Reviewed and updated October 7, 2026 by the SearchSystems.net editorial team. The jail figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data. Every office link was opened and checked against the office's own site between September 23, 2026 and October 1, 2026.
Maricopa County, Arizona, has about 4.7 million residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office, 18 city agencies and two campus agencies. An arrest leaves the same records whoever makes it: the arresting agency's report, the booking at the county jail, and, if the County Attorney files charges, a case in the Maricopa County Superior Court. This guide says who keeps each one, what it costs and who may see it.
This guide covers who makes arrests, booking and the jail, finding an arrest, copies, cities and common questions.
Related guides: Maricopa County public records, Arizona arrest records, Arizona inmate search and Arizona criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Maricopa County
The Maricopa County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Maricopa County.
The FBI lists 18 cities in Maricopa County with a reporting agency of their own, with the Census population and what each reported, the largest twelve first; the rest are in the cities section below:
- Phoenix, 1,673,164 residents.
- Mesa, 517,151 residents.
- Gilbert, 288,790 residents.
- Chandler, 281,231 residents.
- Glendale, 258,143 residents.
- Scottsdale, 246,170 residents.
- Peoria, 199,924 residents.
- Tempe, 190,114 residents.
- Surprise, 167,564 residents.
- Goodyear, 118,186 residents.
- Buckeye, 114,334 residents.
- Avondale, 96,609 residents.
A city on that list is reported separately whether the officers are the city's own or the sheriff's under contract; the FBI's list does not say which.
The FBI's agency list also places these agencies in Maricopa County: Maricopa Community College and Arizona State University: Main Campus (campus police).
Booking: Where People Arrested in Maricopa County Are Held
Whoever makes the arrest in Maricopa County, the booking is at the county jail. The jail's record of each person held, with the charges, is the first public record of an arrest, and the court file takes over from there.
On an average day in 2024 the jail held about 6,940 people, down from about 7,460 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023, the last year with a capacity figure, was 8,925 beds, and it ran at 76 percent of it that year. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
SearchSystems opened and checked the custody page of the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office at mcso.org/InmateInfo (page title: InmateInfo | Maricopa County Sheriff's Office), which answered when SearchSystems opened it on October 1, 2026.
That page is the place to look for someone who was booked recently; a person cited and released at the scene, or held only a few hours by a city department, will not be on it.
A person sentenced to prison serves the sentence in a facility of the Arizona Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation and Reentry, whose inmate locator is at corrections.az.gov/inmate-data-search.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in Maricopa County
An arrest in Maricopa County can be traced in three places, depending on where the case stands: the custody page of the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office described above, for anyone booked into the county jail; the case index of the Maricopa County Superior Court, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at justicecourts.maricopa.gov/app/courtrecords/casesearch); the County Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at maricopa.gov/m/directory/department?did=389, phone (602) 506-3411).
Statewide, Public Access to Court Information is the Arizona Judicial Branch's free statewide case search; the Maricopa and Pima county courts run their own.
Arizona does not let the public search another person's statewide criminal history. The record kept by the Arizona Department of Public Safety goes to the person it belongs to and to employers and agencies the law authorizes; for everyone else the court's own case index is the public record of an arrest that led to a charge.
Getting a Copy of an Arrest Record in Maricopa County
The report of an arrest is released by the agency that made it; the jail and the court hold their own records of the same event, but not the report. Under the Arizona Public Records Law the agency must answer promptly, with no fixed number of days in the statute, and it may charge the cost of copies, and more for commercial requests.
- An arrest by the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in Phoenix, Mesa, Gilbert, Chandler, Glendale or Scottsdale or another of the cities listed above: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city; the city guides linked above name each city's records office.
- An arrest by Maricopa Community College or Arizona State University: Main Campus: that agency's own records office.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the County Attorney, (602) 506-3411, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Maricopa County Superior Court, through its records page at justicecourts.maricopa.gov.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at maricopa.gov/4214/Public-Records (page title: Maricopa County Public Records Request | Maricopa County, AZ).
- Your own statewide record: a Record Review Packet, fingerprint-based, from the Department of Public Safety.
Cities in Maricopa County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for 18 of the 24 cities in Maricopa County. Fountain Hills, Youngtown, Guadalupe, Cave Creek, Carefree and Gila Bend have no separate reporting agency in the FBI's list.
Wherever in the county the arrest happens, the booking is at the county jail and the case goes to the Maricopa County Superior Court.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Maricopa County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population:
- Phoenix (1,673,164)
- Mesa (517,151)
- Gilbert (288,790)
- Chandler (281,231)
- Glendale (258,143)
- Scottsdale (246,170)
- Tempe (190,114)
- Surprise (167,564)
- Goodyear (118,186)
- Buckeye (114,334)
- Queen Creek (83,781)
- El Mirage (36,468)
- Fountain Hills (23,696)
- Paradise Valley (12,523)
- Tolleson (9,353)
- Wickenburg (8,301)
- Litchfield Park (6,863)
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Maricopa County?
Look on the custody page of the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office at mcso.org/InmateInfo. It covers people booked into the county jail.
Where are people arrested in Maricopa County booked?
In the county jail, run by the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office.
Are arrest records public in Maricopa County?
The court files of criminal cases in the Maricopa County Superior Court are public and can be looked up through the court. The statewide criminal history kept by the Arizona Department of Public Safety is not public; you can get your own. The arrest report itself is released by the agency that made the arrest, under the Arizona Public Records Law.
How do I get a copy of an arrest report in Maricopa County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office for its own arrests, or the agency that reports for the city where it happened. Under the Arizona Public Records Law the answer is due promptly, with no fixed number of days in the statute; the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at maricopa.gov/4214/Public-Records.
Is this the official Maricopa County website?
No. SearchSystems.net is an independent public records guide, online since 1997. It links to the official county, court and state offices described above and does not hold records, charge for them or take requests.