the prosecution to prove that you acted “recklessly” in damaging property as an element of the charge.

ARS 13-105(10)(c) defines criminal recklessness as including the following elements:

• You are aware of yet consciously disregard the risk(s).
• Such conscious disregard of the risk must be substantial and unjustifiable.
• The result will occur or that the circumstance exists that it could occur.

A substantial and unjustifiable risk constitutes a gross deviation from a reasonable person’s behavior in the same situation.

It is not a defense that you are not aware of a substantial and unjustifiable risk because you are voluntarily intoxicated.

Intent Requirement for Tampering With Utility Property

Under ARS 13-105(10)(a), an intentional act is one in which the prosecution must prove that you meant to engage in the unlawful conduct or for the result to happen.

Two kinds of criminal damage that Arizona recognizes involve utility property. Under ARS 42-5063, some examples of utilities include businesses that produce, transmit, or otherwise provide:

• Electricity
• Natural gas
• Artificial gas
• Water
• Gasoline or alternative fuels

For example, damage to electrical generation facilities, electric line poles, or electric towers all qualify as criminal damage to a utility.

What Are the Penalties Under Arizona’s Criminal Damage Statute?

Depending on the dollar value of the property damage, ARS 13-1602(B) makes criminal damage a:

• Class 4 felony
• Class 5 felony
• Class 6 felony
• Class 1 misdemeanor
• Class 2 misdemeanor

The following table breaks down the kinds of criminal damage to property and their corresponding criminal penalties in decreasing order of severity.

Type of Damage	Class of Crime	Penalties
Damage to another’s property of $10,000 or more	Class 4 felony	Prison sentence between 1 and 3.75 yearsFine of up to $150,000
Reckless damage to utility property of $5,000 or more	Class 4 felony
Intentional damage to utility property that causes an imminent safety hazard to any person	Class 4 felony
Reckless damage to another’s property of between $2,000 and $10,000	Class 5 felony	Prison sentence from 6 months to 2.5 yearsFine of up to $150,000
The damage promotes, furthers, or assists any criminal street gang or criminal syndicate with the intent to intimidate and The person who inflicts the damage does not recklessly inflict more than $10,000 worth of damage; and The person who inflicts the damage does not recklessly or intentionally damage utility property	Class 5 felony
Reckless damage to the property of someone else between $1,000 and $2,000	Class 6 felony	Up to one year in Jail or prison sentence between 4 months and 2 years
Reckless damage to the property of someone else between $250 and $1,000	Class 1 misdemeanor	Jail sentence up to 6 monthsFine of up to $2,500
All other kinds of criminal damage	Class 2 misdemeanor	Jail sentence up to 4 monthsFine of up to $750

What Are Possible Defenses to a Criminal Damage Charge?

Defenses against criminal damage charges in Arizona will usually seek to cast reasonable doubt in the judge’s (in misdemeanor cases) or jury’s (in felony cases) mind. They will attempt to cast doubt about how the defendant acted, also known as their state of mind, and the value of the damage to the property.

State of Mind Defenses

Criminal damage is not a matter of negligent behavior but rather must rise above negligent behavior to reckless or intentional behavior. So, if the defense can show that the defendant’s state of mind when committing the alleged act of criminal damage was not reckless or intentional, this defeats a key element that the prosecution must prove to get a conviction.

Whether A Substantial Risk or Unjustifiable Risk Existed

The risk involved in criminal damage must be more than ordinary or negligent to constitute reckless behavior. If a person acts in such a way that the risk is less than substantial, this can remove one of the elements the prosecution must prove.

Property Damage Value Defenses

Because the severity of the criminal penalties for criminal damage depends mainly on the value of the damage done to the property, the better the defense can present evidence to establish a lower value to that damage valuation, the less severe any resulting punishment will be if the prosecution wins a conviction.

Have You Been Charged With Criminal Damage in Arizona?

If you are facing Arizona criminal damage charges, the stakes are high, and you need a strong defense.

Even a misdemeanor criminal damage conviction can be costly and put you in jail for months. A felony conviction can cost you years of freedom and include staggering fines.

A misdemeanor or a felony criminal damage conviction can also stay on your criminal record for years. This can make it harder for you to get a job, obtain a loan, keep a professional license in Arizona, or felony convictions of criminal damage, exercise civil rights like possessing a firearm or being able to vote in elections.

The attorneys at AZ Defenders have over 150 years of experience in defending criminal damages trials and plea negotiations. Call today at (480) 456-6400 or contact us online to schedule a free consultation for your criminal damage case.