Pinal County Clerk of Superior Court

About the Pinal County Clerk's Office

The Clerk of the Superior Court is a constitutional officer elected by Pinal County voters. The current Clerk is Rebecca Padilla, and her office acts as the official record keeper and financial officer for the Superior Court. The position is independent of the bench, which means the Clerk holds, secures, and certifies court files in their own right. The office sits inside the main Superior Court complex in Florence, the Pinal County seat. Court files held there reach back to 1875.

The Clerk's About page describes the duties in plain terms. Staff process every paper and exhibit filed in Superior Court, log it, and store it under statutory rules. The office also handles money. Filing fees, fines, restitution, trust funds, and other court-ordered payments all flow through the Clerk. Over six million dollars passes through the office's fiduciary care in a typical year. The Clerk's staff sit in court during sessions to record exhibits and minute entries, which gives the file its independent legal weight. For background on the role of the Clerk in the Arizona court system, see the Arizona Judicial Branch Superior Court page, which sets the statewide framework.

The statewide page explains how each county Superior Court fits into the trial-court level above the justice and municipal courts, and that is the level the Pinal Clerk serves.

What the Pinal County Clerk Does

The Clerk wears more hats than most visitors expect. State law and the Arizona Constitution give the office six broad roles, and each one shapes how court records are stored and released. The Clerk's About page lays out the duties in build-ready language for anyone who needs to know which task lives where.

The page is helpful because it ties each duty to a real service. A copy clerk reads it the same way the public should: who keeps the file, who takes the fee, who issues the writ.

• Administrator of court records and exhibits. Every paper and exhibit filed in Superior Court must be processed, secured, and purged on the statutory schedule.
• Financial and fiduciary officer. The office handles filing fees, fines, reimbursements, restitution, and trust funds. Over $6 million passes through fiduciary protection each year.
• Jury commissioner. The Clerk runs the Superior Court jury pool and posts jury instructions, parking notes, and courthouse layout details.
• Judicial and quasi-judicial officer. The Clerk issues writs, subpoenas, wage assignments, and other court-related orders, often paired with Sheriff Civil Unit or constable service.
• Probate registrar. The Clerk holds limited probate functions, including informal appointment of personal representatives.
• Ex-officio court attendant. Clerk staff sit at every Superior Court session to receive and record documents and exhibits.

That mix is why a copy of a divorce decree, a restitution ledger, a guardianship letter, and a jury summons can all come from the same office. The Clerk handles the file at every step, so the certified copy carries that office's seal.

Note: The Clerk is independent of the judges and is elected by Pinal County voters, which is why records requests go to the Clerk and not to a judge's chambers.

Pinal County Records Held by the Clerk

The Clerk holds Superior Court records by case type. Some categories are open to the public on request. Others are closed by law or by Arizona Supreme Court Rule 123. The categories below come straight from the Clerk's Request Copies page and FAQ. For deeper case-by-case detail, see the court records page.

The full set covered by the Florence office spans 150 years. Some files are paper, some are microfilm, and most modern files are digital. Older records can take longer to pull because staff may need to retrieve them from storage or research them by year. To see how the office handles common questions about access, the Clerk FAQ page is the best starting point.

The FAQ page is also the place where the Clerk reminds users that probate, dependency, severance, mental health, and adoption matters are not open to public review or reproduction.

• Civil cases, including small claims and tax cases
• Criminal cases at the Superior Court level
• Probate, including formal and informal probate
• Domestic relations, including divorce, legal separation, and custody
• Guardianship and conservatorship
• Juvenile matters where access is allowed by law
• Marriage licenses from 1875 to present

Mental health, dependency, severance, and adoption matters are not available for public review or reproduction. Sealed cases are also off limits. For marriage and divorce specifics, see the marriage and divorce records page. For estate files, see the probate records page.

How to Request a Certified Copy in Pinal County

Certified copies prove a record is a true copy of the official file. Courts, agencies, banks, schools, employers, and foreign governments all ask for certified copies. Plain copies are fine for personal use, but a legal proceeding needs the Clerk's seal. The Pinal Clerk certifies any document the office holds, for $35 per document.

The Clerk's Request Copies page made the old phone-first process unnecessary. The new flow runs entirely on the Request for Court Records form, an emailed or mailed fee quote, and an approved payment method. Most requests close within ten business days from the day the form is received.

1. Find the case number first. Use Arizona Public Access at apps.azcourts.gov/publicaccess/caselookup.aspx to pull the case number, court, parties, and filing year. Missing case information can trigger a $35 research fee for each year searched under A.R.S. § 12-284.
2. Fill out the Request for Court Records form. List the case number, court, year, party names, exact documents requested, and how you want the copy delivered.
3. Submit the form. Bring it to 971 N Jason Lopez Circle Building A in Florence, or mail it to P.O. Box 2730, Florence, AZ 85132. Include a self-addressed stamped envelope if requesting by mail.
4. Wait for the fee quote. The Clerk contacts the requester within five business days to confirm fees due. The quote covers copies, certification, research, and shipping.
5. Pay the fee. Pay online through the Clerk's payment page, or mail a check or money order payable to Clerk of Superior Court, P.O. Box 2730, Florence, AZ 85132.
6. Allow up to five business days after payment. The Clerk releases the certified copy by pickup or by mail once payment clears.

For files older than 1990, allow extra time because staff may need to research the year. For marriage records, the Florence office also lets users research the records themselves at no charge if the year is unknown.

Pinal Records Request Form Fields

The Request for Court Records form is the single entry point for any copy from the Pinal Clerk. The form fields below come directly from the Clerk's request page. Knowing what the form asks for helps a requester gather the right details before filling it out and avoid back-and-forth with the office.

If the request involves marriage records, the Clerk also asks for both party names, the spouse's maiden name, marriage date or year, and dates of birth for both parties. For marriage license filings, see the marriage and divorce records page for the full field set.

Pinal County Clerk Fee Schedule

Fees are set by statute and by the Arizona Supreme Court. The Pinal Clerk lists current fees on the Request Copies and Marriage Licenses pages. The table below reflects the published amounts.

The research fee is the one that catches people off guard. If the case number is missing, the Clerk charges $35 for each year staff have to search, which can add up quickly on old or common-name cases. The simple fix is to pull the case number from Arizona Public Access before sending the form.

Note: Marriage license payments accept cash, personal check, money order, cashier's check, Visa, and Mastercard, while court-record copies allow online payment and mail payment by check or money order.

Digital Evidence and Live Court

The Pinal Clerk runs a digital evidence portal called Case Center. The portal is not a public record search tool. It is the tool the Clerk uses to manage exhibits for approved cases, which means a party or attorney on an approved case must email the Clerk to get the upload and review link.

The page makes clear that Case Center is for case participants only, not for open public browsing, which keeps exhibits secure until they enter the public record through a hearing or filing.

Live court streaming runs alongside Case Center. Select Pinal civil and criminal hearings are broadcast online, but juvenile cases, sealed cases, and certain family matters are not streamed. The streaming page tells users to check the daily calendar docket if they do not know which room or judge to select. For broader public records beyond the courts, see the public records page, which covers Recorder, Assessor, and Sheriff systems.

Records Closed by Law or Rule 123

Arizona court records are open by default. The exception is records closed by law or by Arizona Supreme Court Rule 123. The Pinal Clerk's Request Copies page specifically names four categories as not available for public review or reproduction: Mental Health, Dependency, Severance, and Adoption. Sealed cases and protective orders are also excluded from the statewide Arizona Public Access portal.

Rule 123 does not block parties from getting their own records. A parent in a dependency case, a respondent in a mental health hearing, or an adoptive parent can still request files through counsel and through the Clerk's confidential records process. Rule 123 only restricts what the general public can pull.

For a deeper walkthrough of what is open, what is sealed, and what is partly redacted, the FAQ page covers the most common questions.

Related Pinal County Resources

For full case files, see court records. For estates and guardianship, see probate records. For marriage license details, see marriage and divorce records. For everything outside the courts, see public records. For common questions, see the FAQ.