How Long Is a Life Sentence in Arizona? (2026 Guide)

In Arizona, an adult convicted of premeditated first-degree murder under A.R.S. § 13-1105(A)(1), or of killing a law enforcement officer under § 13-1105(A)(3), who is not sentenced to death must receive natural life, a life sentence with no possibility of release. A release-eligible "life" sentence (release after 25 years, or 35 years if the victim was under 15 or an unborn child) is available only for felony murder under § 13-1105(A)(2) or for a defendant who was under 18 at the time of the offense. For adults, that release is not parole, because Arizona abolished parole for offenses committed on or after January 1, 1994; for juveniles, A.R.S. § 13-716 makes them eligible for parole after the minimum term. A natural life sentence is served until death.

This article was last reviewed and updated on March 17, 2026. All statutes, case law, and sentencing data have been verified against current Arizona government sources.

In Arizona, a life sentence does not always mean the same thing. The state draws a sharp distinction between a "life" sentence, which carries release eligibility after 25 to 35 years, and a "natural life" sentence, which means the person will spend the rest of their natural life in prison with no possibility of release.

This distinction is critical in Arizona's criminal justice system. First-degree murder convictions can result in a life sentence with eventual release eligibility, a natural life sentence with no release, or the death penalty. Which options are available depends on the type of first-degree murder, the defendant's age, and whether the prosecution seeks the death penalty: under A.R.S. § 13-752(A), an adult convicted of premeditated murder or of killing a law enforcement officer who is not sentenced to death must receive natural life, while the court chooses between life and natural life for felony murder and for defendants under 18.

Arizona incarcerates more than 33,000 people in its state prison system. Among them, a significant number are serving life or natural life sentences for first-degree murder and other serious felonies.

Arizona Life Sentence Statutes

Arizona's criminal code defines murder and its penalties across several key statutes.

First-Degree Murder (A.R.S. § 13-1105): A person commits first-degree murder by causing the death of another with premeditation, or by causing the death during the commission of certain felonies (felony murder). First-degree murder is a Class 1 felony, the most serious classification in Arizona law. The possible sentences are death, natural life, or life with release eligibility after 25 years, but not every option is available in every case. For an adult convicted of premeditated murder (§ 13-1105(A)(1)) or of killing a law enforcement officer (§ 13-1105(A)(3)), the only sentences are death or natural life (A.R.S. § 13-752). The release-eligible life sentence applies to felony murder (§ 13-1105(A)(2)) and to defendants who were under 18.

Where a life sentence is imposed and the victim was under 15 years of age or an unborn child, release eligibility comes after 35 years instead of 25.

Second-Degree Murder (A.R.S. § 13-1104): A person commits second-degree murder by intentionally causing the death of another without premeditation, or by engaging in conduct that the person knows will cause death or serious physical injury. Second-degree murder is a Class 1 felony but carries significantly shorter sentences than first-degree murder.

Second-Degree Murder Sentencing (A.R.S. § 13-710): The sentencing range for second-degree murder is 10 to 25 years, with a presumptive term of 16 years. This is not a life sentence, though consecutive sentences for multiple counts can result in extremely long prison terms.

Manslaughter (A.R.S. § 13-1103): A Class 2 felony. For a first felony offense that is not a dangerous offense, the presumptive term is 5 years, with a range of 3 to 12.5 years. Our guide to Arizona manslaughter laws explains each form of the offense, the longer range for a dangerous offense, and the separate charge of negligent homicide.

Release Eligibility (Not Parole)

Arizona's parole system has changed dramatically over the decades. Understanding current release eligibility requires knowing when the offense was committed, and whether the case predates the 1994 abolition of parole.

Life sentence (first-degree murder): Release eligibility after serving 25 calendar years under A.R.S. § 13-751. For an adult offender this is not parole, since Arizona abolished parole for offenses committed on or after January 1, 1994. A life sentence (rather than natural life) is available only for felony murder or for a defendant who was under 18 at the time of the offense.

Life sentence (victim under 15 or an unborn child): Release eligibility after serving 35 calendar years.

Juvenile offenders: Under A.R.S. § 13-716, a person serving a release-eligible life sentence for an offense committed before age 18 is eligible for parole after completing the minimum term, regardless of whether the offense was committed on or after January 1, 1994. If granted, parole lasts for the rest of the person's life.

Natural life sentence: No possibility of release. Under A.R.S. § 13-751(A), a person sentenced to natural life is not eligible for commutation, parole, work furlough, work release or release from confinement on any basis.

Arizona Board of Executive Clemency

The Arizona Board of Executive Clemency administers release hearings for eligible life-sentenced inmates (and, for the shrinking pool of pre-1994 offenses, true parole hearings). The five-member board is appointed by the governor and has the authority to grant or deny release, set conditions of release, and revoke release status for violations.

For life-sentenced inmates who reach their release eligibility date, the board conducts a hearing that considers the nature and circumstances of the offense, the inmate's institutional behavior, risk assessment results, victim impact statements, and the proposed release plan.

Arizona abolished parole for offenses committed on or after January 1, 1994, under "truth in sentencing" reforms (A.R.S. § 41-1604.09 governs the remaining pre-1994 parole-eligible population). For adult offenders, life sentences for first-degree murder are not an exception to that abolition: inmates serving a (non-natural) life sentence instead become eligible for release, not parole, after the mandatory 25- or 35-year minimum, under A.R.S. § 13-751. Offenders who were under 18 are the statutory exception, since A.R.S. § 13-716 makes them eligible for parole after the minimum term.

If the board denies release, the inmate may request another hearing, though subsequent hearing dates can be set years apart.

Natural Life vs. Life Sentences

This is the most important distinction in Arizona's sentencing framework, and it is often misunderstood.

A "life" sentence in Arizona means the person will serve a minimum of 25 years (or 35 years if the victim was under 15) before becoming eligible for a release hearing before the Board of Executive Clemency. For an adult offender this is not a parole hearing, since Arizona abolished parole for offenses committed on or after January 1, 1994; a person who was under 18 at the time of the offense is eligible for parole under A.R.S. § 13-716. If release is granted, the person is released under supervision. If denied, they remain in prison and may apply again at a future date.

A "natural life" sentence means the person will never be eligible for parole, commutation of sentence, or release from confinement on any basis (A.R.S. § 13-751(A)). Arizona law explicitly states that a natural life sentence is served until the person dies in prison. It is functionally identical to life without parole (LWOP) in other states.

Natural life is not a rare enhancement in Arizona. Under A.R.S. § 13-752(A), it is the mandatory sentence whenever an adult is convicted of premeditated first-degree murder or of killing a law enforcement officer and is not sentenced to death, including cases where the prosecution never sought death. For felony murder, and for any defendant who was under 18, the court decides between life and natural life after weighing aggravating and mitigating circumstances.

The distinction matters enormously: a person sentenced to "life" has a path to possible release after decades. A person sentenced to "natural life" has essentially no path to release.

Capital Murder and the Death Penalty

Arizona retains the death penalty, and it remains an active capital punishment state. The state resumed executions in 2022 after an eight-year pause that began following the prolonged execution of Joseph Wood in July 2014, which took nearly two hours.

Aggravating Factors

Under A.R.S. § 13-751, the prosecution must prove at least one aggravating factor beyond a reasonable doubt to seek the death penalty. Arizona's statutory aggravating factors include:

• A prior conviction for an offense for which a life or death sentence was imposable under Arizona law
• A prior conviction for a serious offense
• Murder committed for payment, or procured by payment, of anything of pecuniary value
• Murder committed in an especially heinous, cruel, or depraved manner
• Murder committed while in custody of, or on release from, the Department of Corrections, a law enforcement agency or a jail, or while on probation for a felony
• Conviction of one or more other homicides committed during the offense
• The defendant was an adult (or tried as an adult) and the victim was under 15, an unborn child, or 70 or older
• The victim was an on-duty peace officer killed while performing official duties, and the defendant knew or should have known the victim was a peace officer
• Murder committed to promote or assist a criminal street gang or criminal syndicate, or to join one
• Murder committed to prevent a person's cooperation with law enforcement or testimony in court, or in retaliation for it

Death Penalty Procedure After Ring v. Arizona

In the landmark case Ring v. Arizona (2002), the U.S. Supreme Court held that Arizona's practice of allowing a judge alone to find the aggravating factors necessary for a death sentence violated the Sixth Amendment right to a jury trial. The Court ruled that because aggravating factors effectively increase the maximum punishment from life imprisonment to death, they function as elements of the offense and must be found by a jury beyond a reasonable doubt.

This decision reshaped capital sentencing procedures nationwide and led Arizona to restructure its death penalty process. Today, a jury must unanimously find at least one aggravating factor before a death sentence can be imposed. If a penalty-phase jury cannot reach a verdict, a new jury is impaneled; if the second jury also cannot reach a unanimous verdict, the court imposes life or natural life (A.R.S. § 13-752(K)). For an adult convicted of premeditated murder or of killing a law enforcement officer, § 13-752(A) makes natural life the required sentence whenever death is not imposed.

Recent Executions

Arizona resumed carrying out executions in 2022, the first since 2014. For the current list of executions, see the Arizona Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation and Reentry.

As of early 2026, Arizona has more than 100 inmates on death row at the Arizona State Prison Complex in Florence.

Notable Arizona Life Sentence Cases

Jodi Arias: Natural Life for Premeditated Murder (2015)

Jodi Arias was convicted of first-degree premeditated murder in the 2008 killing of Travis Alexander in Mesa, Arizona. The case drew intense national media coverage. After the first jury deadlocked on sentencing, a second jury also failed to reach a unanimous decision on the death penalty. Under Arizona law, the judge then sentenced Arias to natural life in prison with no possibility of parole. She is incarcerated at the Arizona State Prison Complex in Perryville.

Lori Vallow Daybell: Consecutive Life Without Parole (2023)

In 2023, Lori Vallow Daybell was convicted in Idaho for the murders of her two children, 7-year-old Joshua "JJ" Vallow and 16-year-old Tylee Ryan. She received consecutive sentences of life without parole. While her trial took place in Idaho, the case had deep Arizona connections: the children disappeared from their Chandler, Arizona, home, and multiple related deaths occurred in Arizona. The case also led to charges against her husband, Chad Daybell, who was convicted and sentenced to death in Idaho in 2024.

Lynch v. Arizona: SCOTUS Jury Instruction Ruling (2016)

In Lynch v. Arizona (2016), the U.S. Supreme Court reversed the Arizona Supreme Court's affirmance of a death sentence, holding that under Simmons due process entitled Lynch to inform the jury that he was ineligible for parole. The Court found that when future dangerousness is at issue, the defendant has a right to inform the jury that he is ineligible for parole. This decision reinforced the principle established in Simmons v. South Carolina (1994) and directly impacted how Arizona courts instruct capital sentencing juries.

Ring v. Arizona: Landmark Jury Rights Decision (2002)

Timothy Ring was convicted of felony murder during an armored car robbery. The trial judge, sitting alone, found two aggravating factors, pecuniary gain and an especially heinous, cruel or depraved manner, and sentenced Ring to death; the Arizona Supreme Court later held the evidence insufficient to support the depravity factor but upheld the pecuniary-gain finding. The Supreme Court struck down this procedure, holding that a jury must find aggravating factors. The decision affected death penalty procedures in multiple states, and Justice O'Connor's dissent predicted that death-row prisoners in those states would challenge their sentences.

Recent Legislative Changes

The core statutes governing life and natural life sentences for first-degree murder are A.R.S. §§ 13-751 and 13-752, and parole eligibility for juvenile offenders serving release-eligible life sentences is governed by A.R.S. § 13-716. Check the current text of those statutes on the Arizona Legislature's website for any later amendments.

Juvenile Life Sentences

Arizona has not explicitly banned juvenile life without parole (JLWOP) by statute. However, the U.S. Supreme Court's rulings in Miller v. Alabama (2012) and Montgomery v. Louisiana (2016) prohibit mandatory LWOP for juveniles and require that the decisions apply retroactively.

Under Miller, a sentencing court must consider a juvenile offender's youth and its attendant characteristics, including immaturity, vulnerability to peer pressure, and capacity for rehabilitation, before imposing a life sentence. Mandatory natural life sentences for juveniles are unconstitutional.

The Supreme Court's ruling in Jones v. Mississippi (2021) clarified that a sentencer is not required to make a separate finding of "permanent incorrigibility" before imposing JLWOP. Discretionary JLWOP remains permissible as long as the court considers the defendant's youth.

Arizona law also treats juveniles differently at sentencing and release. Under A.R.S. § 13-752(A), a defendant who was under 18 at the time of the offense is never subject to mandatory natural life; the court chooses between life and natural life. And under A.R.S. § 13-716, a juvenile offender sentenced to life with the possibility of release is eligible for parole after completing the minimum term, regardless of whether the offense was committed on or after January 1, 1994. If granted, that parole lasts for the rest of the person's life.

Arizona courts have conducted resentencing hearings for juvenile offenders originally sentenced to mandatory natural life. Some have received reduced sentences, while others have had natural life sentences reimposed after individualized hearings.

Arizona prosecutes certain juveniles as adults under A.R.S. § 13-501, which requires automatic adult prosecution for juveniles 15 and older charged with first-degree murder, among other serious felonies.

Historical Context

Arizona's criminal justice history includes several significant developments that have shaped life sentencing in the state.

Death penalty moratorium and resumption: After the botched execution of Joseph Wood in July 2014, during which witnesses reported that Wood gasped for nearly two hours before dying, Arizona imposed an unofficial moratorium on executions. Governor Doug Ducey resumed executions in 2022 after the state revised its lethal injection protocols.

Truth in sentencing: Arizona adopted truth-in-sentencing laws in the 1990s that eliminated parole for crimes committed on or after January 1, 1994. For adult offenders, life sentences for first-degree murder were not exempted from that abolition; they instead carry a distinct release-eligibility mechanism (25 or 35 years under A.R.S. § 13-751) administered by the Board of Executive Clemency, which is legally not parole. Juvenile offenders serving release-eligible life sentences are eligible for parole under A.R.S. § 13-716.

Ring v. Arizona's national impact: The 2002 Supreme Court decision in Ring v. Arizona affected capital sentencing in Arizona and four other states (Colorado, Idaho, Montana, and Nebraska) that committed capital sentencing factfinding entirely to judges. It remains one of the most significant criminal procedure rulings of the 21st century.

Prison population growth: Arizona's prison population grew significantly from the 1990s through the 2010s, driven in part by mandatory sentencing laws, truth-in-sentencing provisions, and the state's approach to drug offenses. The state has faced ongoing litigation over prison conditions, including the Parsons v. Ryan case addressing inadequate healthcare in Arizona prisons.

Arizona Life Sentence at a Glance

Related Pages

• How Long Is a Life Sentence? State-by-State Guide
• Murder Sentencing Guidelines for Every State
• What Is Capital Murder?

Frequently Asked Questions

How long is a life sentence in Arizona?

It depends on the type of first-degree murder and the defendant's age. An adult convicted of premeditated murder or of killing a law enforcement officer who is not sentenced to death must receive natural life, meaning no possibility of release (A.R.S. § 13-752(A)). For felony murder, or for a defendant under 18, the court may instead impose life with release eligibility after 25 calendar years, or 35 years if the victim was under 15 or an unborn child (A.R.S. § 13-751). For adults that release is not parole, because Arizona abolished parole for offenses on or after January 1, 1994; juvenile offenders are eligible for parole after the minimum term under A.R.S. § 13-716.

What is the difference between 'life' and 'natural life' in Arizona?

A 'life' sentence in Arizona includes release eligibility after 25 to 35 years. For adults this is not parole, which Arizona abolished for offenses on or after January 1, 1994, but juvenile offenders are eligible for parole under A.R.S. § 13-716. A 'natural life' sentence means the person will never be eligible for release, commutation, or any form of early release. They will serve the sentence until they die in prison. Natural life is Arizona's equivalent of life without parole (LWOP).

Does Arizona have the death penalty?

Yes. Arizona has an active death penalty. The state resumed executions in 2022 after an eight-year moratorium. Arizona has more than 100 inmates on death row as of early 2026. Aggravating factors under A.R.S. § 13-751 must be found by a jury before a death sentence can be imposed.

What is second-degree murder sentencing in Arizona?

Second-degree murder in Arizona carries a sentencing range of 10 to 25 years in prison, with a presumptive term of 16 years under A.R.S. § 13-710. It is not a life sentence, though consecutive sentences for multiple counts can result in very long prison terms.

Can a juvenile receive life without parole in Arizona?

Mandatory JLWOP is unconstitutional under the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in Miller v. Alabama (2012). Arizona has not banned discretionary JLWOP by statute. A sentencing court must consider the juvenile's youth and capacity for rehabilitation before imposing a natural life sentence, but it remains a legally available option after an individualized hearing. A juvenile who instead receives a release-eligible life sentence is eligible for parole after the minimum term under A.R.S. § 13-716.