July 2012
A publication supporting the rights, safety and freedom of all motorcyclists through education and legislation
VOLUME XXI, ISSUE III
Nonprofit Org US Postage Paid Permit #1662 Phoenix, AZ
RESTORING YOUR RIGHTS
Matt Brown State Treasurer and Legal Consultant
abateofaz.org
ABATE of AZ. 7509 N. 12th St, #200 Phoenix, AZ 85020
In Arizona, a conviction for any type of felony suspends a variety of civil rights. Many people do not realize that, in addition to any other punishment they are receiving when they plead guilty, they are also losing the right to vote, the right to hold a public office of trust or profit, the right to serve as a juror, and the right to possess a gun or firearm. The process for restoring those rights depends on a variety of factors.
If you have not previously been convicted of any other felony, every civil right except for the right to possess weapons is automatically restored as soon as you 1) pay any remaining fines or restitution and 2) complete your term of probation or receive an absolute discharge from prison. You do not have to do anything to get most of your rights back. Your right to possess weapons is different, however, and even if you are a first-time offender, you must apply to the court to restore that particular right. If you were placed on probation, you can do that at the end of your term of probation, but if you went to prison, you have to wait two years from your absolute discharge from prison.
The situation is the same with regard to getting your non-firearm rights back after your second felony conviction. You must apply for restoration of those rights, and you cannot do
so until the end of your term of probation or until two years after your absolute discharge from prison. To get your right to possess firearms back after a second or subsequent conviction, you have to wait until two years after you have completed your term of probation or received an absolute discharge from prison.
If you were convicted of a “dangerous offense,” which is defined as any offense “involving the discharge, use or threatening exhibition of a deadly weapon or dangerous instrument or the intentional or knowing infliction of serious physical injury on another person,” you can never file for the restoration of your right to possess or carry a gun or firearm. If you were convicted of a “serious offense,” which includes a wide variety of different offenses currently listed in A.R.S. 13706(F)(1), you have to wait ten years before you can apply. With those two types of offenses, it does not matter whether it is your first or second conviction. You are either permanently barred from possessing weapons or must wait ten years, depending on your charge.
Not everyone convicted of a felony was convicted in Arizona, of course, and that can make a difference as well. If your civil rights were lost because of a federal felony conviction, you can apply for restoration of civil rights to the presiding judge of the Arizona Superior Court where you reside in basically the same manner as you would for a second or subse-
quent Arizona felony offense. Unfortunately, there is no way for you to restore your right to possess a gun or firearm if you lost it because of a federal felony conviction. The same is true if you lost your federal firearm rights due to a qualifying misdemeanor domestic violence conviction in state or federal court. Believe it or not, you can forever lose your federal firearm rights for certain types of state misdemeanor convictions even though most state felonies carry no such penalty. Furthermore, there are no provisions in Arizona law to restore any of your rights lost as a result of a felony conviction in another state.
Finally, there is one other step to help undo the damage of a criminal conviction that many people do not realize is available to them. In Arizona, there is not really such a thing as “expunging,” but the law does allow for a person to ask the court to “set aside” a conviction. If you are successful, that means the judge will issue an order saying the judgment of guilt is set aside in your case and that the court is dismissing the accusations or information and ordering that you be released from all penalties and disabilities resulting from the conviction except for certain MVD and game and fish commission implications.
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