CASE HISTORY INDEX Clerk of the Superior Court Maricopa County, AZ Updated through 2018 PRINTING INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE CASE HISTORY INDEX The Case History Index has been divided into six sections. You may view or print the entire document or only that section that is relevant for your current needs. The Case History section contains a glossary of terms and several special interest areas for those seeking a more complete view of the history of records in the custody of the Clerk of Court’s Office. It also contains specific information on how to research case categories that have exception requirements. The Adult, Juvenile and Marriage License Index sections are listings of all Superior Court cases by category, number and year, along with their totals and growth percentages from year to year. The Adult and Juvenile Charts are supplied as visual attachments to the information supplied in the Case History index, offering different interpretations of the data and how some of the Index information relates to Maricopa County population growth. 1 MARICOPA COUNTY – CLERK OF SUPERIOR COURT JEFF FINE The Clerk of Superior Court’s Office was established by the Arizona Constitution as an elected office with specific and special duties, primarily to serve as the official record keeper and financial officer for the Superior Court. The functions of the Clerk of the Court satisfy more than 500 state statutes and court rules. One of the major functions for which the Clerk is responsible is to receive, distribute and preserve official records for all Superior Court actions; i.e., civil, criminal, juvenile, probate, tax, and domestic relations matters. The Case History Index was originally created to show the yearly growth percentage for cases filed with the Clerk of Superior Court’s Office. It has since evolved to include some historical information, and provide location and access information, as well as summary figures, for each case category. Additionally, in late 1997, the Clerk’s Office, with Superior Court, developed a Web site for access to the Clerk’s Office Docket. …The office of the Clerk can be traced back to the year 1272 AD in the History of Corporation of Old London. In the 1500’s in England there was not only the Towne Clarcke, but also the Clerc Comptroller of the King’s Honorable Household. In 1603, there was a Clarke general of the Armie. King Henry VIII had a Clarke of the Spicery. When the early colonists came to America, they set up forms of local government to which they had become accustomed, and the Office of the Clerk was one of the first established. The colony at Plymouth appointed a person to act as the recorder. Over the years, Clerks have become the hub of the government, the direct link between the residents and their government. Their Clerk is the historian of the county, for the entire recorded history of the county and its people are in his care. …reprinted from the IACREOT NEWS, March 1998 On March 21, 2006 Supreme Court Administrative Order 2006-029, Arizona Code of Judicial Administration 3- 402: Superior Court Records Retention and Disposition was signed replacing Administrative Order 1991-013. A.R.S. 41-1339 requires Superior Court Clerks to transfer permanent files to the Director of the Arizona State Library, Archives, and Public Records (ASLAPR) at the end of their prescribed retention period pursuant to court rules. Rule 29, Rules of the Supreme Court requires the court to adopt retention and disposition schedules and purge lists for the court records. Extensive background work spanning the course of several years established a more efficient and effective guide for preserving for the official record for all Superior Court actions, as is reflected in this new Administrative Order, as well as becoming the forefront leading towards the electronic court record. For additional Records information, please contact the Clerk’s Office at (602) 372-5375, or through the web page address at http://www.clerkofcourt.maricopa.gov 2 1/1/07 Initiative (Supreme Court Administrative Order 2006-96) January 1, 2007 was a significant milestone for the Clerk’s Office. It was the day that Clerk of the Court, Michael Jeanes, implemented an end to placing paper documents received into hard copy files (adult case types only), eliminating the need for folders to be created and maintained for cases filed on and after 1/1/07. Instead, the paper documents filed are scanned, audited, and then disposed of after a series of quality checks for accuracy are completed. To achieve this major goal, the Office obtained Supreme Court Administrative Order 2006-96 authorizing the Clerk of the Superior Court in Maricopa County to dispose of certain paper filings after their electronic image is captured and maintained, ensuring the Office complied with all minimum standards and requirements for access, availability and retention while maintaining multiple electronic backup systems to access and preserve active and archived court records; thus, recognizing the Electronic Court Record (ECR) as the original. Pursuant to the Order, the “original” document is the electronic image of that document as maintained in the Clerk of the Superior Court’s Electronic Document Management System (EDMS). As a result of this progress, customers who request a file from 2002 to the present date are referred to the Public Access Terminals available at customer service locations to view the record. The hard copy file is no longer pulled from the fileroom, as it would not represent the complete record. Some documents exempt from this process, pending further order of the court, include lower court appeals documents, original administrative records under review, paper bonds, wills, criminal sentencing minute entries, juvenile documents, water documents, and depositions and transcripts. In accordance with the Administrative Order, the Office disposed of the first box of court documents in March 2007. The box contained 2,500 documents and 6,000 pages. Paper documents placed in hard copy files fill hundreds of shelving units that require a tremendous amount of space and maintenance with required staffing levels to process and transport requested case files and documents to court divisions and various other customers. Disposing of paper documents saves a significant amount of storage space for the Office, along with associated cost for the County. By ending the operational demand of pulling and delivering court case files that are now available electronically, the Office is able to focus its resources on better managing access to the electronic court record and on processing the increasing number of Superior Court filings. “Transporting” these documents or case files is now performed at the click of a button allowing a multitude of customers to access electronic court records simultaneously; a most efficient and effective process for providing access instantaneously and a “win-win” situation for all. Based upon the continued ongoing success of this initiative, the Clerk received authorization from the AOC to rely on electronic images of court records in lieu of paper case records on September 20, 2011. Accordingly, there is no longer a need for an Electronic Court Record Pilot Project in the Superior Court in Maricopa County. For further information on Administrative Order 2006-96, you may access the following link: http://www.supreme.state.az.us/orders/admorder/Orders06/2006-96.pdf MARRIAGE RULING The Federal Court ruled that Arizona’s constitutional and statutory definitions of marriage as one man and one woman is unconstitutional under the United States Constitution. Effective October 17, 2014, Clerks of Superior Court around the state began issuing marriage licenses regardless of the applicants’ gender. 3 CLERKS OF THE COURT YEAR ELECTED/APPOINTED CLERKS OF THE COURT 1912 W.E. Thomas 1914 James Miller 1918 C.S. Berryman 1926 Walter S. Wilson 1930 Walter S. Wilson 1934 Walter S. Wilson 1938 Walter S. Wilson 1942 Walter S. Wilson 1946 Walter S. Wilson 1950 Walter S. Wilson 1954 Walter S. Wilson 1958 Walter S. Wilson 1962 Robert Miller 1966 W. Don Palmer 1970 W. Don Palmer 1974 W. Don Palmer 1978 W. Don Palmer 1982 Vivian Kringle 1986 Judith Allen 1990 Judith Allen 1994 Judith Allen 1997 (acting) Michael Jeanes 1998 (appointed in Feb.) Michael Jeanes 1998 (elected in Nov.) Michael Jeanes 2002 Michael Jeanes 2006 Michael Jeanes 2010 Michael Jeanes 2014 Michael Jeanes 2018 (appointed in Apr.) Chris DeRose 2018 (elected in Nov.) Jeff Fine 4 GLOSSARY A & C Additions & Corrections: Process of updating a record previously microfilmed where newer or amended documents will exist on a separate roll of film. Active Records that are considered to have current or recent activity. ASLAPR The Arizona State Library, Archives, and Public Records. The facility encompasses the Archives Division and Record Management Division. CCB Central Court Building: 201 W. Jefferson St. Phoenix, Arizona 85003 CARS Computer Assisted Retrieval System: A microfilm tracking database that indicates the microfilm roll and frame number on which a specific record is located. Case Transfer Cases can be transferred between satellite courts. For example, if a Downtown case is transferred to SEA, the case is assigned a new case number. Statistically this would slightly inflate the overall growth percentage. CSC Clerk of Court Customer Service Center: 601 W. Jackson St. Phoenix, Arizona 85003. DJC Downtown Justice Center: 620 W. Jackson St. Phoenix, Arizona 85003 FC Family Court With Children, a case category beginning 2/5/01 where minor children are common to the parties involved. FN Family Court With No Children, a case category beginning 2/5/01 where no minor children are common to the parties involved. Fiche A diminutive of “microfiche”. These records have been microfilmed and are case specific to film jacket. The film is in flat format.