Drug Charges Lawyer in Chandler, AZ

Three justice addresses share the 200 block of East Chicago Street: Chandler Municipal Court at 200, the police Downtown Precinct and the City Prosecutor at 250, and a county justice court building at 201. The usual Chandler drug case touches only the police station. The City Prosecutor's Office prosecutes misdemeanors, and Arizona puts most drug allegations above that level. Possessing a narcotic drug is a class 4 felony, and so is possessing a dangerous drug. Paraphernalia, under A.R.S. 13-3415, is a class 6 felony.

That puts the charging decision on a Chandler possession report with the Maricopa County Attorney's Office, and any case that follows in Maricopa County Superior Court. Its criminal courtrooms are downtown, at 201 W. Jefferson St. (the Central Court Building) and 175 W. Madison St. (the South Court Tower). Confirm the building on your current notice. A county felony never passes through a justice court, and most possession counts are steered into the Early Disposition Court.

When the report alleges sale, possession for sale, transportation or manufacturing, three offices become possible. The County Attorney brings most state felonies. A smaller set is prosecuted by the Arizona Attorney General's Office, often because a state agency investigated, because the conduct allegedly crossed county lines, or because the county attorney referred it. The U.S. Attorney can also charge a sale case, which moves it to federal court. Nova Law Group appears in the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona.

Inside Chandler Police, a drug case may start with a patrol stop or with detectives; the department's Divisions page names a Narcotics/Vice Unit among its investigative units. The department also has a laboratory of its own, which its Forensic Services page calls "an internationally accredited forensic testing laboratory," and seized drug analysis is on that page's list of work.

The page does not promise that every Chandler exhibit is analyzed there, so we do not assume it. The report in your case shows which laboratory did the work. What the analyst identifies decides which statute applies, and where sale or a threshold amount is alleged, the weight can decide which sentencing options survive a conviction.

Custody moves quickly. Chandler Police has a Detention unit for what the department calls "the transportation, care and custody of prisoners." Anyone booked into the county jail on a felony charge first sees a judge at the county's Initial Appearance Court, 2670 S. 28th Dr. in Phoenix. The Sheriff's Office says that court sits every day, holidays included. Rule 4.1 sets the limit: the hearing comes no later than 24 hours after the arrest, and otherwise the person must be released. Drug case release orders commonly add testing, a treatment referral and travel limits, and those terms bind before any lab result exists.

Plenty of Chandler drug cases involve no booking. Officers keep the substance, let the person leave, and forward a report once the analysis is back. Until a prosecutor reviews it there is no charge and no court date. That stretch is working time for the defense, not a sign the matter ended.

A felony carries the right to a lawyer, appointed if you cannot afford one. The appointment comes with the court case, which means after the search, the interview, the lab request and the decision on what to charge.

Avoiding jail is not the same as avoiding a conviction. Depending on the count and on your situation, a drug conviction can come up in background checks, fingerprint clearance card and professional license reviews, commercial driver's license decisions, housing applications and immigration review, and it can endanger a probation term you are already on.