What Arizona Constables Do: Powers, Evictions, and Limits

Arizona constables are elected peace officers assigned to a justice court precinct, and what Arizona constables do is enforce the orders that come out of that court: they carry out evictions, seize and sell property to satisfy judgments, serve summonses and protective orders, and provide security in the courtroom. Their authority comes from A.R.S. § 22-131, which gives them peace officer powers while performing official duties and ties their work to the justice court system rather than the superior court.

The Core Duties

A constable’s job is built around the justice court in their precinct. They attend court sessions when the justice of the peace needs them, and they handle the physical work of delivering and enforcing court orders anywhere in the county. That includes serving summonses, subpoenas, warrants, and other legal documents issued by a justice of the peace or another authority with jurisdiction in the county.¹

The higher-stakes work falls into a handful of categories:

Executing writs of possession or restitution, which physically remove tenants after an eviction judgment.
Serving orders of protection and orders prohibiting harassment.
Levying writs of execution by seizing a debtor’s property to satisfy a court judgment.
Conducting public sales of seized property, similar to sheriff’s sales.
Providing security at justice court proceedings.

Constables function as the enforcement arm of the justice courts in much the way sheriffs serve the superior courts. If a constable refuses or neglects these duties, the presiding judge of the superior court can enforce compliance, including through contempt.²¹

How an Eviction Unfolds

Evictions are where most people first meet a constable. After a landlord wins an eviction judgment, the court issues a writ of restitution, but not immediately. The writ cannot issue until five calendar days after the judgment is entered. Once issued, the constable must enforce it as quickly as possible. A tenant’s motion to set aside the judgment does not pause enforcement unless a judge specifically finds good cause to hold off.³

The constable then serves the writ by directing the residents to leave. In most cases tenants get five days to vacate. When the court has found a material and irreparable breach of the lease, that window shrinks to as little as twelve to twenty-four hours.⁴

Property Seizures and Constable Sales

Debt collection through the justice court works a little differently. When a creditor holds a judgment and the debtor hasn’t paid, the court issues a writ of execution. A general writ lets the constable seize any non-exempt personal property belonging to the debtor and sell it at a public sale, with the proceeds applied to the judgment balance. A special writ targets a specific item. If the personal property sale doesn’t cover the debt, the constable can move to levy the debtor’s real property as well.

Fees for these services are set by statute, not negotiated, and are the same rates sheriffs charge for equivalent work. Mileage is calculated from the justice of the peace’s office rather than the sheriff’s office.⁵

Where a Constable’s Authority Reaches

A constable’s peace officer authority is not portable. It applies only while the constable is performing official duties. Off duty, that authority vanishes; a constable at a grocery store on a Saturday does not carry the same legal power as a sheriff’s deputy in the same situation.¹

Geographically, a constable’s primary jurisdiction is the entire county where they were elected or appointed, not just their home precinct. Within that county they can serve any process, warrant, or notice directed to them by a justice of the peace or other competent authority. Their reach also extends a short distance beyond the county line: a constable can serve papers in a precinct in a neighboring county, but only if that precinct directly borders their own precinct. A constable in an eastern Maricopa County precinct could serve papers in a bordering Pinal County precinct, but couldn’t drive to the far side of Pinal County to do it.¹

Where sheriff statutes apply, they also govern a constable’s powers, duties, and liabilities. Constables inherit the same legal framework sheriffs work under for executing writs, handling seized property, and running sales, but the scope is narrower because it is anchored to the justice court.¹

What Constables Can’t Do

Arizona law draws a hard line between a constable’s public duties and private business interests. A constable cannot work as a private process server outside the official role. The prohibition is statutory, not advisory.¹

It also reaches beyond moonlighting. A constable cannot own any interest in a company that operates a private process serving business. Even a passive financial stake is forbidden. The reasoning is straightforward: a constable who profits from a process serving company has a built-in incentive to steer business toward it, which compromises the impartiality the public expects from someone executing court orders.¹

Constables Versus Sheriffs

The two offices are easy to mix up because they share much of the same legal authority and perform many of the same functions. The dividing line is which court they serve. Constables serve the justice courts, which handle civil disputes under a certain dollar amount, misdemeanors, and small claims. Sheriffs serve the superior courts, which handle felonies, larger civil cases, and family law. The offices are not organizationally related, though they sometimes assist each other.²

Constables also work a smaller geographic footprint. A sheriff’s office covers an entire county; a constable is elected out of a single precinct and generally works the cases coming out of that precinct’s justice court, even though their statutory authority extends countywide and into adjacent precincts across county lines.

Filing a Complaint About a Constable

The Constable Ethics Standards and Training Board (CESTB) handles complaints about constable conduct. Any person can file a written complaint, and the board is required to investigate. It conducts confidential investigations and holds hearings, with power to subpoena witnesses, compel constables to testify, and demand production of documents and records.⁶

When the board finds misconduct, its remedies escalate from mediation, warnings, reprimands, and admonishments, through mandatory corrective action or educational courses, to urging resignation. It can place a constable on probation for up to thirty days initially, extendable in thirty-day increments up to one hundred eighty days if the constable is making progress but not yet compliant. For a constable already on probation, the board can recommend to the county board of supervisors that the constable be suspended without pay for any period up to the remainder of the term. The board of supervisors can accept or modify that recommendation, and its decision is final unless the constable seeks judicial review.⁶

If at any point the board determines that a constable’s conduct rises to the level of a criminal act, it must refer the matter to the county attorney. If the county attorney declines to prosecute, the complaint returns to the ethics board for resolution through the disciplinary process.⁶

1
Arizona Legislature. Arizona Code 22-131 – Constables; Powers and Duties; Prohibited Acts
2
Constable Ethics, Standards and Training Board. What Do Constables Do?
3
Arizona Legislature. Arizona Code 12-1178 – Judgment; Writ of Restitution; Limitation on Issuance
4
AZ Court Help. After a Judgment in an Eviction Case
5
Arizona Legislature. Arizona Code 11-445 – Fees Chargeable in Civil Actions by Sheriffs and Constables
6
Arizona Legislature. Arizona Code 22-137 – Constable Ethics Standards and Training Board; Powers and Duties; Judicial Review; Constable Training; Definition