Reviewed and updated October 7, 2026 by the SearchSystems.net editorial team. The arrest counts are the ones each agency reported to the FBI, as the FBI held them on October 8, 2026. 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). Every warrant for Maricopa County comes from a judge of the Maricopa County Superior Court or the Justice Courts, is served by whichever agency finds the person, and is recorded in the court file of the case it was issued in. This guide says who issues and serves warrants here, where a person arrested on one is held, how to check for one and how one is cleared.
This guide covers who issues warrants, who serves warrants, after a warrant arrest, checking for a warrant, clearing a warrant and common questions.
Related guides: Maricopa County public records, Maricopa County inmate search, Maricopa County criminal records, Maricopa County court records, Maricopa County police reports, Arizona arrest records and Arizona inmate search.
Who Issues Warrants in Maricopa County
In Arizona an arrest warrant is signed by a judge. For Maricopa County that means the Maricopa County Superior Court, which hears felonies, civil cases over $10,000, divorces, probate and juvenile matters; the Justice Courts, which take misdemeanors, traffic cases, civil cases up to $10,000 and evictions, issue their own warrants on the cases before them. A city with a municipal court of its own issues warrants on the tickets and ordinance cases it tries.
A bench warrant follows a missed court date in any of those courts. Whichever kind it is, the warrant is part of the file of the case it was issued in, and the Clerk of the Superior Court keeps that file.
For Maricopa County, SearchSystems opened and checked the court records page for the county at justicecourts.maricopa.gov/app/courtrecords/casesearch (page title: Case Search), which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 23, 2026. That page belongs to a lower court, the Justice Courts, not to the Maricopa County Superior Court.
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.
Who Serves Warrants in Maricopa County
The Maricopa County Sheriff's Office and the agencies that report for Phoenix, Mesa, Gilbert, Chandler, Glendale, Scottsdale and 12 more cities serve warrants in Maricopa County.
The FBI's agency list also places these agencies in Maricopa County: Maricopa Community College and Arizona State University's Main Campus (campus police); each serves warrants on its own ground.
The Apache Junction Police Department is listed by the FBI across two counties including Maricopa County, so its arrests are not broken out for Maricopa County here.
The agency that serves a warrant from Maricopa County is whichever one finds the person; an Arizona warrant is valid across Arizona.
Together, the 16 agencies in Maricopa County with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 122,747 arrests to the FBI that year; arrests on warrants are counted among them, not separately.
Where a Person Arrested on a Warrant from Maricopa County Is Held
A person arrested on a warrant and kept in custody goes to the county jail, whichever agency made the arrest. The jail, run by the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office, held about 6,940 people on an average day in 2024 by the Vera Institute of Justice's count and has a custody page SearchSystems verified at mcso.org/InmateInfo. The Maricopa County inmate search guide covers the jail in full.
A person arrested in Maricopa County on a warrant from another county is held at the same jail until that county takes custody.
How to Check for a Warrant in Maricopa County
The places to check for a warrant from Maricopa County: the court file of the case, through the Clerk of the Superior Court, since a warrant is recorded in the case it was issued in; Public Access to Court Information, the Arizona Judicial Branch's free statewide case search; the Maricopa and Pima county courts run their own, for a case whose register of actions shows a warrant; the County Attorney, phone (602) 506-3411, which can say whether charges were filed; a warrant on a complaint follows the filing; the custody page of the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office at mcso.org/InmateInfo, which shows people already arrested and booked, not open warrants.
Not one of the Maricopa County pages SearchSystems verified (the sheriff's, the court's, the prosecutor's and the records request) is a list of open warrants, so a check means asking the court or the prosecutor about a case by name.
The statewide criminal history kept by the Arizona Department of Public Safety is not open to the public in Arizona, so it is not a route to a warrant check on someone else.
Clearing a Warrant from Maricopa County
Only the judge who issued a warrant can recall it. For a case from Maricopa County that means appearing before the Maricopa County Superior Court or the Justice Courts, with the case put back on the calendar through the Clerk of the Superior Court.
A missed date in a case before the Justice Courts is handled by that court, not by the Maricopa County Superior Court.
A lawyer can often arrange the appearance in advance. The County Attorney's page SearchSystems verified is at maricopa.gov/m/directory/department?did=389, phone (602) 506-3411.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I check for a warrant online in Maricopa County?
Not from the Maricopa County pages SearchSystems verified; none of them is a warrant list. Public Access to Court Information is the Arizona Judicial Branch's free statewide case search; the Maricopa and Pima county courts run their own, and a case whose register of actions shows a warrant is the record of it. The court file is the record of a warrant: ask the Clerk of the Superior Court.
Who serves warrants in Maricopa County?
The Maricopa County Sheriff's Office, and the agency that reports for the city where the person is found; an Arizona warrant is valid anywhere in the state.
Where is a person arrested on a warrant in Maricopa County held?
At the county jail, run by the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office, if kept in custody.
How is a warrant from Maricopa County cleared?
By appearing before the court that issued it; the judge recalls the warrant in court. The case is put back on the calendar through the Clerk of the Superior Court.
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.