Arizona Felony Classes: What Class 2 Through Class 6 Actually Mean

The six classes, first offense

For a first felony that is not charged as dangerous, Arizona sentencing works from a presumptive prison term the judge can raise or lower within a range — and for most of these, probation is available instead of prison:

• Class 1 — murder; its own sentencing scheme (life or death for first-degree murder)
• Class 2 — presumptive 5 years (examples: armed robbery, large-scale drug sales)
• Class 3 — presumptive 3.5 years (examples: aggravated assault with a weapon, burglary of a home)
• Class 4 — presumptive 2.5 years (examples: possession of narcotic drugs, theft $3,000–$4,000, forgery)
• Class 5 — presumptive 1.5 years (examples: certain aggravated domestic violence, stalking)
• Class 6 — presumptive 1 year; the lowest class (examples: theft $1,000–$2,000, possession of drug paraphernalia charged as a felony)

The class 6 "wobbler"

A class 6 felony occupies the border with misdemeanor territory: courts can designate many class 6 offenses as class 1 misdemeanors — at sentencing, or later after successful probation — and prosecutors can charge them as misdemeanors outright. On a first offense, converting a class 6 felony to a misdemeanor is often the single most valuable outcome on the table, because it changes what every future background check shows.

What moves the ranges

Three things dominate: a "dangerous" allegation (a deadly weapon or serious injury) removes probation and imposes mandatory prison with higher ranges — the mechanics are covered in the aggravated assault guide; prior felony convictions raise every number substantially under the repetitive-offender statutes; and aggravating or mitigating factors move the sentence within the range. The class the case starts at is not the class it must end at — charge reduction is where much of the defense value lives.

Whatever the class, the sequence is the same — and it starts within days of arrest. See the arrest process guide and the criminal defense page.