BISBEE, Ariz. — Hours after the City Council in this small southeastern Arizona city became the first in the state to approve of civil unions for same-sex couples, the state’s attorney general said he would challenge the new ordinance.

Arizona voters in 2008 approved a state constitutional ban on same-sex marriages. However, two years earlier, voters rejected a broader version that would have barred the state and local governments from creating or recognizing “a legal status for unmarried persons that is similar to marriage.”

“We are not trying to change the laws of Arizona,” City Attorney John MacKinnon said. “In a limited capacity, the city of Bisbee is able to act and will do what it can within the areas that city controls.”

The council approved the measure 5-2 in a meeting Tuesday that brought nearly 100 people to council chambers both in support and opposition. The ordinance, which goes into effect in 30 days, covers joint property ownership, property inheritance, guardianship and adoption rights — extending some of the same rights as married couples to same-sex partners who live within Bisbee city limits.

Arizona Attorney General Tom Horne said Wednesday that his office would bring a lawsuit against the ordinance — he previously had contended that its impact would go beyond city boundaries — but he did not say when he would file.

Two weeks ago, the council gave unanimous approval to the ordinance in a preliminary vote that few knew was happening. A handful of residents spoke in support; no one was in opposition.

On Tuesday, the seven-member council was caught off guard by the fervor over the proposal.

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