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Arizona Primary Legal Materials

INTRODUCTION

In Arizona, only cases from the Court of Appeals and Arizona Supreme Court are published. Trial decisions are not published.  Case opinions are first published as slip opinions, which are then collected and published chronologically in Reporters.

SLIP OPINIONS

Slip Opinions

  • Individual opinions of the Arizona Supreme Court and Courts of Appeal. 
  • Slip opinions are issued first after the case is decided.  Eventually these are compiled into a case reporter, which formally publishes the opinions.
  • Free Web Resources:

ARIZONA ADVANCE REPORTS

Arizona Advance Reports: Print, 1988 -

  • Contains Arizona Supreme Court and Courts of Appeal decisions.
  • Issued bi-weekly with semi-annual case and subject indexes.
  • Each issue contains cumulative case name list since last index with table of parallel cites to Arizona Reports and Pacific Reporter. 
  • The Court Listener offers Arizona Advance Reports online (1988-2017): https://www.courtlistener.com/c/ariz-adv-rep/ 

STATE COURT DECISIONS

Some history - Arizona case reporters:

Arizona did not have an intermediate court of appeals until 1965. Between 1965 and 1976, Arizona Court of Appeals cases were published separately as the Arizona Appeals Reports. Beginning in 1977, all Arizona Court of Appeals cases were incorporated with Arizona Supreme Court cases in one volume.

Print Resources:

  •  Arizona Reports (Official)
    • Report of cases argued and determined in the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeals of the State of Arizona: West, 1977- (v.114- )
      • Contains Supreme Court decisions and Courts of Appeal decisions (from 1977).
      • Individual cases indexed by name in Arizona Digest, and by words-subjects that are linked to West's topic/key number system in the digest volumes. 
  • Arizona Supreme Court Decisions 
    • Report of cases argued and determined in the Supreme Court of the State of Arizona: Bancroft & West, 1911-1945; 1946-1976.
  • Arizona Supreme Court Territorial Decisions
    • Report of cases argued and determined in the Supreme Court of the Territory of Arizona: San Francisco, California: Bancroft, 1866-1911 (v.1-13),
      • Contains Supreme Court decisions from Territorial days (beginning in 1866) until Statehood. 

Subscription Resources:

  • Free Web Resources:

  • Arizona Appeals Reports: (Official) West Publishing, 1965-1976 (v.1-27)
    • Contains Courts of Appeal decisions from creation of two appellate court divisions in 1964 through 1976.
    • Subsequent decisions published in Arizona Reports.
    • Indexed by Arizona Digest. 

Subscription Resources:

Free Web Resources: