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Understanding Legal References

You have never been to court or been involved in a legal case before. Watch the video.

To begin, which court system are you in?

There are three levels to the Arizona state court system: The Arizona Supreme Court, the Court of Appeals, and trial courts. There are three different types of trial courts: Municipal, Justice, and Superior Courts.
Arizona Trial Courts

Municipal Courts
(also called Magistrate, City or Town Court)

  • Criminal misdemeanor cases
  • Civil traffic cases
  • Protective orders
  • Municipal ordinance violations

Justice Courts


  • Criminal misdemeanor cases
  • Civil traffic cases
  • Protective orders
  • Evictions
  • Civil cases up to $10,000
  • Small claims courts for civil cases up to $3500, where no lawyers are involved.

Superior Court


  • Criminal
  • Civil
  • Family
  • Juvenile
  • Probate
  • Tax

Federal Court


If you are not in the Arizona state court system, you may be in the Federal (or United States) court system. The Federal Court for the District of Arizona has a handbook available for self-represented litigants.

HANDBOOK

Tribal Court


If you are not in the Arizona State or Federal court systems, you may be in a tribal court.

If you are in a tribal court, you should look for that tribe’s website for further information.

Now that you have identified which court you are in, you need to prepare for court. What are these abbreviations? What is this law everyone is talking about?

This is a brief introduction to what the different types or sources of laws are and what their initials mean. This will help you to start your research.