Arizona - - Where do criminal justice data live in your state?

The Criminal History Records Section at the Arizona Department of Public Safety (DPS) oversees the Arizona Computerized Criminal History (ACCH) system, the state’s central repository for criminal history information. Local criminal justice agencies across the state are mandated to report arrest and disposition data to the DPS.

Case information for the majority of courts in Arizona is housed centrally by the Administrative Office of Courts (AOC). As of April 2020, 174 of the state’s 184 courts reported data to the AOC via e-filing. This includes Superior court information from 13 of Arizona’s 15 counties. The exceptions are the state’s two most populous counties, Maricopa and Pima. In addition to Maricopa Superior Court, five municipal courts in the county (i.e., Chandler, Gilbert, Mesa, Paradise Valley, and Tempe) maintain their own data. The Pima County Superior Court also manages its own data but according to the AOC, is expected to be included in the consolidated system sometime in the Spring of 2020.

The Arizona Department of Corrections Rehabilitation and Reentry (ADCRR) collects information on individuals who are currently and have been previously incarcerated by the Arizona State Corrections System. This information is accessible online via the ADC’s “Inmate Datasearch” and available upon request and approval by the ADCRR’s Public Access Unit.

In addition to the above mentioned localized court data, there are 15 county attorneys and 15 sheriffs’ offices, each office representing one of Arizona’s counties and with independent responsibility for data collection. As of 2008, there are 96 local police departments throughout Arizona that employ at least one full-time officer, each collecting its own arrest data to some extent.