Arizona is a closed state for name searches of the criminal history repository. The Department of Public Safety, which keeps every Arizona arrest and disposition under A.R.S. 41-1750, says plainly that state law does not allow it to run criminal history checks for private citizens, private employers or agencies outside Arizona, nor for employment, immigration, visas or foreign adoptions.
What Arizona offers instead is a fingerprint based review of your own record, a fingerprint clearance card system for the professions the legislature has named, agency checks under statute, and the court system's free public case lookup, which is where the public actually sees Arizona criminal cases by name.
- Your own record: the DPS Record Review Packet, filed with a rolled fingerprint card marked Record Review; a copy of any existing record is mailed within about two weeks.
- Jobs and licenses: the Fingerprint Clearance Card, applied for through the Public Services Portal, valid six years, required by many statutes before licensure, certification or employment.
- Public case search: the Arizona Judicial Branch Public Access Case Lookup, covering 177 of the state's 184 courts, with sealed, protective order, mental health, probate and juvenile delinquency cases left out.
- National record: the FBI Identity History Summary, which DPS names as the way to obtain a national check or clearance.
Written by SearchSystems.net from Arizona's own systems: the Department of Public Safety records request page, the DPS Fingerprint Clearance Card page, the DPS Record Review Packet, the Arizona Judicial Branch Public Access Case Lookup, each read on October 14, 2026 by the SearchSystems editorial team.
The Central State Repository and who may see it
Under A.R.S. 41-1750 the DPS Central State Repository Section is the repository for all Arizona criminal records, and the statute requires every Arizona criminal justice agency to report arrest and disposition information to it. DPS says copies of those records are restricted to authorized individuals and agencies, and it asks the public not to contact its Public Records Unit about criminal records, which that unit does not handle.
The limits are stated on the records request page without hedging. Arizona law does not allow the repository to perform criminal history record checks for private citizens, private employers or agencies outside Arizona for employment, immigration, obtaining a visa or foreign adoptions, and it cannot issue a clearance letter for immigration, visa applications or foreign adoptions. Someone who needs proof that Arizona cannot share records for those reasons can call (602) 223-2000 for a letter saying so. For a local clearance, DPS points to the local police agency; for a national check or clearance, to the FBI's Identity History Summary Check.
Reviewing your own record: the Record Review Packet
The subject of an Arizona criminal record may review it for the sole purpose of checking its accuracy and completeness. The Record Review Packet is requested from the Central State Repository Section at (602) 223-2000, option 2 and then option 3, or downloaded from the records request page; it holds the instructions, a blank applicant fingerprint card, a contact information sheet, a checklist, a FAQ and a pre addressed return envelope.
The rules are strict about the prints. The subject submits a full set of legible rolled fingerprints taken by an official at a law enforcement agency, with the official's badge or serial number, the agency name and the agency ORI in the block provided, and the card must carry the subject's name, date of birth, Social Security number, physical description, signature and residence and must state Record Review as the reason fingerprinted. A card printed by the agency is acceptable if it is the FBI blue standard applicant card with all the required entries. The card must not be bent or folded. Someone represented by an attorney adds an original, notarized letter on the firm's letterhead, signed by the subject, authorizing DPS to communicate with the attorney. The card, the contact sheet and any letter go to the Arizona Department of Public Safety, Central State Repository Section, P.O. Box 18450, Mail Drop 3110, Phoenix, AZ 85005-8450.
DPS states the turnaround two ways: the records page says a response with a copy of any existing record is mailed within 15 days of receiving the completed packet, and the packet itself says within approximately two weeks, by mail or by email when an address is given. The response contains no personal identifying information such as the requester's name or address. Questions about a submission go to the Central State Repository Section at (602) 223-2229. The packet lists no DPS charge for the review.
Checks for authorized agencies: the NCJ Compliance Program
Noncriminal justice agencies inside Arizona that A.R.S. 41-1750(G) and Public Law 92-544 authorize to receive criminal history record information may apply to the Noncriminal Justice Compliance Program, which runs fingerprint based state and federal checks for them. An agency submitting applicant fingerprints must have an FBI approved city, town or county ordinance, tribal resolution, executive order or state statute mandating the check. DPS adds that A.R.S. 41-1750(G) gives it no authority to process applicant fingerprints and release Arizona criminal history to private companies for employment purposes, with the one exception of nonprofit organizations under subsection (G)(23).
The Fingerprint Clearance Card
Arizona's working answer to the closed repository is the fingerprint clearance card. The Arizona Revised Statutes require many professions to hold an active card before or as a condition of licensure, certification or employment, and the DPS Clearance Card Section receives the applications, reviews each applicant's criminal history to decide suitability, and keeps updating the status of cards already issued. The licensing or certifying agency, board or employer, which DPS calls the sponsor, tells the applicant whether a card is needed and which statute requires it; a card is valid for six years, and the sponsor can be added or changed during that time through the Public Services Portal or by email to the section.
Applications run through the Public Services Portal, where the applicant creates an account, fills in the application, pays DPS by credit card, receives a reference number and chooses between electronic fingerprinting, arranged through Fieldprint, and paper fingerprint cards. DPS itself does not take fingerprints and cannot supply a list of paper vendors; paper prints are taken by a third party service or a local law enforcement office and are accepted only with the correct affidavit in a properly sealed envelope, the reference number written in the Miscellaneous No. box. Two card types exist. A Non IVP application lets the technician seal the card and affidavit for the applicant to deliver; an Identity Verified Prints application, required by the statutes that cite A.R.S. 15-106, has the technician mail the card to DPS in a blue postage paid envelope requested through the portal's message center. The same background check is run for both. A Level One card, IVP or not, is barred by the offenses listed in A.R.S. 41-1758.07(B) that still allow a Regular card.
Schools and employers whose staff must keep cards current can sign up on the page to be emailed when a card tied to their authorization changes status. The Clearance Card Section answers at (602) 223-2279, fax (602) 223-2947, by mail at P.O. Box 18390, Phoenix, AZ 85005-8390, and in person at the Public Service Center, 2222 W. Encanto Blvd., Phoenix, AZ 85009. Technical support for the portal is at (602) 223-2999, option 8.
DPS reports that are public: the Public Records Unit
Separate from criminal histories, the DPS Public Records Unit handles public records requests for the department's own records: collision reports for crashes investigated by state troopers on interstates and state highways, offense, incident and arrest reports for cases DPS investigated, citations, warnings and repair orders issued by troopers, dispatch radio and 911 recordings and logs, photographs, body worn and dash camera video, and certified records. Incidents handled by county sheriffs, city police or town marshals, including crashes on local roads, are not kept by DPS and are requested from that agency. A.R.S. 28-667 bars examining or receiving accident reports for commercial solicitation. The unit answers at (602) 223-2000, option 2, Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and in person at the Public Services Center, 2222 W. Encanto Blvd., Phoenix, Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., excluding state holidays.
Where the public checks a name: the courts' case lookup
Because DPS sells no name search, the public record of Arizona criminal cases is the Judicial Branch's Public Access to Court Information, a free case search covering 177 of the 184 courts in Arizona, with a list of the courts not included. The site makes every search pass a randomly generated verification word to prevent high volume use, and refers anyone needing bulk access to its contact page; criminal and civil documents from the Superior Court are reached through the separate eAccess portal.
The courts spell out what the lookup leaves out: sealed cases, cases involving orders of protection, mental health and probate cases, and victim and witness data. Juvenile incorrigibility and delinquency cases cannot be viewed, though other cases with juvenile parties, such as traffic, may appear; charges from local ordinance violations are not included, nor are clerk functions such as passport processing. The courts warn that the information may not be a current, accurate or complete record of the case, can change at any time and is not the official record of the court, so a hit in the lookup is confirmed with the court that holds the file.
Reading an Arizona check
An Arizona background check is three different things depending on who is asking. For the person themselves it is the fingerprint based record review, which returns the Arizona record only and nothing about the requester. For an employer or licensing board it is either a statute backed agency check through the NCJ program or a fingerprint clearance card that DPS adjudicates and keeps updated. For anyone else it is the court lookup, a case index rather than an arrest record, with the exclusions the courts list. A national record comes only from the FBI, and a check for immigration or a visa is one DPS will not run at all.
Questions about background checks in Arizona
Related Arizona records
Arizona's other records fill in what the repository will not release: the Arizona court records guide covers the case files and the eAccess portal, the arrest records guide explains what a booking makes public, the sex offender registry guide covers the DPS offender search, and the Arizona county pages list each sheriff and clerk of the superior court.