How to Get Court Records
Every records request starts with two facts: the court and the case number. Arizona Public Access gets you both. Next, think about what you truly need from the Navajo County court docket. A case-history printout may be enough. Maybe you need one filed order, a link to the whole file, or a certified copy instead. eAccess can supply eligible images for Superior Court civil and criminal cases. Anything missing, older, or needing official status belongs with the custodian of the record. For Superior Court matters, that means the Clerk of the Superior Court in Navajo County. Justice court and municipal court requests go straight to whichever lower court holds the file.
- Find the court and full case number through the public index or existing papers.
- Choose case history, a named filing, a plain copy, or a certified copy.
- Check eAccess for eligible Superior Court civil or criminal images.
- Complete the Navajo County records request form when clerk service is needed.
- Submit by email, mail, fax, or at the Holbrook counter and select delivery.
- Call the records office if a transcript, exhibit, or restricted file needs special handling.
The Clerk of Court takes requests several ways. Call 928-524-4188, or email navajorecords@courts.az.gov. Mail a written request to P.O. Box 668, Holbrook, AZ 86025, or fax it to 928-524-4261. No method guarantees a fixed turnaround, so plan for some wait after your request is filed.
Navajo County Three Record Layers
Keep the three layers of a Navajo County court record separate. One layer is the case index. It lists parties, events, hearing settings, and the outcome. Another layer holds the filed documents themselves. These include the complaint, a motion, a minute entry, an order, or a judgment. The third layer is the certified copy. The Clerk authenticates that reproduction, and it is what official proof requires. A page printed from a portal stays unofficial. Even so, it came from a government site.
| Layer | What it supplies | Best channel |
|---|---|---|
| Case information | Court, number, type, status, events, public setting data | Public Access |
| Filed document | The text of a pleading, minute entry, order, or judgment | eAccess or the holding clerk |
| Certified record | Clerk-attested official reproduction | The clerk that maintains the original file |
The layers matter because of one common mistake. An index entry can say an order was filed without revealing what the order says, so do not read the docket line as the ruling itself.
Types of Court Records
Court records in Navajo County come in several stripes. Superior Court files span criminal, civil, family, probate, mental-health, and juvenile matters. They also include appeals from the limited courts. Access depends on the category. Six Justice Courts handle their own caseload. It covers misdemeanors, civil and criminal traffic, DUI, civil claims up to $10,000, small claims, evictions, and protective orders. Municipal clerks, meanwhile, hold mostly city misdemeanor, traffic, and city-code files.
- Case histories and docket-style event indexes
- Pleadings, petitions, answers, motions, and responses
- Minute entries, hearing notices, orders, and judgments
- Available exhibits, hearing discs, and transcript inquiries
- Plain copies, certified copies, authentication, and exemplification
Transcripts sit outside the Clerk's usual copy service. The form tells you to call first, since the reporter or transcriber, the wait, and the rate all turn on the specific proceeding. Exhibits can be sealed or handed back too. So name any exhibit you need with care.
Navajo County Request Form
Expect to list your contact details, the case number, and the party names on the Navajo County request form. Add a plain description of the record. Include any known filing or hearing dates, how many copies you want, the copy type, and your delivery preference. A commercial-purpose disclosure is required as well. Optional services include a marriage abstract, a hearing copy on disc, authentication, exemplification, a case-file link, a transcript inquiry, and research or microfiche work. Share only what helps the clerk find the court file. A precise date helps. An exact document title cuts the odds of getting the wrong pages copied.
| Case identification | Case number, party names, and dates tied to the requested file |
|---|---|
| Record description | Exact order, judgment, minute entry, hearing, or file range sought |
| Copy choice | Plain, certified, authenticated, exemplified, disc, link, or research |
| Delivery | Email, pickup, mail, or fax |
| Submission | Email, printed mail, printed fax, or Holbrook counter |
The alternate county form adds commercial-use wording tied to A.R.S. § 39-121.03. Filling it out fully does not override judicial confidentiality rules.
What a Court Record Contains
A Navajo County court records search usually hands you an event list first. The full case file holds more. Its header shows the court, the case number, the category, the filing date, and the current status. Party and counsel details may follow. That happens where the system makes them public. After that come the pleadings and a dated chain of notices, settings, minute entries, orders, and disposition records. Financial entries show up only when public release is allowed.
| Case number | The exact court-assigned identifier; formats differ by court |
|---|---|
| Pleadings | Complaints, petitions, answers, motions, responses, and replies |
| Minute entries | The Clerk's written record of action taken during a proceeding |
| Orders and judgments | Signed judicial directions and final enforceable determinations |
| Settings | Date, time, division, judicial officer, event type, and location when public |
| Disposition | Recorded outcome, with the actual order controlling its meaning |
| Exhibits | Filed or lodged evidence when retained and open to access |
Be careful how you read a docket entry. A motion is only a request, never a ruling. A notice of settlement does not, by itself, prove that judgment was entered. When the exact legal effect matters, go to the latest signed order.
Navajo County Older Microfiche
The Clerk's $35 research option expressly covers microfiche. That fee is a useful clue about Navajo County court records: the historical collection runs wider than the online services. eAccess says its Superior Court civil and criminal document coverage starts July 1, 2010. Yet that date is not a claim that earlier files vanished. Older records may simply need staff research plus a separate copy charge. The Arizona Judicial Branch Annual Data Reports page gives the official statewide statistics. Those figures sit behind the courts' workload.
That official page reports court totals for the whole state, not the contents of any one case. Aggregate statistics cannot substitute for a Clerk record request when you need the actual file.
Note: Ask the Records Department about archive availability and timing because no reviewed official source promises a fixed processing period.
Certified Copies and Fees
A plain copy just reproduces the page from the Navajo County court docket file. Certification costs more because the Clerk attests to it. Authentication and exemplification are pricier still. They make sense only when the receiving office demands that level of service. The current Navajo County fee form publishes the amounts below. Email or pickup carries no delivery charge, while mail and fax do.
| Item | Published amount |
|---|---|
| Printed or emailed copies | $0.50 per page |
| Paper certification | $35 per document plus copies |
| Hearing copy on disc | $35 each |
| Marriage abstract | $35 per document |
| Authentication | $105 per document plus copies |
| Exemplification | $70 per document plus copies |
| Case file emailed as link | $35 each |
| Research or microfiche | $35 each |
| Mail or fax delivery | $8; mail may use a stamped return envelope |
| Card convenience fee | 2.39% |
Clerk of the Superior Court
100 East Code Talkers Drive
Holbrook, AZ 86025
928-524-4188
Navajo County Clerk Location Limit
Navajo County runs a Superior Court location at 550 North 9th Place in Show Low. The Clerk offers no front-office help there. The official Superior Court page says so plainly. Certified court records and counter requests still go through Holbrook. That can catch people off guard when a hearing happened in Show Low. Where you appeared and where the records live are two different things. Michael Sample is the elected Clerk named on the official county page. Arcenia Pacheco serves as Chief Deputy. The office takes filings and sits in on proceedings. It records actions, prepares minute entries, preserves documents and exhibits, and opens the docket to the public. Justice Court and municipal clerks keep their own case files. Check the route before sending their paperwork to the Superior Court form.
Public Access and Sealed Records
Arizona Supreme Court Rule 123 governs who may see judicial records in Navajo County and across the state. It works alongside Arizona's public-record statutes while guarding privacy, confidentiality, and the court's own operations. Some material stays closed. It applies across the state. Sealed cases, protected personal data, and victim or witness information can be withheld or redacted. Public Access leaves out orders of protection as well. Mental-health and probate cases are left out too, along with juvenile delinquency or incorrigibility records.
Key Rules:
Arizona Supreme Court Rule 123 governs public access to judicial records.
A.R.S. § 39-121 states Arizona's general public-record inspection rule, subject to laws governing judicial records.
A.R.S. § 8-208 controls access to protected juvenile court and law-enforcement records.
If a court record is restricted, contact the court that holds it and explain your basis for authorized access. A missing image in the portal grants no right to view the file.
Navajo County Federal Records
Federal cases arising in Navajo County bypass Arizona Public Access. District court matters go through the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona. PACER handles them. Bankruptcy filings land in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Arizona. Appeals travel to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. Those clerks and systems stand apart from Navajo County Superior Court. The bankruptcy court's official site shows how that separate federal channel works.
The Ninth Circuit's official page serves as the appellate source for federal cases from Arizona.
That completes the split between state and federal routes. Copies of a federal docket follow federal rules, and the Navajo County Clerk does not certify them.