Ariz. Rev. Stat. » Title 13
Arizona Revised Statutes

Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 13-1603 (2026)

Criminal littering or polluting; classification

✓ current as of May 2026
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A. A person commits criminal littering or polluting if the person without lawful authority does any of the following:

1. Throws, places, drops or permits to be dropped on public property or property of another that is not a lawful dump any litter, destructive or injurious material that the person does not immediately remove.

2. Discharges or permits to be discharged any sewage, oil products or other harmful substances into any waters or onto any shorelines within this state.

3. Dumps any earth, soil, stones, ores or minerals on any land.

B. Criminal littering or polluting is punishable as follows:

1. A class 6 felony if the act is a knowing violation of subsection A in which the amount of litter or other prohibited material or substance exceeds three hundred pounds in weight or one hundred cubic feet in volume or is done in any quantity for a commercial purpose.

2. A class 1 misdemeanor if the act is a knowing violation of subsection A, paragraph 1 in which the amount of litter or prohibited material or substance is more than one hundred pounds in weight but less than three hundred pounds in weight or more than thirty-five cubic feet in volume but less than one hundred cubic feet in volume and is not done for a commercial purpose.

3. A class 1 misdemeanor if the act is not punishable under paragraph 1 of this subsection and involves placing any destructive or injurious material on or within fifty feet of a highway, beach or shoreline of any body of water used by the public.

4. A class 2 misdemeanor if the act is not punishable under paragraph 1, 2 or 3 of this subsection.

C. If a fine is assessed for a violation of subsection A, paragraph 1 or 2, one hundred per cent of any assessed fine shall be deposited in the general fund of the county in which the fine was assessed. At least fifty per cent of the fine shall be used by the county for the purposes of illegal dumping cleanup.

 

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 4 cases (1 in the last 5 years), 1982–2023 · leading case: Empress Adult Video & Bookstore v. City of Tucson, 59 P.3d 814 (Ariz. Ct. App. 2002).
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Empress Adult Video & Bookstore v. City of Tucson, 59 P.3d 814 (Ariz. Ct. App. 2002). · cites it 4× “2d at 174 ; see also A.R.S. § 13-1603 (prohibiting littering).”
State v. Lycett, 650 P.2d 487 (Ariz. Ct. App. 1982). · cites it 2× “*193 § 13-1105 on felony-murder and new A.R.S. § 13-1603 prohibiting littering. R.”
Dodakian v. Butters (D. Ariz. 2023). “10 19-026375-1, with disorderly conduct in violation of Arizona Revised Statutes § 13- 11 2904(A)(1), criminal littering in violation of § 13-1603(A)(1), and criminal trespass in 12 violation of § 13-1502(A)(1).”
Empress Adult Video v. City of Tucson (Ariz. Ct. App. 2002). “§ 13-1603 (prohibiting littering). ¶21 The record befor e us thus demonstrates that the closing-hours requirement of § 13- 1422 provides a convenient, but not the least restrictive means, of curbing the negative effects of adult speech.”
Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 13-1603(A)(1): 1 case
Dodakian v. Butters (D. Ariz. 2023). “10 19-026375-1, with disorderly conduct in violation of Arizona Revised Statutes § 13- 11 2904(A)(1), criminal littering in violation of § 13-1603(A)(1), and criminal trespass in 12 violation of § 13-1502(A)(1).”
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.