malicious delay; enforcement; penalty, the official text

House Engrossed
Senate Bill

malicious delay;
enforcement; penalty

State of Arizona

Senate

Fifty-seventh Legislature

Second Regular Session

2026

SENATE BILL 1566

AN
ACT

Amending title 9, chapter 4, article 8, Arizona
Revised Statutes, by adding section 9-500.54; amending title 11, chapter 2,
article 4, Arizona Revised Statutes, by adding section 11-269.31; amending
title 12, chapter 8, article 2.1, Arizona Revised Statutes, BY ADDING SECTION
12-1139; relating to residential construction.

(TEXT OF BILL BEGINS ON NEXT PAGE)

Be it
enacted by the Legislature of the State of Arizona:

Section 1. Title 9, chapter 4, article 8,
Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended by adding section 9-500.54, to read:

START_STATUTE9-500.54. Malicious delay; attorney general; violation; civil penalty;
definitions

A. NOTWITHSTANDING
any other law, A city or town in this state may not maliciously delay adopted licensing time frames pursuant to section 9-835 for
single-family residential construction or a response to an application
for single-family residential construction.

B. The attorney general, based on a written complaint by a property owner with an application
before a city or town, may enforce this section.

C. FOLLOWING AN
INVESTIGATION AND FINDINGS BY the ATTORNEY GENERAL, A city or town in this
state that is found to have violated this section BY CLEAR AND CONVINCING EVIDENCE is subject to a civil penalty of
$5,000 per violation REGARDLESS OF THE DURATION OF THE
DELAY.

D. This section does not modify the
authority of a building code official to withhold a certificate of occupancy in
accordance with a city's or town's adopted codes and ordinances.

E. If the attorney general finds that
a city or town violated this section, the city or town may bring an action in a
court with appropriate jurisdiction to challenge the finding of a malicious
delay.

F. For the purposes of this section:

1. "Application" means a
site plan, development plan, land division, lot line adjustment, lot tie,
preliminary plat, final plat, plat amendment or building permit for single-family
residential construction.

2. "Malicious":

(a) Means
acting with specific intent to obstruct approval of an
application by imposing requirements not specifically authorized by code,
ordinance, standard or other legal requirements, repeated unexplained delays of
more than twice the city's or town's adopted licensing time frame pursuant to
section 9-835 for single-family residential construction or delays
resulting from other pending applications by the same applicant.

(b) Does not
include Any delays due to resource constraints, delays
caused by the applicant or a third party, good faith errors or enforcement of ADOPTED TECHNICAL CODES, INCLUDING FIRE, BUILDING, TRANSPORTATION AND
TRAFFIC, UTILITIES FACILITIES AND PUBLIC NUISANCE CODES, ordinances or
standards. END_STATUTE

Sec. 2. Title 11, chapter 2, article 4, Arizona
Revised Statutes, is amended by adding section 11-269.31, to read:

11-269.31. Malicious
delay; attorney general; violation; civil penalty; definitions

A. NOTWITHSTANDING any
other law, A county in this state may not maliciously delay adopted licensing
time frames for single-family residential construction or a response to
an application for single-family residential construction.

B. The attorney general, based on a
written complaint by a property owner with an application before a county, may enforce this
section.

C. Following an
investigation and findings by the attorney general, a county in this
state that is
found to have violated this section by clear and convincing evidence is subject to a
civil penalty of $5,000 per violation regardless of the duration of the
delay.

D. This section does
not modify the authority of a building code official to withhold a certificate
of occupancy in accordance with a county's adopted codes and ordinances.

E. If the attorney general finds that
a county violated this section, the county may bring an action in a court with
appropriate jurisdiction to challenge the finding of a malicious delay.

F. For the purposes of
this section:

1. "APPLICATION"
means a site plan, development plan, land division, lot line adjustment, lot
tile, preliminary plat, final plat, plat amendment or building permit for
single-family residential construction.

2. "Malicious":

(a) Means acting with
specific intent to obstruct approval of an application by imposing
requirements not specifically authorized by code, ordinance or standard or other legal
requirements, repeated unexplained delays of more than twice the county's
adopted licensing time frame for single-family residential CONSTRUCTION
or delays resulting from other pending applications by the same applicant.

(b) Does not include Any
delays due to resource constraints, delays caused by the applicant or
a third party, good
faith errors or enforcement of adopted technical codes, including fire,
building, transportation and traffic, utilities facilities and public nuisance
codes, ordinances
or standards. END_STATUTE

Sec. 3. Title 12, chapter 8, article 2.1,
Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended by adding section 12-1139, to read:

START_STATUTE12-1139. Property right claims; malicious delay; land use claims;
expedited review; definitions

A. A plaintiff that files a complaint
in superior court that asserts a malicious delay claim pursuant to sections 9-500.54 or 11-269.31 for a
single-family residential application is entitled to expedited judicial review
of the claim.

B. Within ten calendar days after the
service of the complaint, the court shall set an initial case management conference with the parties to
establish an expedited schedule for discovery, briefing and hearings.

C. Unless otherwise ordered for good
cause, all fact discovery in the action shall be completed as expeditiously as
possible after the initial case conference.

D. The court shall consider and rule
on all motions for summary judgment or other dispositive motions as soon as
practicable.

E. The court shall set a trial or
final hearing date as soon as practicable after the case management conference,
absent a finding of good cause.

F. An appeal to the court of appeals
from a superior court judgment in an action described in subsection A of this
section is entitled to a scheduling preference on the appellate docket, and the
court of appeals shall expedite briefing schedules and oral argument consistent
with the interests of justice unless the court finds for good cause that
expedited review is not feasible.

G. A party may petition for special
action relief in the court of appeals or supreme court and such actions shall
receive expedited processing.

H. For the purposes of this section:

1. "Application" means any
of the following for single-family residential development:

(a) A site
plan.

(b) A
development plan.

(c) A Land
division.

(d) A lot line
adjustment.

(e) A lot tie.

(f) A
preliminary or final plat.

(g) A plat
amendment.

(h) A building
permit.

Sec. 4. Legislative
findings

The legislature finds and declares
that the purpose of section 12-1139, Arizona Revised Statutes, as added
by this act, is to ensure that actions in which a plaintiff asserts a malicious delay property claim pursuant to section 9-500.54
or 11-269.31, Arizona Revised Statutes, as added by this act for a
single-family residential application is resolved in a timely and efficient
manner to prevent undue harm resulting from prolonged uncertainty.