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For Arizona public records online, request agency records from the agency that maintains them, use Judicial Branch public access for court-case discovery, and use eAccess for eligible Superior Court civil and criminal documents while respecting each system’s coverage limits.
Arizona online records have three different evidence layers
Agency custody
Administrative public record
The owning agency controls the actual file and request process.
Case information
Judicial discovery
A docket or party search identifies a proceeding and court.
Document image
Superior Court filing
eAccess may provide an eligible filed document, but not every case type is included.
A statewide Arizona search should preserve the boundary between discovery tools and official custodians
The Arizona State Library’s public-record guidance starts with a simple rule: ask the agency where the record resides. That prevents a common mistake in statewide research, where a person assumes that “Arizona public records” are copied into one central state repository regardless of which department, county, city or board created them.
Court research has its own architecture. Public Access to Court Information can help identify cases in participating courts, but coverage is not identical everywhere. A case search is therefore a discovery step; the court and case number should be retained so any official-record question can be taken back to the court of record.
eAccess serves a narrower but deeper function. It provides eligible Superior Court civil and criminal case records and documents. Some case categories and restricted records are excluded, so absence from eAccess is not proof that the court has no file.
These distinctions matter when combining records. A state-agency licensing file, county property document and Superior Court case may all refer to the same person but arise from different government functions. Each should be sourced and interpreted according to its custodian.
For a defensible online search, record the system used, the agency or court, the query identifiers and any scope limitation shown by the source. That gives a later reviewer enough information to understand what was actually searched and what remains outside the online system.
Choose the Arizona online route by the evidence needed
| Need | Online starting point | What the result proves |
|---|---|---|
| Administrative record held by an agency | Agency public-record channel | What that agency maintains and releases |
| Find a court case or participating-court docket | Judicial Branch Public Access | Case identity and available case information |
| View eligible Superior Court civil/criminal documents | eAccess | Available filed document in an eligible case |
| Obtain a court record outside online coverage | Court or Clerk of record | Official file or copy controlled by that court |
Use online Arizona systems without overstating their coverage
1
Classify the recordAgency file or court record.2
Choose the correct layerAgency request, public case lookup or eAccess document system.3
Capture jurisdictionKeep the agency, county/court and case or record identifier.4
Verify outside the portal when necessaryContact the actual custodian when the online system does not include the needed public record.