Maricopa County, Arizona

In southern Arizona, Maricopa County, location of the state’s capital and biggest city, Phoenix, concentrates most of the state’s citizens into one region. With a population of about 4.4 million, it forms the core of the Phoenix metropolitan area along with Pima County. Surrounding Maricopa are the counties of La Paz, Pinal, Yuma, Gila, and Yavapai.

A powerhouse for the state based on its large population, Maricopa County has a bustling economy with major presences from several industries including finance, manufacturing, and retail. Among the top employers in the county: Wal-Mart, Bank of America, Intel, and US Airways.

Businesses operating within Maricopa County enjoy access to a diverse population of talented individuals, many of whom are willing to relocate or cross county lines for the right job. Not every resume that reaches your desk represents a safe hiring decision. While considering credentials is important, so is investigating an applicant’s background to understand whether he or she has any relevant criminal history.

Checking records held in Maricopa is a smart move, but savvy businesses may also want to review records maintained in adjacent counties. Looking only in Maricopa may lead you to believe that an applicant has no criminal record while nearby Yavapai County holds records of significant drug-related arrests. Casting a wider net yields more useful hiring information.

Should your business reconsider the way that it handles its hiring process? First, stop and ensure that all the actions you intend to take with hiring fall within the law.

Arizona does not place heavy burdens on employers who wish to use background checks, typically deferring to federal fair hiring regulations such as the FCRA and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. You may ask about an applicant’s criminal history at any stage of the hiring process as long as your procedures are not discriminatory in any way.

With compliance sorted out, it’s time to equip your business to better understand job applicants. backgroundchecks.com can help. With a suite of products designed from the ground up to provide employers with useful data, our county-level background checks provide fast access to important information held in Maricopa County plus records held in La Paz, Pinal, Yuma, Gila, and Yavapai counties. Through the backgroundchecks.com US OneSEARCH, you can quickly retrieve information from these counties.

Note that state and local authorities maintain the criminal data databases that our search products access, and changes to records may occur between updates. We strive to ensure that our databases contain the most up-to-date information possible for a fast turnaround on each request. For the most current snapshot of county-level records possible, we also offer direct courthouse record searches, which take 1 to 3 business days.

When you receive the results of an instant background check, the information that you review may come from several sources, including the:

• Arizona Administrative Office of the Courts – Felony and misdemeanor records beginning in 1987, updated monthly
• Arizona Sex Offender Registry – Records begin in June 1996, updated bi-weekly
• Maricopa County Courts – Records begin in 2003, updated weekly

Reports from this data may include the subject’s:

• Offense and date of offense
• Sentencing information
• Disposition and date of disposition

Take advantage of the lively labor market in Maricopa County without being weighed down by concerns about applicants’ criminal backgrounds and credentials. Equip yourself with the information necessary for smart and safe decision-making with help from backgroundchecks.com.