Maricopa County Court Records Lookup

The following is for information purposes only

Maricopa County is located in the south-central portion of Arizona. It is the fourth most populous county in the United States. Maricopa County is home to over 4.4 million people. Its government seat is Phoenix which is Arizona's capital and is also the fifth most populous city in the United States. The judges and staff in the Superior Courts, Justice Courts, and Municipal Courts are committed to ensuring equal access to court services and promoting public confidence in the court system.

The Superior Court is situated across 12 cities including Phoenix, Surprise, and Mesa. According to the Arizona Constitution, the superior court has diverse or general jurisdiction over many cases. It handles landlord-tenant, mental health, probate, dissolution of marriage cases, equity cases involving title to real estate, and cases beyond the jurisdiction of other courts. It also has a special juvenile court where one or more judges are assigned to hear all juvenile cases involving delinquency, unruly behavior, and dependency. The Superior Court also houses a regional homeless court assisting homeless persons in resolving misdemeanors and outstanding warrants. There are 26 Justice Court Precincts named after a location or historical presence in each precinct. Each justice precinct has a Justice of the Peace and a Constable. Justice courts are courts of limited jurisdiction and a Justice of Peace which is a presiding judge in a justice court hears misdemeanors, eviction and landlord-tenant cases, civil, criminal traffic cases, breach of contracts, small claims, assault and batteries, DUI (including extreme DUIs), violations of protection orders or injunctions against harassments, and underage drinking. The Municipal Courts are found in many locations such as Phoenix, handling approximately 160,000 charges annually; Mesa, Scottsdale, Youngtown, Wickenburg, and Glendale. Generally, municipal courts preside over civil traffic cases and municipal ordinance violations. Offenders may be charged to jail for six months including payment of a $2,500 fine.

The Municipal Court caseload handled by Maricopa County annually is 642,025, which was calculated from fiscal year 2015-2021. The average case disposition from 2015-2021 was approximately 666,271 cases, the crime rate was lowest in 2021. However, this suggests a high crime rate in the county overall. Court records are stored in digital audio and video recording format and they are preserved and accurately documented by the Superior Court Clerk. You can visit the Office of the Clerk of Superior Court to obtain case records or court proceedings generated from court sessions or review court case information for municipal courts in Municipal Courts. Mental Health and Juvenile Court records are closed to the public and in some instances, family records.

Maricopa County is devoted to ensuring the prompt delivery of justice through its Superior, Justice, and Municipal Courts. The ease of access to public court documents containing details of hearings, arraignments, and sentencing is a function of the transparency, integrity, and keen interest in the safeguarding of human rights in the county.