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Let’s go back to pre-1900 Williams. At that time, Arizona was not yet a state. We had a court in place here before statehood, and the cases which came through the court were interesting, to say the least. This era in Williams, as has been documented well by local historian Jim Harvey, was like many of our western towns during that time. We were known for our railroad, cattle, opium dens, houses of prostitution, and we were really known for our large number of bars per capita.

Often, people would take the Wild West literally and would run afoul of the law, ending up in front of the court in Williams. A couple of examples of the actual court docket entries are as follows:

“Thomas Howard was found guilty of being an idle and dissolute person with no means of support who then and there did go about begging. He was found guilty and sentenced to a $60 fine or 60 days in jail. He had no money, couldn’t rent a lawyer and went to jail.

“George Stevens pleaded guilty to a charge of using vile and obscene language in the presence of a woman and a child. He couldn’t pay the $150 fine or afford a lawyer, and went to jail for 150 days.”

A few years after the above cases, to be precise in 1910, the Constitution Convention completed the Arizona Constitution, and Article VI created the Arizona Judicial System, still before statehood. Then in 1912, President Taft declared statehood for Arizona. That same year, the Arizona Legislature established the Superior, Juvenile and Justice of the Peace Courts in our new state. A year later in 1913, the legislature established police, or municipal courts for each incorporated town or city. Finally, in 1965, the Court of Appeals was established by the legislature, after being approved by a vote of the people two years earlier.

Today, we have three tiers of our court system in Arizona. They are the limited jurisdiction courts, which includes our justice of the peace and municipal courts. Our courts in Williams are both limited jurisdiction courts.

Above that, we have our general jurisdiction courts. These are called our Superior Courts. In Coconino County, our Superior Court is located in Flagstaff.

Then, we have our appellate courts. The Arizona Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court of the State of Arizona are our appellate courts. Both the general and appellate courts are required to keep a permanent record of the proceedings, while our limited jurisdiction courts do not.

Our Justices of the Peace are elected officials, with four-year terms. The qualifications for being a Justice of the Peace are as follows: The individual must be 18 years old, an Arizona resident, a qualified voter in the precinct, able to read and write English and may be an attorney, although it isn’t required.

As can be seen, the qualifications are not tough, but keep in mind that few of our elected positions in our country have stringent qualifications. The theory is that the voters from an area should determine who is qualified and who is not. Our lawmakers do not need to be attorneys. Our governor does not need to be an attorney. Our president does not need be an attorney.

In Arizona, there are a handful of our 84 justices of the peace who are attorneys; by far and away, most are not. Last year, when I was president of the National Judges Association, my latest figures showed that nationwide, 39 states have non-attorney judges.

Municipal Court judges are appointed by city council’s, with the exception of Yuma, which has an elected municipal court judge. Most of the municipal court judges have two-year terms. City ordinances determine the qualifications of these judges. Most of our rural municipal courts do not have an attorney qualification, while most of the judges in Phoenix and Tucson are attorneys. Keep in mind that many of the Municipal Court judges in the state are also justices of the peace, the way it is in Williams.

Superior Court judges, Court of Appeals judges, and Supreme Court justices all need to be attorneys; and Superior Court judges are elected by the people.

Jurisdictionally, justice courts handle misdemeanor cases in their physical jurisdiction, and concurrent within the city limits with municipal courts. Justice courts handle felonies through the preliminary hearing stage. Civil jurisdiction of justice courts is $5,000 or less, exclusively, and over $5,000 and $10,000 or less, concurrent with Superior Court (These cases can be filed in either court).

In actions of forcible entry and detainer (landlord-tenant), justice courts have concurrent jurisdiction with Superior Court of $10,000 or less. Justice courts handle small claims in matters that do not exceed $2,500, although these cases can also be handled as a normal civil filing, not in the small claims jurisdiction. Injustice courts, search warrants are also handled as well as orders of protection and injunctions prohibiting harassment.

Municipal courts have jurisdiction similar to justice of the peace courts, but they have no jurisdiction in civil cases, felonies, small claims or landlord tenant.

Certain types of cases are eligible to have a jury trial in Arizona. They are cases like DUI, shoplifting, false reporting, driving on a suspended license for DUI and sexual offenses such as prostitution.

One of the most common misconceptions of the court system is that law enforcement officers work for or with the courts. People will say things like, “Your officer stopped me.”

It must be remembered that law enforcement is part of the Executive Branch of our government, while courts are part of the Judicial Branch. Completing the triad of our government is the Legislative Branch. At times, all branches work together, but there is a healthy tension, which must exist between the branches, called “Separation of Powers.”

Any court case but small claims can be appealed to a higher court. If there is an appeal filed out of the court in Williams, the case goes to the Superior Court in Flagstaff. On appeal, the lower court’s decision can either be upheld or overturned. Then, either way, the case can be remanded to the lower court for further action.

By far and away, most people who go to court, go to court at the limited jurisdiction, or lower court level. And at that level, most of the contact litigants have with the court is through court staff, not the judges. Court staff is vital to the perception of justice by the public. If the public perceives the system as being unhelpful or staff members as rude, the perception of justice will not be present. In the court in Williams, we are blessed with outstanding staff with a combined half a century of experience.

One thing, which needs to be pointed out, is that staff, as well as judges, are not allowed by law to give legal advice. Sometimes, public perception is clouded because of this unwillingness on the part of staff to give legal advice — they simply can’t. There are two sides to every story and two sides to every case, and staff cannot assist a litigant with their case. It wouldn’t be fair to the other side.

Finally, to end it on a light note, I would like to share with you two actual trial transcripts.

Question: Did you ever stay all night with this man in New York?

Answer: I refuse to answer that question.

Question: Did you ever stay all night with him in Chicago?

Answer: I refuse to answer.

Question: Did you ever stay with him all night in Miami?

Answer: No.

And finally, from another case.

Question: (Showing a photograph) That’s you?

Answer: Yes, Sir.

Question: And were you present when this picture was taken?

(Judge Bill Sutton sits on the bench in as Williams Municipal Court and also serves as Williams Justice of the Peace.)


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