Criminal Damage in Arizona: Charge Levels, Penalties, and Restitution

Criminal damage in Arizona is prosecuted under A.R.S. 13-1602, and the charge ranges from a Class 2 misdemeanor for damage of $250 or less to a Class 4 felony when the damage reaches $10,000 or more. Prison exposure on the top end runs up to three years and nine months, and the court must order restitution for the victim’s full loss on top of any sentence. If the property belonged to a spouse, partner, household member, or close relative, the charge also carries a domestic violence designation, which brings its own set of consequences separate from the sentence.

What the Statute Covers

The offense reaches six kinds of conduct: defacing or damaging another person’s property, tampering with property so it loses value or stops working, damaging utility property, blocking livestock from their only reasonably available water, graffiti on a building or surface without the owner’s permission, and intentional tampering with utility property.¹

Five of those six require recklessness. That means you were aware of a substantial risk your actions would damage property and chose to ignore it.² Genuine accidents fall outside the statute. Only intentional utility tampering requires a higher mental state than recklessness.

How the Dollar Amount Sets the Charge

The repair or replacement cost of the property controls the classification. For graffiti, the calculation includes labor, materials, and any equipment needed to clean up or repair the surface.¹

Damage of $250 or less: Class 2 misdemeanor.
More than $250 but less than $1,000: Class 1 misdemeanor.
$1,000 to less than $2,000: Class 6 felony.
$2,000 to less than $10,000: Class 5 felony.
$10,000 or more: Class 4 felony.

Two situations jump straight to a Class 4 felony regardless of the general thresholds. Damaging utility property in an amount of $5,000 or more is automatically a Class 4, and intentionally tampering with utility property in a way that creates an immediate safety hazard is also a Class 4.¹

Jail, Prison, and Fines

A Class 2 misdemeanor conviction carries up to four months in jail and a fine of up to $750.³⁴ A Class 1 misdemeanor raises the ceiling to six months in jail and a $2,500 fine. These are maximums. First-time offenders with minor damage often receive probation, community service, or a fine rather than jail.

Felony convictions bring prison exposure, and Arizona uses a range for each class with mitigated, presumptive, and aggravated terms. For a first-time, non-dangerous offense, the ranges run:⁵

Class 6 felony: four months to two years, presumptive one year.
Class 5 felony: six months to two and a half years, presumptive one and a half years.
Class 4 felony: one year to three years and nine months, presumptive two and a half years.

Every felony class carries a maximum fine of $150,000 plus surcharges.⁶ Prior felony convictions push the ranges substantially higher; the figures above apply only when the defendant has no prior felony record.

Probation is available for criminal damage felonies. When the court grants probation, it must order restitution and will impose a supervision fee of at least $65 per month.⁷ The court may also require jail as a probation condition, capped at one year.

Mandatory Restitution

Any conviction that causes economic loss triggers mandatory restitution. The statute says the court “shall require” the defendant to pay the victim’s full economic loss as the court determines it.⁸ This runs on top of fines, surcharges, and any time served.

Restitution covers the actual cost to repair or replace the property. A restitution order survives a federal bankruptcy filing, because the statute classifies it as a criminal penalty rather than a dischargeable debt.⁸ It also affects civil rights: under Arizona’s automatic restoration statute for first-time felony offenders, rights are not restored until the full restitution amount has been paid.⁹

The Class 6 Felony Option That Can Become a Misdemeanor

A Class 6 felony sits in a special position. If the court finds that a felony conviction would be unduly harsh given the circumstances and the defendant’s record, it can enter judgment as a Class 1 misdemeanor instead. The court can also place the defendant on probation and leave the offense “undesignated,” treating it as a misdemeanor during probation but preserving the option to designate it a felony if probation is revoked.¹⁰

Successful completion of probation leads to designation as a misdemeanor, which spares the defendant the collateral fallout of a felony record. This option is not available to anyone with two or more prior felony convictions.¹⁰ Prosecutors sometimes resolve a Class 6 as a misdemeanor from the start in plea negotiations, particularly when the damage barely crosses the $1,000 line and the defendant has no history.

When It’s Charged as Domestic Violence

Criminal damage carries a domestic violence designation whenever the property belongs to someone with a qualifying relationship to the defendant.¹¹ Smashing a partner’s phone during an argument or punching a hole in a shared wall are the common examples.

Qualifying relationships include current or former spouses, people who live or have lived together, people who share a child, blood relatives and in-laws, and current or former romantic or sexual partners.

The designation does not change the underlying classification or the maximum sentence. What it adds is a separate layer of consequences: a protective order, a federal firearms prohibition under the Lautenberg Amendment, immigration consequences for non-citizens, and mandatory domestic violence treatment. Charging documents must be marked “DV,” and the charge cannot be dismissed just because that marking was missing.¹¹

Life After a Felony Conviction

A felony conviction suspends civil rights, including voting and firearm possession. For first-time felony offenders, those rights are automatically restored on completion of probation or discharge from prison, provided all victim restitution has been paid.⁹ Most criminal damage offenses are non-dangerous, so firearm rights usually restore automatically with the rest for a first-time offender.

The felony record itself creates practical problems no statute addresses: failed background checks, housing applications denied, professional licensing hurdles, and lost eligibility for some government programs. That is why the Class 6 designation pathway is often the single most valuable outcome in a borderline felony case.

Defenses That Work

Lack of recklessness is the most direct defense. Because the statute requires conscious awareness of and disregard for a substantial risk, a defendant who genuinely did not perceive the risk has a real argument.² Ordinary carelessness is not enough to convict.

Owner consent eliminates the offense. If the owner authorized the alteration, painting, or demolition, there is no crime. This often matters in disputes between landlords and tenants, business partners, or family members.

Challenging the damage valuation is a routine strategy near class boundaries. The gap between $950 and $1,050 in repair costs is the gap between a misdemeanor and a felony, and defense attorneys regularly bring in independent appraisers or push back on inflated estimates from victims or insurers.

Necessity applies in narrow situations, such as breaking a car window to rescue a child or animal in extreme heat. The threat must be immediate, there must be no realistic alternative, and the harm caused must be less than the harm avoided.

If a Minor Caused the Damage

When a minor commits criminal damage, Arizona holds the parents or legal guardians jointly and severally liable in civil court for actual damages caused by the child’s malicious or willful misconduct. The statutory cap is $10,000 per incident.¹²

That cap applies only to the automatic vicarious liability that attaches because the minor is your child. If the parent was independently negligent, such as knowing a child had a pattern of destructive behavior and failing to intervene, a separate negligence claim is not capped. The victim can also sue the minor directly, where no cap applies, though collecting from a minor is usually impractical.

1
Arizona Legislature. Arizona Code 13-1602 – Criminal Damage; Classification
2
Arizona Legislature. Arizona Code 13-105 – Definitions
3
Arizona Legislature. Arizona Code 13-707 – Misdemeanors; Sentencing
4
Arizona Legislature. Arizona Code 13-802 – Fines for Misdemeanors
5
Arizona Legislature. Arizona Code 13-702 – First Time Felony Offenders; Sentencing; Definition
6
Arizona Legislature. Arizona Code 13-801 – Fines for Felonies
7
Arizona Legislature. Arizona Code 13-901 – Probation
8
Arizona Legislature. Arizona Code 13-603 – Restitution for Offense Causing Economic Loss
9
Arizona Legislature. Arizona Code 13-907 – Automatic Restoration of Civil Rights for First Offenders
10
Arizona Legislature. Arizona Code 13-604 – Class 6 Felony; Designation
11
Arizona Legislature. Arizona Code 13-3601 – Domestic Violence; Definition; Classification; Sentencing
12
Arizona Legislature. Arizona Code 12-661 – Liability of Parents or Guardians