Diversion Programs

Older material online still describes TASC, the Treatment Assessment Screening Center, as the Maricopa County drug diversion program. Go by what the County Attorney’s Office publishes now. For felony drug possession and other eligible felonies, that is its Felony Diversion Program, and its public diversion page also lists programs for people with serious mental illness, for people with developmental disabilities and for veterans, along with a justice court diversion program.

Eligibility depends on the charge, your history and the office handling your case, and nobody should guarantee it from a web page. Ask at the consultation, and ask early.

Eligibility runs on two separate screens. The offense has to qualify, and the person has to qualify. Failing either one ends it.

Qualifying offenses

• offenses carrying mandatory probation under A.R.S. § 13-901.01 (personal possession or use of a controlled substance or paraphernalia);
• class 2 and class 3 drug sales offenses below the statutory threshold amount;
• class 4, 5, and 6 felonies generally; and
• obtaining drugs by fraud.

Excluded offenses

Disqualifiers that attach to the person, not the charge

This is where most otherwise-eligible cases fall out, and it is the list defense counsel needs to run before promising anyone anything:

• a prior serious, dangerous, or sexual offense conviction;
• any historical prior felony conviction: with a single narrow exception for an aggravated DUI more than five years old;
• completion of a felony diversion program within the last five years;
• a Proxy recidivism-risk score of 4 or lower;
• currently on felony probation or on pre-conviction release in another case;
• pending felony matters with combined restitution over $2,000; and
• any outstanding hold or detainer.

That second item does a lot of work. A single old felony, even a class 6 from years ago, even one that was set aside, generally ends felony diversion eligibility. If that describes your situation, the strategy shifts to something else, and it shifts early.

Three separate rules stack on top of each other, and together they produce a window that most people miss without meaning to.

One. Felony Diversion Program offers are made before arraignment only.

Two. Under Arizona Rule of Criminal Procedure 14.2, arraignment happens within ten days after the charging document is filed if the defendant is in custody, or thirty days if not.

Three. The county attorney revised its prosecution policy in August 2025 so that early disposition offers are not held open past arraignment, every offer carries a stated expiration date, and there is an express presumption that any offer made after a rejected or expired one will be harsher.

Put together: for someone sitting in custody, the best available resolution in the case can appear and disappear inside ten days, often before the family has finished arranging bond, and almost always before anyone has thought of the word “diversion.”

This is the practical reason defense counsel is worth having in week one rather than month two. Not because of anything dramatic in a courtroom, but because someone has to ask for the diversion referral while asking is still possible. Our page on what happens after an arrest lays out the full timeline.

Most domestic violence cases are excluded from the general Felony Diversion Program, but two DV-specific programs exist: Domestic Violence Excessive Response (DVER) and a Domestic Violence Diversion program in the justice courts. Eligibility for both is narrow and prosecutor-driven, and victim input carries real weight.

DV cases also carry consequences that a dismissal does not automatically undo, a no-contact order entered at the initial appearance stays in force until a judge lifts it, and federal firearm consequences attach to convictions rather than arrests. See domestic violence charges.

Diversion suspends the prosecution; it does not end it. A participant who is terminated from the program returns to the criminal case where it left off, and the State proceeds. Terminations usually come from missed sessions, positive tests, new charges, or non-payment of restitution, and the first two are the common ones.

The practical implication is that diversion should be entered with a clear-eyed view of whether the person can actually complete it. Enrolling in a fifty-session track with no transportation and no plan is not a favor to anyone. A candid conversation at the front end is worth more than an optimistic one.

If you or someone in your family has been arrested on a felony in Maricopa County and has no prior felony record, diversion may be the best outcome available, and it may only be available for the next several days. Nova Law Group can look at the charge, run the eligibility screens, and make the request to the prosecutor while the window is open.

Call (480) 405-6767 or request a free consultation. If there is a court date this week, call.

This page is general information about Arizona diversion programs, not legal advice, and it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Diversion is discretionary with the prosecuting agency, program terms and eligibility criteria change without public notice, and city prosecutors operate independently of the county attorney. No attorney can guarantee admission to any program or any particular result in any case. Talk to a lawyer about your own situation.