Maricopa County
Maricopa County is the largest of Arizona counties. Also, it is the fourth most-populous county in the United States of America. Maricopa County covers 9,224 square miles of land area and is named for Maricopa people or Piipaash Native American Tribe. The county is the home of over 4.5 million residents.
The Maricopa County trial court system comprises municipal, justice, and superior courts. Sometimes called magistrate or city courts, municipal courts in Maricopa County have criminal jurisdiction over petty offenses and misdemeanor crimes. They share jurisdiction with justice courts in the county over state law violations. Judges in the court hear cases such as hit-and-run, reckless driving where no serious injury occurs, and DUI.
Justice courts handle traffic cases and some civil and criminal cases, including harassment and domestic violence cases. Preliminary hearings on felonies, assault or battery, breaches of peace, offenses punishable by fines of up to $2,500 or imprisonment in county jail of up to 6 months, and matters regarding possession of, but not title to real property are handled in the justice courts. The civil jurisdiction of the court is limited to cases involving claims of up to $10,000.
The superior court is a general jurisdiction court with jurisdiction over proceedings and cases where exclusive jurisdiction is not vested in another court. It hears cases of forcible entry and detailers, probate matters, divorce, naturalizations, actions to stop nuisances, cases where the value of property in question is $1,000 or more, exclusive of costs and interests, insolvency, and special cases not provided for. The superior court also has appellate jurisdiction for matters filed in the justice and municipal courts.
The clerk of superior court in Maricopa County is the custodian of public records. Public records maintained by the clerk's office are available for inspection at any of its locations, free of charge. Most public court records can be viewed electronically at the office's locations using public access computers. Additional case information on electronic court records can be obtained via the Electronic Court Records (ECR) webpage.
You can get copies of court records in person at any location of the clerk's office. Copies are charged $0.50 per page. There is a $30 charge to certify a court document.
If you party to a case, you can use the ECR Online resource to access your case information for any of the following categories of courts:
- Family court
- Probate court
- Civil court
- Criminal court
- Tax court
If you have a complex request or are unable to find the court records you want, you may use the online records request form to obtain a Maricopa County court record. Also, you can look up justice court case information or superior court dockets online. Case information for the superior court in Maricopa County are available for civil court cases, criminal court cases, family court cases, and probate court cases.
