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ARIZONA STATE SENATE
Fifty-Seventh Legislature, Second Regular Session
in-state custodial interference; penalty
Purpose
Effective January 1, 2027, establishes the criminal classification of in-state custodial interference.
Background
A person commits
custodial interference if the person, knowing or having reason to know
that the person has no legal right to do so: 1) takes, entices or keeps from
lawful custody any child, or any person who is incompetent, and who is
entrusted by authority of law to the custody of another person or institution;
2) takes, entices or withholds any child from the other parent denying that
parent access to any child before the entry of a court order determining
custodial rights;
3) takes, entices or withholds from physical custody the
child from the other custodian if the person is one of two persons who have
joint legal custody of a child; or 4) intentionally fails or refuses to return
or impedes the return of a child to the lawful custodian at the expiration of
access right outside of Arizona. It is a defense to a custodial interference
prosecution that the defendant is the child's parent and has right of
custody, has begun the process to obtain an order of protection and is either
the victim of domestic violence or has reason to believe that taking the child
is necessary to protect the child from immediate danger.
Violations of custodial interference are classified as: 1) a class 3 felony if committed by a person other than the parent or agent of the parent or custodian; 2) a class 4 felony if the child or incompetent person is taken, enticed or kept from lawful custody out of Arizona by the parent or agent of the parent or custodian; 3) a class 6 felony if committed by a parent or agent of the parent or custodian; or 4) a class 1 misdemeanor if the child or incompetent person is voluntarily returned without physical injury by the parent or defendant or the agent of the parent or defendant no later than 48 hours after the parent or defendant takes, entices or keeps from lawful custody the child or incompetent person (A.R.S. § 13-1302).
There is no anticipated fiscal impact to the state General Fund associated with this legislation.
Provisions
1. Establishes the criminal classification of in-state custodial interference, which a person commits by taking, enticing or keeping a child from the lawful custody of a parent, legal guardian or lawful custodian, while knowing or having reason to know that the person has no legal right to do so with intent to interfere with a lawful custody order.
2. Subjects a person who commits a first violation of in-state custodial interference, or a second violation committed within 10 years of the first violation, to a civil penalty of $500.
3. Classifies a third or subsequent violation of in-state custodial interference as a class 6 felony.
4. Becomes effective on January 1, 2027.
Prepared by Senate Research
February 16, 2026
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