In 1998 here in Phoenix, I was a passenger in a friend’s vehicle and we were pulled over by the PHX P.D. for a traffic violation. I didn’t have my license with me at the time. I was issued a citation for not having a valid I.D. in my possession. I left the Phoenix are for a number of years and moved back about 5 yrs. ago. I had completely forgotten about the citation that I had received in ‘98. Last year, in 2008, I applied with a company who performed a background check and they came back and told me that I had an outstanding issue with the Phoenix court and I would need to satisfy that before I could be considered for the job. I had no idea what that issue was...Anyway, It was for the “NO VALID I.D. IN MY POSSESION” citation I had received in ‘98...10 years earlier. The fine had gone up to over $600 dollars, but the judge was kind enough to lower it to $100...So I’ll tell you right now...Here in AZ, if you are merely the passenger in another vehicle and are pulled over by the cops...You are REQUIRED TO CARRY A VALID I.D.!!
I would have fought that.
There is no law in any State stating that you must have any form of identification other then those related to what you are doing (driving, flying, hunting, fishing, etc).
A quick perusal looks like AZ law is that law enforcement will only accept one that is verifiable. Does not require that you actually have an ID, nor does it require that you present one.
Even Arizona’s stop-and-identify law only goes as far as full name is required, and makes no mention at all of actual identification.
Just because you are cited for something also doesn’t mean that law actually exists. Can’t remember what it was that my friend was charged with a few years ago, but he fought it. It was thrown out at discovery because there was no law that said the charge actually existed. It was a policy/proceedure written by the police, but never actually made into a law.