Reviewed and updated October 9, 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. Every office link was opened and checked against the office's own site between September 23, 2026 and October 1, 2026.
Tempe, Arizona, in Maricopa County, has about 190,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate). A traffic ticket written in Tempe is a court case in the Justice Courts; a city with a municipal court tries its own, and the conviction it ends in goes on the driving record kept by the Arizona Department of Transportation Motor Vehicle Division. This guide says which court takes the ticket, who writes them and where the driving record lives.
This guide covers where tickets go, who writes them, the driving record and common questions.
Related guides: Tempe public records, Maricopa County traffic tickets, Tempe arrest records, Tempe warrants, Tempe inmate search, Tempe criminal records, Arizona arrest records and Arizona inmate search.
Where a Ticket Written in Tempe Goes
Tickets in Tempe are split by who wrote them: the Justice Courts for deputies and troopers, the municipal courts for city officers in the cities that run one. A paid ticket, a dismissal and a trial all end up in that court's records.
For Maricopa County, SearchSystems opened and checked the Justice Courts page 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 the court that takes the tickets.
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 Writes the Tickets in Tempe
The Maricopa County Sheriff's Office and the agency that reports for Tempe (filed by the FBI as Tempe Police Department) write the traffic tickets in and around Tempe.
The FBI's agency list also places these agencies in Maricopa County: Maricopa Community College and Arizona State University's Main Campus (campus police).
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 Driving Record and the Arizona Department of Transportation Motor Vehicle Division
Convictions are reported by the court to the Arizona Department of Transportation Motor Vehicle Division, which keeps the driving record and decides on points and suspensions. Order the driving record from that agency, not from the court.
Paying a ticket is a conviction, reported to the Arizona Department of Transportation Motor Vehicle Division like any other; contesting it means a plea of not guilty entered with the court by the date on the ticket.
A DUI is a criminal charge rather than a ticket, with its own license case before the Motor Vehicle Division (see Tempe DUI).
Frequently Asked Questions
Where do I pay a traffic ticket from Tempe?
With the Justice Courts, whose page SearchSystems verified is at justicecourts.maricopa.gov; a ticket from city police goes to the city's municipal court where it has one.
Who keeps my driving record in Arizona?
The Arizona Department of Transportation Motor Vehicle Division. The court reports each conviction to it, and paying a ticket counts as one.
Which court handles traffic tickets in Tempe?
The Justice Courts, which take misdemeanors, traffic cases, civil cases up to $10,000 and evictions. A city with a municipal court of its own tries the tickets under its ordinances.
Is this the official Tempe website?
No. SearchSystems.net is an independent public records guide, online since 1997. It links to the official city, county, court and state offices described above and does not hold records, charge for them or take requests.