Arizona Revised Statutes section 28-1595 makes it a class 2 misdemeanor to knowingly refuse to stop when a law enforcement officer signals you, or to refuse to show your driver license or identifying information once you’ve stopped. A conviction under ARS 28-1595 carries up to four months in jail and a base fine of up to $750, though mandatory surcharges and assessments push the real bill well past $1,300.
The Two Duties the Statute Creates
ARS 28-1595 imposes two separate obligations during a traffic stop. Violating either one is its own offense.
You must stop your vehicle when a peace officer or authorized traffic enforcement agent signals you. The signal can come by hand gesture, emergency lights, voice command, whistle, or siren.1Arizona Legislature. Arizona Revised Statutes 28-1595 – Failure to Stop or Provide Driver License or Evidence of Identity; Violation; Classification The operative word is “knowingly.” Genuinely not seeing or hearing the signal is a different situation than deliberately ignoring it.
Once stopped, you must show your driver license when asked. Arizona separately requires you to carry a legible license whenever you’re driving.2Arizona Legislature. Arizona Code 28-3169 – Possession and Display of Driver License; Defense If you don’t hold a license at all, you must instead give identifying information: full name, date of birth, home address, a brief physical description (sex, weight, height, eye and hair color), and your signature.1Arizona Legislature. Arizona Revised Statutes 28-1595 – Failure to Stop or Provide Driver License or Evidence of Identity; Violation; Classification
What a Conviction Costs
Every violation of ARS 28-1595 is a class 2 misdemeanor. The maximum sentence is four months in jail.3Arizona Legislature. Arizona Revised Statutes 13-707 – Misdemeanors; Sentencing The base fine can reach $750 for an individual, or $10,000 for a business entity.4Arizona Legislature. Arizona Revised Statutes 13-802 – Fines for Misdemeanors The court may also impose probation instead of, or in addition to, jail.
The base fine is only the starting point. Arizona stacks mandatory surcharges on every criminal fine, currently totaling 79%: a 55% general surcharge, a 13% additional surcharge, a 10% Clean Elections surcharge, and a 1% Voters’ Right to Know surcharge.5Arizona Judicial Branch. Criminal Code Sentencing Provisions 2025-2026 On a $750 base fine, that’s roughly $592 in surcharges, bringing the running total past $1,340.
Flat-dollar assessments come next. For a motor vehicle offense under Title 28, courts add a $20 probation assessment, a $13 moving-violation assessment, a $9 victim-fund assessment, a $4 victim’s-rights assessment, and a $4 police-equipment-fund assessment.5Arizona Judicial Branch. Criminal Code Sentencing Provisions 2025-2026 None of these are optional. The judge sets the base fine and the rest follows automatically.
A class 2 misdemeanor conviction also stays on your criminal record, so it appears on background checks for employment, housing, and professional licensing.
If You Simply Forgot Your License
The statute has a built-in defense for drivers who were properly licensed but left the card at home. You cannot be convicted under the identification requirement if you did two things: gave the officer the identity information the statute lists (name, date of birth, address, physical description, signature), and later produced to the court a valid driver license, or an authorized duplicate, that was active at the time of the stop.1Arizona Legislature. Arizona Revised Statutes 28-1595 – Failure to Stop or Provide Driver License or Evidence of Identity; Violation; Classification
ARS 28-3169 contains a nearly identical defense for the separate “no license in your possession” citation: bring a valid license to the court or the citing officer’s office and the charge clears.2Arizona Legislature. Arizona Code 28-3169 – Possession and Display of Driver License; Defense This works only if you actually held a valid license at the time. Expired, suspended, or never issued won’t be cured by producing the card later.
How the Statute Applies to Passengers
ARS 28-1595 reaches passengers too, but not in every situation. A passenger who refuses to give identifying information is guilty of a class 2 misdemeanor only when the officer has reasonable cause to believe that passenger committed a violation of Title 28, Arizona’s transportation code.1Arizona Legislature. Arizona Revised Statutes 28-1595 – Failure to Stop or Provide Driver License or Evidence of Identity; Violation; Classification A passenger who has done nothing wrong cannot be charged under this statute for declining to identify themselves.
Failure to Stop Is Not the Same as Fleeing
ARS 28-1595 covers knowingly failing to stop. Arizona has a separate statute, ARS 28-622.01, for willfully fleeing or attempting to elude a pursuing law enforcement vehicle, and that offense is a class 5 felony. The felony applies when the law enforcement vehicle is visibly marked as official or, if unmarked, the driver knew or admitted it was a law enforcement vehicle.6Arizona Legislature. Arizona Revised Statutes 28-622.01 – Unlawful Flight From Pursuing Law Enforcement Vehicle; Violation; Classification
The distinction matters. A class 5 felony carries potential prison time measured in years, not months. If a stop involved any kind of pursuit or high-speed driving, the charge is likely to come under 28-622.01 rather than 28-1595.