Record Sealing and Set-Aside Lawyer in Phoenix, AZ
An old Phoenix case can outlast everything else about it. The fine is paid, the classes are done, the judge signed the discharge years ago, and still the case turns up when a landlord runs a screening, an employer orders a background check, or a licensing form asks whether you have ever been arrested. Sometimes it is a charge that was dismissed. You finished what the court asked of you, and you want the record to say so.
We can help. Nova Law Group was built by a former Maricopa County Attorney's Office felony prosecutor. We prepare every case as if it is going to trial, and we take a meticulous, aggressive approach, fighting from every angle, because the report is only one side of the story.
Talk to us before you talk to anyone else. Call (480) 405-6767. Consultations are free and confidential, and the earlier we are involved, the more we can do.
Which Phoenix court holds your old case
Arizona gives three kinds of relief, and each does something different. With a set-aside (§ 13-905), the court lifts the judgment of guilt and dismisses the complaint or indictment, but the case remains in the public record with a set-aside notation. Sealing (§ 13-911) closes the case records to the public. True expungement exists only for certain marijuana offenses (§ 36-2862). Many people end up using two of the three.
A petition generally returns to the court that had the case. The Superior Court's sealing instructions spell out the sequence. Convicted: the convicting court. Dismissed or acquitted: the court where the complaint was brought. Arrested and never charged, but seen by a judge: the court that held your initial appearance. Never charged and never before a judge: Superior Court for the county of arrest, which for Phoenix is Maricopa. Each case needs a separate petition, and Phoenix Municipal Court's instruction sheet gives city defendants the same directions.
For a Phoenix city case, then, the court is Phoenix Municipal Court, 300 W. Washington St. Its home page posts three sealing documents: an eligibility guidesheet, an instruction sheet and the petition. The petition asks for the charges, the case number and, if you know them, the arresting and prosecuting agencies. It asks yes or no questions about whether the money and the other terms of the sentence are complete, and whether an earlier petition on the same case was dismissed or denied. Copies go to the court, the prosecutor and you. Attach copies of your documents, never originals.
Three lines on the Phoenix form are easy to overlook. You have to tell the court about any new charge brought against you after the petition, in any state. If the case was appealed from Phoenix Municipal Court, the appeal records need their own petition in Superior Court. And the form warns that records published or distributed before sealing may remain accessible, so an order may not reach every copy already in circulation.
Check the dates, too. The Phoenix sealing documents are dated December 2022, and Arizona rewrote parts of § 13-911 in 2024. The guidesheet still describes an added five-year wait tied to a prior felony; under the amended statute, that extra wait attaches to a person who has already used sealing and then commits a new felony. Read any older form against the current law, or let a lawyer do it.
Marijuana cases have their own Phoenix paperwork: a Prop 207 petition (form 30-235D, July 2021) and an instruction sheet. The instructions ask for the arresting agency's name, because without it the court cannot order that agency's records expunged, and the form calls for a separate petition for each offense. An arrest record with no court case goes to Superior Court instead.
Set-asides return to the original court as well. The Superior Court's set-aside packet covers only Superior Court cases and tells anyone with a city, justice or magistrate court conviction to contact that court for its application. A Phoenix Municipal Court conviction goes back to Phoenix Municipal Court.
A felony charged out of Phoenix was a Superior Court case, so its petition goes to the Clerk of the Superior Court. The sealing packet lists the Clerk's criminal filing counter on the 12th floor of the South Court Tower, the Clerk's eFiling system, and deposit boxes at the County Administration Building (4th Avenue entrance) and the Northeast Regional Center on North 40th Street. It asks for four sets: the original for the Clerk and copies for the judge, the County Attorney's Office and you.
A DPS or Sheriff's misdemeanor heard in one of the Phoenix justice courts goes back to that justice court, which publishes its own sealing petition (revised December 2022). It carries the same appeal warning: if the case went up to Superior Court, a petition is needed there as well.
Old Phoenix records we help clear
- A Phoenix Municipal Court conviction. Sealing opens two years after discharge for a class 2 or 3 misdemeanor and three for a class 1, and all fines, fees and restitution have to be paid before the petition goes in.
- A case that ended without a conviction: a dismissal, an acquittal, or an arrest with no charge. No conviction waiting period applies.
- A set-aside of a Phoenix conviction, available after you finish the sentence and receive a discharge, unless § 13-905(P) excludes the offense. On a misdemeanor, the order comes with a Certificate of Second Chance.
- Felony records from a Phoenix arrest, which go through Superior Court. A class 4, 5 or 6 felony becomes sealable after five years, a class 2 or 3 after ten, and a class 1 felony never does.
- Prop 207 expungement for small-quantity marijuana possession (up to 2.5 ounces, with 12.5 grams or less as concentrate), home cultivation of six plants or fewer for personal use, and marijuana paraphernalia, for older conduct only; the statewide marijuana expungement page explains the cutoff.
- An old Phoenix DUI, which can generally be set aside or sealed but still counts as a prior: Phoenix DUI.
- Domestic violence cases. The DV label is not itself a bar; eligibility follows the underlying offense, and victims who asked for notice receive it: Phoenix domestic violence.
- Gun rights. In Arizona, a set-aside brings back the right to possess a firearm unless the conviction was a serious offense; federal law is a separate analysis: Phoenix weapons charges.
- Offenses § 13-911(O) keeps out of sealing, including dangerous offenses, serious, violent or aggravated felonies, and offenses with a deadly weapon or serious physical injury element.
The statewide page, Record Sealing & Set-Asides, compares the three remedies side by side. Here the question is which Phoenix courthouse, which form and which deadline.
From finding the old case to a signed order
Finding the case. The Phoenix instruction sheet points to the Department of Public Safety's criminal records page and the Arizona Judicial Branch's public access case lookup. Phoenix Municipal Court also takes requests for copies of its own case records. For a Superior Court case, probation discharge orders are available at the court's public access terminals.
Confirming the sentence is finished. Phoenix's guidesheet treats money still owed under a criminal restitution order as an unfinished sentence, with the order's completion date counting as the sentence completion date. If probation is still running, start with Phoenix probation violation.
Choosing the order of steps. A set-aside can come first and sealing later, once the waiting period runs. Some people need only one.
Writing the petition. The statute directs the judge to grant sealing when it serves both the petitioner's interests and public safety (§ 13-911(D)). A petition that shows what has changed, what you have done since, and what the relief is for gives the judge something to weigh. The court also asks the Department of Public Safety for a report of your record, and we check that report for errors before the judge relies on it.
Notice and the wait. The prosecutor receives a copy. Victims who requested postconviction notice are notified and can be heard, and no ruling can issue for 60 days unless the prosecutor and each of those victims tell the court they have no objection. In a Superior Court case, the packet gives the prosecuting agency 30 days to respond and you 15 days after that to reply.
Hearings. Neither court requires one. You, the prosecutor or a victim can ask for a hearing, and both courts' instructions say the request has to come before the court rules.
The order. The Superior Court mails its signed order to the address on the petition; if nothing arrives within 120 days, the packet says to call Criminal Administration. Once sealing is granted, the Department of Public Safety marks the records sealed and notifies law enforcement agencies.
A denial. If the judge says no, § 13-911(L) makes you wait three years from the denial before petitioning again, so the first attempt deserves the most care.
The place of the old arrest decides the court
A case that began with Phoenix Police on a city street, whether in Maryvale, Laveen, Ahwatukee Foothills or Deer Valley, was generally a Phoenix Municipal Court case if it stayed a misdemeanor, and that is where its petition goes.
A stop by a DPS trooper on I-10 or SR-51, or a Sheriff's deputy's case from an unincorporated pocket, usually went to one of the nine justice courts in Phoenix, whose two buildings stand on West Jackson Street and on North 40th Street. Older paperwork may say Downtown Justice Court, the name El Centro Justice Court used until January 1, 2024.
Any felony went to Superior Court, whichever village it came from. A misdemeanor from Glendale, Scottsdale or Tempe, even one from just over the line, sits with that city's court. If you are not sure where your case was, the case lookup and the DPS record are the place to start.
A former prosecutor and a flat fee
Nova Law Group was built by Ryan Tait, a former Maricopa County Attorney's Office felony prosecutor. The practice is criminal defense first. We keep caseloads deliberately low, which means the lawyers on your case have time to actually watch the video and read the reports line by line. On a petition, the same care goes into the old court records, the discharge paperwork and the statement of what has changed since. We take cases to trial when trial is the right pressure. Overcharging happens, and a case that is genuinely prepared for trial changes the conversation with the prosecutor. Most criminal cases are quoted as a flat fee. Consultations are free and confidential.
Office: 4455 E. Camelback Rd., Suite C250, Phoenix, AZ 85018. Meetings are by appointment.
Phoenix courts and addresses
Courts and facilities: Phoenix Municipal Court, 300 W. Washington St., Phoenix, AZ 85003 (Monday to Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., except city holidays; 602-262-6421). Clerk of the Superior Court, criminal filing counter, South Court Tower, 175 W. Madison St., 12th Floor, Phoenix, AZ 85003 (Monday to Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.; Clerk 602-372-5375; Criminal Administration 602-506-8575). Clerk deposit boxes: County Administration Building, 301 W. Jefferson St., Phoenix, AZ 85003 (4th Avenue entrance); Northeast Regional Center, 18380 N. 40th St., Phoenix, AZ 85032. Justice courts at 620 W. Jackson St., Phoenix, AZ 85003, and 18380 N. 40th St., Phoenix, AZ 85032.
Phoenix record sealing questions
Yes, if it fits § 13-911. Dismissals, acquittals at trial and arrests without any charge can all be sealed, and the conviction waiting periods are irrelevant to them. For a dismissed Phoenix city case, the petition goes to Phoenix Municipal Court, where the charge was brought. Find the case number and the dismissal date first; the form asks for both, and the instruction sheet warns that missing details can get a petition dismissed.
For a class 1 misdemeanor, three years; for a class 2 or 3, two years. Count from the date the court discharged you, after the last condition of the sentence was met. All money the court ordered, restitution included, has to be paid before you submit, and the guidesheet treats an open criminal restitution order as an unfinished sentence. A denial means a three-year wait before trying again, so the first petition deserves care.
That depends on whether you saw a judge. If a judge saw you at an initial appearance, that court takes the petition. If there was neither an appearance nor a charge, Phoenix Municipal Court's guidesheet and the Superior Court's instructions both point to Superior Court in the county of the arrest, which for a Phoenix arrest means Maricopa County Superior Court. No conviction waiting period applies.
Generally, yes. Neither exclusion list, for set-asides or for sealing, names DUI. Two limits remain. Even after relief, the old DUI still counts as a prior on any future DUI, and a set-aside leaves certain Department of Transportation penalties in place. An aggravated DUI that caused serious injury may run into the dangerous offense or serious injury exclusions, which takes a case-specific review.
Often both. A set-aside sets aside the guilty judgment and dismisses the complaint, yet the case stays visible in public records, marked as set aside. Sealing closes the records and, in most settings, lets you answer that you were never arrested, charged or convicted, with exceptions such as fingerprint clearance card applications and jobs with courts, prosecutors and police. You can get the set-aside now and seal later, when the waiting period runs.
Possibly. Section 36-2862 reaches small-quantity cases: up to 2.5 ounces, of which 12.5 grams or less was concentrate; no more than six plants grown for personal use at a primary residence; and paraphernalia tied to marijuana. Only older conduct qualifies, and sale is not covered; our statewide marijuana expungement page explains the cutoff. Unusually, the burden sits with the State: the prosecutor must disprove eligibility by clear and convincing evidence, or the petition is granted. Phoenix Municipal Court has its own form, and it needs the arresting agency's name.
Get the first petition right
Phone (480) 405-6767. If a job offer, an apartment or a license application is waiting on a background check, tell us that deadline when you call.
Nova Law Group, PLLC, 4455 E. Camelback Rd., Suite C250, Phoenix, AZ 85018. Monday to Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., by appointment.
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If you have been arrested, charged, or contacted by a detective, the decisions you make in the first few days matter. Nova Law Group defends misdemeanor and felony cases in the Superior Court and in municipal and justice courts across Maricopa County.
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