§ 4.3.1 APPLICABLE PROCEEDINGS

• Jurisdiction: Arizona

§ 4.3.1 Applicable Proceedings

A court is required to award fees and certain other expenses to the prevailing party other than the state or a city, town, or county, in six categories of proceedings. A.R.S. § 12-348(A). Neither a prevailing public entity nor an organization asserting standing on behalf of such entities is eligible for a fee award under A.R.S. § 12-348. Maricopa Cty. v. Maricopa Cty. Mun. Water Conserv. Dist. No. 1, 171 Ariz. 325, 830 P.2d 846 (App. 1991); League of Arizona Cites & Towns v. Martin, 219 Ariz. 556, 201 P.3d 517 (2009).³ However, a fee award to a county official who prevailed in a dispute with the county was upheld because he received the award not because "he [was] a county employee," but because "he [was] the prevailing party in a lawsuit against the County." Hounshell v. White, 219 Ariz. 381, 391, ¶ 42, 199 P.3d 636, 646 (App. 2009). For the purposes of this statute, state means "any agency, officer, department, board or commission" of the State of Arizona, A.R.S. § 12-348(I)(3), but does not include political subdivisions of the state such as flood control districts. Flood Control Dist. v. Conlin, 148 Ariz. 66, 712 P.2d 979 (App. 1985).

The six categories of proceedings covered by A.R.S. § 12-348(A) are:

(1) A civil action brought by the state or a city, town, or county. A.R.S. § 12-348(A)(1). A civil infraction proceeding brought by a city is a "civil action" within the meaning of this statute because ordinance violations were classified by the city code as civil infractions rather than criminal misdemeanors and procedures in civil infraction cases were governed by local court civil rules. Roubos v. Miller, 214 Ariz. 416, 153 P.3d 1045 (2007). The Department of Revenue's act of contesting an heir's claim to a decedent's estate is a "civil action brought by the state." Estate of Walton, 164 Ariz. 498, 794 P.2d 131 (1990). Even though the Department of Revenue brought the action, because Walton was not a tax case, A.R.S. § 12-348(A)(1) applied, rather than A.R.S. § 12-348(B). Cyprus Bagdad Copper Corp. v. Arizona Dep't of Revenue, 188 Ariz. 345, 349, 935 P.2d 923, 927 (App. 1997) ("Cyprus Bagdad I"). See § 4.5.

(2) A court proceeding to review a state agency decision pursuant to the Administrative Review Act, A.R.S. §§ 12-901 to -914, or any other statute authorizing judicial review of agency decisions. A.R.S. § 12-348(A)(2). A successful challenge to a statute applied by a state agency does not seek to "review an agency...