What Is an Undesignated Class 6 Felony in Arizona?

You pled to a class 6 felony, the judge left it open, and nobody sat you down and explained what that means. Now every job application asks whether you have a felony conviction and you are not sure how to answer. That question follows people for years, and the answer changes the day a judge signs one order.

Arizona record clearing is the only work we do. An undesignated class 6 felony is a class 1 misdemeanor waiting on a signature, and A.R.S. § 13-604 is the law that gets you that signature.

What does “undesignated” mean on an Arizona felony?

Undesignated means the judge entered a conviction for a class 6 felony and then held off on the final label. Under A.R.S. § 13-604(A), a judge sentencing someone for a class 6 felony that is not a dangerous offense has the option to place that person on probation and refrain from calling the offense a felony or a misdemeanor until probation ends. You will hear people say open class 6, class 6 open, or undesignated felony. Those all describe the same thing.

Read the full text of A.R.S. § 13-604 and the choice sits right there in subsection A. The conviction is real. Every undesignated class 6 felony Arizona judges leave open ends in one of two places, as a class 1 misdemeanor or as a felony. Arizona gives you a route to designate a felony to a misdemeanor once you hold up your end of the deal.

Is an undesignated class 6 felony a felony or a misdemeanor?

Both, depending on who is asking. A.R.S. § 13-604(A) says the offense is treated as a misdemeanor for all purposes until the judge enters the designation order. Then A.R.S. § 13-604(B) takes most of that back. While the offense sits undesignated, Arizona treats the conviction as a felony for placing you on felony probation, for DNA collection, for deciding your right to possess a firearm, for use as a historical prior felony, for impeaching you at a later trial, and for raising the sentence on any new case. The public court record also lists it as a class 6 felony conviction.

So the honest answer is that an open class 6 behaves like a felony in every place it hurts. Your probation is felony probation. Your gun rights are gone. A prosecutor who charges you later gets to use it against you. The misdemeanor ending is real and reachable. It is not yours yet.

Why do judges leave a class 6 felony undesignated?

Because the law hands the judge a middle path. A.R.S. § 13-604(A) lets a judge who looks at the nature of the crime, along with your history and character, decide it would be unduly harsh to sentence you for a felony. Rather than force a felony label on a first serious mistake, the judge holds the label open and watches what you do on probation.

Prosecutors agree to it in plea deals all the time. It gives the office a felony conviction on the books and gives you a real path out. One hard limit applies. A judge is barred from leaving a class 6 open for anyone who already stands convicted of two or more felonies.

How does an undesignated felony show up on a background check?

It shows up as a class 6 felony conviction. The public case record lists the charge, the class, and the conviction, so a screening company reading that record reports a felony. Some records note the undesignated status. Most screeners never explain what the word means to the person reading the report.

That gap is why people lose apartments and job offers over a case a judge always intended to end as a misdemeanor. An employer sees the word felony and stops reading. Getting the designation order entered is what replaces that line with a class 1 misdemeanor. People search for how to expunge an open class 6. Arizona has no general expungement law, so designation and sealing are the two tools that change what a screener sees.

Can you own a gun with an undesignated class 6 felony?

No. A.R.S. § 13-604(B) puts firearm rights on the list of things Arizona decides as though the offense were a felony, right up until the designation order is entered. Buying from a dealer means a federal background check, and that check reads a felony conviction. Holding a firearm while that status stands exposes you to a new felony charge, so this is not a rule worth testing.

People get this wrong constantly. They finish probation, assume the paperwork caught up on its own, and try to buy a rifle. Nothing about the passage of time restores firearm rights. It takes a judge’s order, and designation alone is not the order that does it.

How do you get a class 6 felony designated as a misdemeanor?

Three routes exist. The judge designates it a misdemeanor at sentencing. The judge designates it when you finish probation, which is what most plea agreements promise. Or you apply to the judge later and ask for the order.

The second route is stronger than most people know. Under A.R.S. § 13-604(C), the judge shall designate the offense a misdemeanor when you successfully fulfill your conditions of probation and get discharged. That subsection still applies to someone who owes money, unless what you owe is victim restitution or you willfully refused to pay. Owing a fee balance alone does not sink your request.

If probation ended years ago and nobody filed anything, the door stays open. You apply now and ask the judge to enter the order.

What changes the day the judge designates it a misdemeanor?

From that day forward the offense is treated as a misdemeanor for all purposes. It stops counting as a historical prior felony under A.R.S. § 13-604(B). Background checks that pull a fresh record report a class 1 misdemeanor. The felony question on a job application gets a clean no.

What designation does not do is hide the case. The record is still public. Anyone who looks still sees a conviction, only now it reads as a misdemeanor. Taking the case out of public view is a separate filing, which is sealing your Arizona record under A.R.S. § 13-911. Designation and sealing work well together, and we file them at the same time when a case qualifies for both.

Does designation restore your gun rights?

Not by itself. Designation changes the class of the offense. It does not hand you a court order saying your firearm rights are restored, and that order is what a dealer, a prosecutor, and a fingerprint reviewer look for.

The filing that produces it is the set aside. Under A.R.S. § 13-905, a judge who grants a set aside releases you from the penalties and disabilities of the conviction, and subsection O restores your right to possess a firearm, with serious offenses carved out. That is why we bundle the designation, the set aside, and the sealing into one filing when you qualify for all three. Our guide to gun rights after a set aside walks through what the order covers.

How does designation shorten the wait to seal your record?

This is the part that surprises people. A.R.S. § 13-911 sets the waiting periods for sealing, measured from the day you finish the nonmonetary conditions of your sentence and the judge discharges you. A class 4, 5, or 6 felony waits five years. A class 1 misdemeanor waits three.

Designate the class 6 and the three-year clock is the one that governs. For someone who finished probation four years ago, sealing goes from a year away to available the moment the designation order is entered. You also have to be current on every fine, fee, and restitution order at the time you file. Two years of waiting removed by one order is the single best reason not to leave an open class 6 sitting.

What if you are still on probation?

Most judges will not designate while probation is running, because the whole point of holding the label open is watching how probation goes. The exception is probation that is ending early.

A.R.S. § 13-901 lets a judge end probation early and discharge you when the ends of justice are served and your conduct on probation warrants it. We often file that request together with the designation request, so one hearing closes out both. Judges tend to want somewhere around half the term served, every dollar paid, and every class finished. No percentage appears anywhere in the law, so that benchmark is practice, not a rule. Start with our page on how to end probation early.

What does the new 2026 law change for older Arizona felonies?

A.R.S. § 13-604.01 took effect on September 12, 2026. It came from HB 2749 and reaches cases A.R.S. § 13-604 never touched. A judge may now enter a class 1 misdemeanor judgment on a class 4, 5, or 6 felony that was not dangerous, years after the case closed, if all five of these are true.

• You have no prior felony conviction, ever.
• The offense involved no victim.
• Every term of the sentence is complete and every dollar owed is paid.
• At least five years have passed since you completed the sentence, with no new felony and no new misdemeanor involving a victim.
• The judge finds the order serves the interest of justice.

Three convictions are shut out entirely, under A.R.S. § 13-2910 for cruelty to animals, A.R.S. § 13-3102 for misconduct involving weapons, and A.R.S. § 13-3821 for sex offender registration. Read A.R.S. § 13-604.01 in full. The law ends after September 30, 2028 unless lawmakers vote to keep it or extend it. Judges take time to rule, so file early. Our HB 2749 breakdown covers who qualifies.

How much does it cost to designate a felony to a misdemeanor?

One flat fee of $1,700 per case, all in. That fee covers every type of relief your case qualifies for when we file them together, so designation, set aside, and sealing ride on the same $1,700. No court fees, no filing fees, no prosecutor fees, no hearing surcharge, and no extra charge for a case outside Phoenix.

Every case after the first is $500 off, which brings it to $1,200. Hire us within 24 hours of your consultation and take $200 off. Payment plans are available. One exception matters here. Ending probation early is always its own $1,700, because it gets filed while you are still on probation rather than alongside the rest. Full numbers live on our pricing page.

Why should you choose AZ Record Removal?

Arizona record clearing is all we do. Not a side practice, not one service on a long list. We are owned and powered by Future First Criminal Law, and our founder, Zachary Divelbiss, cleared his own record before he cleared anyone else’s. He had six convictions from when he was young, a DUI, a fake ID charge, and four underage alcohol charges. He used a set aside and sealing to take them out of court databases and off background checks.

That history is the reason the firm exists. We work statewide and handle everything virtually, so you do not travel to a courthouse or to us. The fee is flat at $1,700 per case with no add-ons. Our phones are answered 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at 602-900-6240, and we schedule consultations during business hours.

What should you do next?

An open class 6 is the easiest felony in Arizona to get rid of, and it is the one people most often leave sitting. Every month it stays undesignated is a month of felony answers on applications and a longer wait before sealing is available. Start with our free eligibility quiz and find out in a few minutes which filings your case qualifies for. Then call us at 602-900-6240 and we will tell you exactly what we would file and what it costs. No judge is required to grant any of it, and having the right filing in front of the right judge is what we do.

Once probation ends, read who qualifies to designate a felony to a misdemeanor in Arizona for the four conditions the judge checks and the 2026 law that reaches older cases.

For the timeline phase by phase, read how long the designation to misdemeanor process takes in Arizona.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does an undesignated felony show up on a background check?

Yes. The public case record lists a class 6 felony conviction, so a background check reports a felony. The undesignated status rarely appears in a way a hiring manager understands. Once a judge signs the designation order and the record updates, a fresh background check reports a class 1 misdemeanor instead of a felony conviction on that case.

How long does it take to get a class 6 felony designated?

Arizona sets no deadline for a judge to rule on a designation request, so the timing moves with the county, the judge, and whether the prosecutor objects. Filings we bundle with it carry their own clocks. Under A.R.S. § 13-911 a judge holds a sealing request for 60 days unless the prosecutor and any victims state no objection.

Does designation seal the record too?

No. Designation changes the class of the offense from a felony to a class 1 misdemeanor. The case stays public and searchable. Sealing is a separate filing under A.R.S. § 13-911 that takes the record out of public view and stops it appearing on most background checks. Designation often shortens the sealing wait from five years to three.

What happens if the judge refuses to designate?

A denial is not the end. Find out what was missing, whether it is an unpaid balance, an unfinished class, or too little time since the case closed. You fix the gap and file again. Judges hold real discretion on designation, so no filing produces a certain result, and a request with the gap closed is a different request.