Maricopa County, Arizona
Maricopa County · this is the capital county · the city of Phoenix is the seat and the capital of Arizona · Mesa is not the hall
Phoenix is the seat and the capital of Arizona. Mesa, Chandler, Scottsdale, Glendale, Tempe, Surprise, Peoria, and Gilbert are municipalities, not the county hall.
Maricopa County, Arizona, was erected 14 February 1871 and named for the Maricopa people. The city of Phoenix is the seat. The city of Phoenix is also the capital of Arizona. The Arizona State Capitol sits here. The Governor’s office sits here. This county government is not the State Capitol. This county government is not the City of Phoenix. Mesa, Chandler, Scottsdale, Glendale, Tempe, Surprise, Peoria, and Gilbert are municipalities. They are not the county hall. Flagstaff is Coconino — not the capital. Tucson is Pima — later, and not the capital. This is not Maricopa County somewhere else as a substitute for Phoenix. A Scottsdale resort photograph is not this hall.
Places include Phoenix, Mesa, Chandler, Scottsdale, Glendale, Gilbert, Tempe, Peoria, Surprise, Avondale, Goodyear, Buckeye, and many more. 2020 census: 4,420,568 — most populous Arizona county, on the order of three-fifths of the state. This page is Side One for the place. The Sheriff’s job — unincorporated remainder patrol and a jail system this badge still holds — is taught at Office of the Sheriff — Maricopa County.
Five Supervisors at 301 West Jefferson. They fund. They do not hire this badge.
Maricopa is a five-member Board of Supervisors, one supervisor per district. An appointed County Manager sits with the Board. There is no elected County Executive. Board and administration list at 301 West Jefferson Street, Phoenix, AZ 85003 (maricopa.gov). They fund roads, the jail system, and the Sheriff’s budget. They do not hire the Sheriff. The people do. Phoenix City Council is a city body. Mesa City Council is a city body. The Arizona Legislature is a state body. None of those is this Board.
Maricopa County Superior Court downtown lists at 201 West Jefferson Street (Central Court Building) with additional downtown doors on the Jefferson / Jackson campus, including clerk customer service at 601 West Jackson Street — confirm the live filing door on superiorcourt.maricopa.gov and clerkofcourt.maricopa.gov before you drive. Justice courts sit across the county. They are not a second county.
The Sheriff is four years, Article 12 § 3, beginning 1 January after election. Last regular Tuesday, 5 November 2024. Next regular Tuesday, 7 November 2028. The 2026 gubernatorial table is not this oval. The Governor sits in this city. That is still a different desk.
The Salt, the Gila, I-10, I-17. Flagstaff is Coconino. Tucson is Pima.
The Salt River and the Gila River meet on this map. Interstate 10, Interstate 17, Interstate 8, U.S. 60, and Loop 101 / 202 / 303 are through roads. Yavapai is north — Prescott is that hall, later; Flagstaff is not this county. Gila is northeast — Globe is that hall. Pinal is east and southeast — Florence is that hall, later. Yuma is southwest. La Paz is west — Parker is that hall. Maricopa does not border Pima; Pinal sits between Phoenix and Tucson. Staff who paste a Scottsdale resort onto Jefferson Street, or treat Mesa as this hall, or file “Tucson as the capital,” or “Flagstaff as this county,” are on the wrong county.
How a capital public finds Jefferson Street, Jackson Street, and Fourth Avenue
Board / County Manager: 301 West Jefferson Street. Superior Court (downtown): 201 West Jefferson Street. MCSO headquarters: 550 West Jackson Street, Phoenix, AZ 85003 (mcso.org). Fourth Avenue Jail: 201 South 4th Avenue. Intake, Transfer and Release: 2670 South 28th Drive. Confirm live addresses on official doors. A student who only knows a Scottsdale postcard, or a Tucson photograph as the capital, or treats the State Capitol as the county jail, has not found this campus.
Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community, Gila River Indian Community, Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation, and the Tohono O’odham Nation’s Gila Bend reservation sit on this map. Those Nations are not this county government.
This Sheriff still holds Fourth Avenue, Lower Buckeye, Estrella, Towers, Watkins, and ITR. Tent City closed in 2017.
Crime in unincorporated Maricopa — Gila Bend remainder, Tonopah, Wittmann, New River remainder, the desert pockets between cities — is this Sheriff. Crime in Phoenix is often Phoenix Police. Crime in Mesa, Chandler, Scottsdale, Glendale, Tempe, Peoria, Gilbert, Surprise is often those municipal departments. Some towns contract with this Sheriff for primary patrol — confirm the live contract-city list on official MCSO and town pages. This Sheriff is not Phoenix PD.
A.R.S. § 11-441(A)(5) still puts the county jail on this badge. MCSO’s own jail list currently names Fourth Avenue Jail (201 South 4th Avenue), Lower Buckeye Jail (3250 West Lower Buckeye Road), Estrella Jail (2939 West Durango Street), Towers Jail (3127 West Gibson Lane), Watkins Jail (2680 South 28th Drive), Intake, Transfer and Release / 512 Facility (2670 South 28th Drive). That system is this badge’s shop. Correctional Health Services is a county medical department inside those houses. It is not a Department of Corrections that retired this jailer.
Tent City closed in October 2017. It is not on the current MCSO jail list. Do not send a family looking for a current booking to a tent compound. Durango appears in older jail talk; confirm what still operates on mcso.org — do not invent a house the live list does not name.
Do not paste ADC onto this Sheriff. ASPC–Perryville (Goodyear), ASPC–Lewis (Buckeye), and ASPC–Phoenix are Arizona Department of Corrections. FCI Phoenix is federal. Those are not Fourth Avenue. Do not send a family looking for a county booking to Perryville, to Phoenix Police Headquarters, or to Tucson. Civil process and court security at 201 West Jefferson are the Sheriff. Tribal police departments on this map are tribal. Remedy for Phoenix Police is the City. Remedy for a Sheriff’s paper is the Sheriff. Relief when the Salt floods is this count first.
Care without inventing a Scottsdale resort as this county hall
A peace order served in unincorporated Tonopah. A transport from ITR at 2670 South 28th Drive to 201 West Jefferson without becoming Phoenix PD. Do not invent a church. Do not invent a resort as this oval. The Capitol dome is state. This Sheriff is county.
Capital-county snapshot (verify official sources)
- Seat: city of Phoenix · Largest city (also the hall): Phoenix · Capital of Arizona: here
- Government: five district Supervisors · County Manager · 301 West Jefferson · Court 201 West Jefferson
- Sheriff: four years · Art. 12 § 3 · last regular 5 November 2024 · next regular 7 November 2028 · remainder patrol and the jail system this Sheriff still holds · HQ 550 West Jackson
- Neighbors: Yavapai · Gila (Globe) · Pinal · Yuma · La Paz (Parker)
- Not Scottsdale as this hall · Not Tucson as the capital · Not Flagstaff as this county · Not Phoenix PD as this Sheriff · Not ADC Perryville / Lewis as this jailer · Not Tent City as a current house
What Maricopa County, Arizona, is not — Phoenix is still the capital
- Not Scottsdale as the hall. Not Mesa as the hall. Not Chandler, Glendale, Tempe, Surprise, Peoria, or Gilbert as this hall.
- Not Tucson as the capital. Pima is Tucson, later. Not Flagstaff as this county. Coconino is Flagstaff.
- Not Phoenix Police as this Sheriff. Not ADC. Not Perryville. Not Lewis. Not FCI Phoenix as this oval.
- Not Tent City as a current jail. That compound closed in 2017.
- Not a campaign flyer.