Legal Research

Per House Bill 2210 signed by the Governor in June, effective September 26, 2008, fees associated with filing and record searching will substantially increase for all superior and justice courts in the State of Arizona.

For example, at justice courts the fee for "research in locating a document (per year or source researched)" and the separate "certificate of correctness of copy of record" fee will each increase from $17 to $24.  The superior court fee for "research in locating a document (per year or source researched)" and the separate "certificate of correctness of copy of record"  will each increase from $18 to $26. The copy fee remains the same at $.50 per copy at all courts.  Nearly every filing fee is increasing. For example, filing fees for civil cases in the superior court will increase from $245 to $286.

What is frustrating to many Arizona record searchers and private investigators is that when a clerk is given a specific specific docket or case number to pull, in some courts the clerk is charging a "search fee" although no searching is performed. Useful advice from several of our AZ PI friends is to bring a copy of the law in hand when visiting certain courts. The good news is that members of the Arizona Association of Licensed Private Investigators are working with the Supreme Court to effectively rewrite the language in the law so there is no confusion.
House Bill 2210 can be viewed at:
www.azleg.gov/FormatDocument.asp?inDoc=/legtext/48leg/2r/laws/0286.htm
Maricopa County presents an easy-to-read list of the superior court fee changes at:
www.clerkofcourt.maricopa.gov/faxondemand/100FeeSchedule.pdf
In the meantime, the Winslow Justice Court in Navajo County AZ recently raised its search fee and its certification fee from $17 to $20.