Arizona Territorial Legislature

{{Short description|Legislative body of Arizona Territory in the US}}

The Arizona Territorial Legislature served as the legislative body of the Arizona Territory. It was a bicameral legislature consisting of a lower house, the House of Representatives, and an upper house, the council. Created by the Arizona Organic Act, the legislature initially consisted of nine members in the council and eighteen members in the House,{{cite book | last = Wagoner | first = Jay J. | title = Arizona Territory 1863–1912: A Political history | publisher = University of Arizona Press | location = Tucson | year = 1970 | isbn = 0816501769 | page = [https://archive.org/details/arizonaterritory00wago/page/43 43] | url = https://archive.org/details/arizonaterritory00wago/page/43 }} meeting once a year until 1869, when the U.S. Congress changed the meeting sessions to biannually.{{cite book | last = Wagoner | first = Jay J. | title = Arizona Territory 1863–1912: A Political history | publisher = University of Arizona Press | location = Tucson | year = 1970 | isbn = 0816501769 | page = [https://archive.org/details/arizonaterritory00wago/page/73 73] | url = https://archive.org/details/arizonaterritory00wago/page/73 }} In 1881, the legislature expanded to twelve Council members and twenty-four Representatives.{{cite book | last = Berman | first = David R. | title = Arizona politics & government : the quest for autonomy, democracy, and development | publisher = University of Nebraska Press | location = Lincoln, Neb. | year = 1970 | isbn=0803212887 |page=27}}

The Arizona Territorial Legislature was replaced by the Arizona State Legislature after Arizona achieved statehood.