Bookmark this page or copy and paste URL to Email message

Pima County Superior Court 1864-1995

RG 110 SG 8

Administrative Note

Pima County was the last of the four Arizona counties created under the Howell Code of 1864 and is named for the Pima Indians. In subsequent years, the territorial legislature created all or part of Maricopa, Pinal, Cochise, Graham and Santa Cruz Counties from the original Pima County. The county seat is Tucson.

In territorial Arizona, there were three courts for each county: Justice, Probate, and District Court. The Justice court handled minor civil and criminal matters and its cases could be moved up to the District courts after review. The Probate court handled estates, guardianships and adoptions, matters of insanity and sometimes naturalizations. The District Court served as the official court of record and handled felony criminal cases, civil cases, marriages, divorces, and sometimes naturalizations. Between 1885 and 1887, Pima County also had a County Court that had jurisdiction over felony criminal, civil, and probate matters and operated concurrently with the county District Court. The County Court was eliminated in 1887 for being redundant and its records transferred to the clerk of the District court.

The President of the United States appointed the District Court justices and each justice usually presided over more than one county. District Court sessions were held in each county seat on a schedule set by the Arizona Legislature. In 1901, the Probate Court overtook the recording and issuing of marriage certificates until the 1910 Arizona State Constitution combined the functions of the Probate and District Courts into the Superior Court.

Scope and Content

This collection contains records from the District, Probate, County and Superior Courts of Pima County. It includes civil and criminal matters, probate matters, naturalizations, and mental health records. The bulk of this collection consists of records from 1864 up to 1930.

Arrangement

Restrictions

Access Restrictions

All photocopies of original materials are made by staff. We reserve the right to refuse copy services based on physical condition and possible damage to the materials.

For preservation purposes, if microfilm copies are available, patrons will use the microfilm first.

Under Arizona Revised Statute 39-141, public records used for commercial purposes have additional requirements. Please contact the Arizona State Archives for further information.

Copyright

It is the researcher’s responsibility to determine the copyright status of materials he or she uses. The Arizona State Library, Archives and Public Records is not legally or financially responsible for any copyright infringement by researchers.

Many documents held by the Arizona State Archives fall under the Public Record law (ARS 41-1350). Documents created by the government are not copyrighted. The United States of America Copyright Law (P.L. 94-553, effective Jan. 1, 1978) extends statutory rights of authority to unpublished works which were previously protected by literary property rights under common law. Such works do not have to be registered with the Copyright Office to receive protection under the law.

Related Material

Researchers should Pima County Justice Court for additional court records (RG 110, SG 4). Some legal recordings such as Power of Attorneys are under the Recorder's Office (SG 5).

Controlled Access Terms

Administrative Information

Credit Line

Bibliographic citations must cite the title of the record group(s), the box or volume number, Archives and Records Management and the name of the Arizona State Library, Archives and Public Records in full. Please use the following example:

Governor George W.P. Hunt to Ely Sims, November 21, 1919, Box 14, Office of the Governor, RG 1, Archives and Records Management, Arizona State Library, Archives and Public Records.

Accruals

Further accruals are expected.

Container List