Arizona Justice Courts by County

Where Landlord and Tenant Cases Are Heard

Arizona hears most landlord and tenant matters in its justice courts -- county courts, each presided over by an elected Justice of the Peace. The precinct is set by where the rental property sits. Not by where the landlord lives, not by where the tenant has moved to, and not by which courthouse happens to be nearest.

Three qualifications on that, because the short version sends people to the wrong building.

The Superior Court Shares This Work

Justice courts do not hold these cases to themselves. Arizona gives Justices of the Peace jurisdiction concurrent with the superior court over forcible entry and detainer, up to a limit the statute sets on the amount involved. Above that limit the case belongs in the superior court. Below it, either court may hear it, and in practice the justice court is where an eviction is filed.

A counterclaim can move the case on its own. Say a tenant files a verified counterclaim for more than the limit. The Justice of the Peace then has to note it in the record, stop the case at once, and forward the papers to the superior court, which handles it from there as though it had been brought there originally.

A Question About Ownership Stops the Case

A Justice of the Peace may decide who is entitled to possession, but only while title or ownership of the property is not in question. If ownership does become an issue, the same thing happens: the justice certifies it, stops, and sends everything to the superior court.

In an ordinary case between a landlord and a tenant this does not arise, because the statute says title to the leased property may not be raised or made an issue in an action for possession. It matters where the arrangement is not a straightforward tenancy -- somebody occupying under a contract of sale, or an inherited property whose ownership is unsettled.

Municipal Courts Are a Different Thing

Every incorporated Arizona city and town has a municipal court. What it handles is cases arising under that town's own ordinances, together with state-law violations committed inside the town limits. It is not where a landlord files to recover possession.

The confusion is understandable, because several towns style their municipal court a magistrate court, and some of those towns also have a county justice court a few streets away. The sign on the door is not what decides it. A justice court is a county court with an elected Justice of the Peace.

One small thing worth knowing if a case is filed. A Justice of the Peace may require arbitration or another form of dispute resolution in civil actions generally -- but not in eviction actions, which are carved out.

The Courts, County by County

These pages cover all 73 justice courts across Arizona's fifteen counties, at 76 addresses, with telephone numbers, hours and the practical detail of getting into the building. The two counts differ because three courts sit in two places each: Bagdad-Yarnell, Copper Corridor and Northstar.

• Apache County — 3 justice courts
• Cochise County — 6 justice courts
• Coconino County — 4 justice courts
• Gila County — 2 justice courts
• Graham County — 1 justice court
• Greenlee County — 2 justice courts
• La Paz County — 1 justice court
• Maricopa County — 26 justice courts
• Mohave County — 4 justice courts
• Navajo County — 6 justice courts
• Pima County — 3 justice courts
• Pinal County — 6 justice courts
• Santa Cruz County — 1 justice court
• Yavapai County — 5 justice courts
• Yuma County — 3 justice courts

A Note on Accuracy

Arizona has been consolidating rural justice courts. Santa Cruz eliminated its second precinct in 2019, and Graham and La Paz both consolidated in 2023 -- La Paz merging three courts into one. Several commercial court directories still list the closed courts as though they were open. Everything here was checked in August 2026, and it is still worth confirming with the court before relying on it for a filing.

What has to happen before any of this arises -- the notice, and how the days are counted -- is on ending a tenancy.

Where These Rules Come From

Arizona's laws are collected in a set called the Arizona Revised Statutes, usually shortened to A.R.S. The number that follows points to one section of it.

You do not need these numbers to use this page. They are here so that you, or a lawyer you hire, can check the exact wording. Each one links to the official text on the Arizona Legislature's website, which opens in a new tab.

• A.R.S. 22-201 is what a Justice of the Peace may hear. Subsection C is the jurisdiction shared with the superior court over forcible entry and detainer, and the limit on it. D is the ownership rule and what happens when ownership becomes an issue. F says title may not be raised in a landlord and tenant possession action. G is the counterclaim that moves the case. H is the arbitration carve-out for evictions.
• A.R.S. 22-402 establishes municipal courts and sets out what they hear, which is where the difference above comes from.
• A.R.S. 33-1377 is the special detainer action, the form an eviction under the Landlord and Tenant Act takes. It borrows its procedure from the general forcible detainer rules in title 12.
• A.R.S. 12-1175 is how such an action is started, and it names both courts: the complaint is filed with the clerk of the superior court or with a justice of the peace.