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Rule 104. Applicability of the Arizona Rules of Evidence, Admissibility of Evidence and Reports

Arizona Revised Statutes AnnotatedRules of Procedure for the Juvenile CourtEffective: January 1, 2023

Arizona Revised Statutes Annotated
Rules of Procedure for the Juvenile Court (Refs & Annos)
Part I. General Provisions
Effective: January 1, 2023
17B A.R.S. Juv.Ct.Rules of Proc., Rule 104
Formerly cited as AZ ST JUV CT Rule 32;  AZ ST JUV CT Rule 45;  AZ ST JUV CT Rule 47.3;  AZ ST JUV CT Rule 51;  AZ ST JUV CT Rule 55;  AZ ST JUV CT Rule 56;  AZ ST JUV CT Rule 58;  AZ ST JUV CT Rule 59;  AZ ST JUV CT Rule 60;  AZ ST JUV CT Rule 63;  AZ ST JUV CT Rule 66;  AZ ST JUV CT Rule 77
Rule 104. Applicability of the Arizona Rules of Evidence, Admissibility of Evidence and Reports
Currentness
(a) Contested Adjudication Hearings. The Arizona Rules of Evidence apply in contested adjudication hearings in delinquency, dependency, termination, and Title 8 guardianship proceedings, except as otherwise provided by law or by agreement of all parties and the court.
(b) Other Proceedings. Except as otherwise provided by law or by agreement of all parties and the court, in any proceeding not covered by section (a), any non-privileged evidence tending to make a fact at issue more or less probable is admissible unless the court determines the evidence lacks reliability or will cause unfair prejudice or confusion, or waste time.
(c) Admissibility of a Child's Statement or Conduct. In all adoption, dependency, termination, and Title 8 guardianship proceedings, evidence of a child's out-of-court statement or nonverbal conduct regarding acts of abuse or neglect perpetrated on the child is admissible if the time, content, and circumstances of the statement or conduct provide sufficient indicia of its reliability.
(d) Admissibility of Reports.
(1) “Child Safety Worker's Report” means a narrative report, as appropriate to the hearing, containing the following information:
The report may include any appendices or reports prepared by a person other than the child safety worker. The term report does not include a social study prepared under A.R.S. § 8-536 or pursuant to a court order in a termination proceeding, or the report required by A.R.S. § 8-872(F) and Rule 344(f).
(A) the reasons the child was removed from the custody of the parent, guardian, or Indian custodian;
(B) the services provided to prevent removal;
(C) the case plan goal and the services provided to achieve the goal;
(D) the steps taken by the parent, guardian, or Indian custodian to comply with the case plan;
(E) the child's current placement and, in the case of an Indian child, whether the placement falls within the preferences as set forth in ICWA or whether good cause exists to deviate from ICWA's preferences;
(F) the services provided to meet the child's needs;
(G) the efforts made to ensure the educational stability of a child, including but not limited to the appropriateness of the child's current school placement, school attendance, services to help achieve the child's education potential, special education services (when indicated), and grade level progress or progress toward graduation;
(H) the recommended dispositional orders;
(I) the recommended changes to the case plan goal, services, or placement; and
(J) the recommended permanent plan.
The report may include any appendices or reports prepared by a person other than the child safety worker. The term report does not include a social study prepared under A.R.S. § 8-536 or pursuant to a court order in a termination proceeding, or the report required by A.R.S. § 8-872(F) and Rule 344(f).
(2) Admissibility of Child Safety Worker's Report. In any dependency, Title 8 guardianship, or termination hearing, the court must review a child safety worker's report and may admit the report into evidence if the worker or workers who prepared or approved the report are available for cross-examination and the report was disclosed to the parties no later than:
(A) one day before a Rule 333 review of temporary custody hearing; or
(B) 15 days before any other hearing at which the report may be introduced.
(3) Evaluation Report. In any dependency, Title 8 guardianship, or termination hearing, an evaluation report of any psychological, psychiatric, medical, neurological, psycho-educational, psycho-sexual, substance abuse, or similar evaluation concerning any party or participant, or any person with whom a child is or may be residing, is admissible into evidence if the report has been disclosed to the parties under Rule 315(a)(1) and the author of the report is available for cross-examination.
(4) Report Ordered Under Rule 344(f). In a Title 8 guardianship adjudication hearing, in addition to reports admitted into evidence under this section, the court must review the investigative report prepared under Rule 344(f) and may admit it into evidence.
(5) Social Study. In a termination adjudication hearing, a social study prepared under Rule 351, under A.R.S. § 8-536, or by court order admissible as evidence unless a party has filed a notice of objection as required by Rule 315(d)(1)(E). If the court sustains any objections, the court may:
(A) admit the social study into evidence after redacting those portions to which objections were sustained and
(B) allow the petitioner a reasonable opportunity to call additional witnesses to testify regarding the redacted portions of the social study.
(6) Disposition Report. The disposition report in a delinquency proceeding is governed by Rule 222.
(7) Other Reports. The court may admit any other report that is court ordered or required by law, if the report has been timely disclosed and the author of the report is available for cross-examination.
(8) Admission of Reports. If the court relies in whole or in part on a report under this section, the report must be admitted into evidence to ensure that the report is part of the appellate record.
(9) Reports Offered but Not Admitted. A report under this section that is offered but not admitted into evidence must be marked for identification to ensure that the report is part of the appellate record if the report has been designated in a supplemental designation by a party to the appeal pursuant to Rule 604.
(10) Available for Cross-Examination. For purposes of this section, a person is available for cross-examination if the person appears in court, is available for a virtual appearance under Rule 110, or is subject to the court's subpoena power, unless the person is subpoenaed and is unable or unwilling to comply with the subpoena.
(11) Admission in Other Proceedings. A report admitted into evidence for one proceeding is not necessarily admissible in another proceeding involving the same child, especially if it involves different issues. The admission of a report in one proceeding does not create a presumption that it is admissible in other proceedings.

Credits

Added Dec. 8, 2021, effective July 1, 2022. Amended on an emergency basis Aug. 29, 2022, effective Sept. 24, 2022, permanently adopted Dec. 8, 2022, effective Jan. 1, 2023.
17B A. R. S. Juv. Ct. Rules of Proc., Rule 104, AZ ST JUV CT Rule 104
State Court Rules are current with amendments received through November 15, 2023. The Code of Judicial Administration is current with amendments received through November 1, 2023.
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