Arizona Court Records: How to Search Public Access, Maricopa/Pima Carve-Outs, and Sealing

Arizona runs a free, statewide court records search, but two of its biggest counties opted out of it. Maricopa and Pima each run their own separate case-lookup systems, so a search on the state's Public Access tool that comes back empty for a Phoenix or Tucson case does not mean the case does not exist, it usually means you searched the wrong system.

Arizona also stands out for something most portals do not admit: it tells you exactly how stale its data can get.

Information last verified on 2026-08-10. This article has not yet been reviewed by a licensed lawyer.

This guide is part of a broader look at court records by state. For the general mechanics of federal versus state versus county searches, see how to look up court records and are court records public.

Public Access: Arizona's Statewide Search, With Two Big Exceptions

Arizona's Public Access to Court Case Information, at apps.azcourts.gov, is free to search and covers information from 177 of 184 courts in Arizona, per the portal's own coverage statement (the portal also offers a Show unavailable courts link listing the gap). Search results are protected by a word-verification step described on the portal as a randomly generated verification words gate intended to prevent excessive, high-volume automated use; a paid annual subscription is offered separately for bulk electronic access.

The honesty point worth noting is how the portal describes its own freshness: case information is updated on the website weekly, with data refreshed each Friday to reflect case information through the Wednesday of that same week. A case filed or updated on a Thursday will not show up until the following week. The portal's own disclaimer is direct about its limits, stating the information on the site is not the official record of the court and should not be used as a substitute for a thorough background search of official public records.

The portal covers case lookup only, not documents. For criminal and civil court documents filed in Superior Court, Arizona directs users to a separate system called eAccess.

Maricopa and Pima: Two Counties, Two Separate Systems

Maricopa County Superior Court runs its own Case Docket tool, covering four searchable case types: civil, criminal, family, and probate. The county's own page notes the system is unavailable Tuesday through Saturday from 3:00 a.m. to 4:00 a.m., and that data modifications can occur within 24 hours of filing due to auditing.

Pima County Clerk of Superior Court runs a comparable system, described on the county's own site as covering criminal, civil, family law, probate and guardianship, and marriage license cases through its Public Record Search and ECR for Parties and Attorneys tools. Pima's page explicitly lists the statewide eAccess system as a separate option alongside its own tools, confirming Pima runs independently of the state portal. Documents from Juvenile Court or Title 36 mental health cases are excluded from this standard access and must be requested through Juvenile Support Services.

The practical takeaway: if you are searching for a Maricopa or Pima County case, skip the statewide Public Access tool and go directly to that county's own system.

What Public Access Excludes

The statewide portal's own language lists its exclusions directly: sealed cases, cases involving Orders of Protection, mental health and probate cases, and victim and witness data. Juvenile incorrigible and delinquency case information also cannot be viewed on the tool, and local ordinance violations are not included at all.

Sealing a Record: Arizona Uses Three Separate Mechanisms

Arizona does not have a single sealing law. It runs three distinct mechanisms, and confusing them is the most common mistake:

Setting aside a conviction, under A.R.S. § 13-905, does not hide the record. The conviction remains visible on a background check, annotated to show it was set aside.

Sealing of arrest, conviction, and sentencing records, under A.R.S. § 13-911, genuinely restricts access and is petition-based. The statute's own wait-period table sets a 10-year wait for a class 2 or 3 felony, 5 years for a class 4, 5, or 6 felony, 3 years for a class 1 misdemeanor, and 2 years for a class 2 or 3 misdemeanor, measured from completion of the sentence. Fees are set at the discretion of the Department of Public Safety, with a waiver available for an indigent petitioner or where the underlying case was dismissed or resulted in acquittal.

Expungement under A.R.S. § 36-2862, created by Proposition 207 in 2020, is the state's only true expungement mechanism, and it is limited to marijuana-related conduct that is no longer illegal under Arizona law.

Arizona is not one of the states running a broad, automatic Clean Slate-style sealing program; all three of these remedies are petition-based. For the eligibility rules and process for each, see Arizona expungement laws, which this guide does not duplicate.

Using Arizona Court Records the Right Way

Public Access and the county systems are built for checking a specific case, whether it is your own or one you have a legitimate reason to look into, not for compiling a background file on someone else. If an Arizona court record is used to screen a job applicant or a tenant, that use is governed separately by the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act. Under 15 U.S.C. § 1681c, a criminal conviction is exempt from the standard seven-year reporting window that applies to most arrests and civil judgments, meaning it can be reported indefinitely unless it has been sealed or expunged under Arizona law.

Related Resources

Court Records by State covers the full 50-state picture. See also How to Look Up Court Records, Are Court Records Public?, Arizona Expungement Laws, Arizona Background Check Laws, Arizona Warrant Search, and Arizona Public Records Laws.

Disclaimer

This article provides general information about Arizona's Public Access system, the Maricopa and Pima county alternatives, and Arizona's three record-relief mechanisms. It is not legal advice. Portal coverage, update schedules, and statutes change; verify current details with the Arizona Judicial Branch or a licensed Arizona attorney before relying on anything here for a specific situation.

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Last updated: 2026-08-10. Portal facts and fees reflect their published status as of August 2026.