Pinal County's Six Justice Courts
Evictions go to the justice court precinct where the rental sits, and the precinct, not the postal city, decides venue.
| Precinct | Justice court | Main communities |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pioneer | San Tan Valley and the Pinal County part of Queen Creek |
| 2 | Casa Grande | Casa Grande |
| 3 | Central Pinal | Florence, Coolidge and Eloy |
| 4 | Western Pinal | City of Maricopa and Stanfield |
| 5 | Copper Corridor | Superior, Kearny, Mammoth, San Manuel and Oracle |
| 6 | Apache Junction | The Pinal County part of Apache Junction, Gold Canyon and Queen Valley |
Two names cause most of the mistakes. The City of Maricopa is in Pinal County, so its evictions go to Western Pinal Justice Court, not to Maricopa County. And Apache Junction sits on the county line, which deserves its own check.
Apache Junction: Check Which Side of Meridian Road
Property east of Meridian Road is in Pinal County. Property west of it is in Maricopa County.
The City of Apache Junction says Meridian Road is the county boundary (City of Apache Junction). A rental east of Meridian files in Apache Junction Justice Court in Pinal County. A rental west of Meridian files in the right Maricopa County justice precinct, even though the mailing address still says Apache Junction. Use the parcel's county assessor record, not the ZIP code. If it lands in Maricopa County, our Phoenix guide covers that county's courts and fees. Once you know the court, filing in Pinal works a little differently from Maricopa.
Filing an Eviction in Pinal County
Pinal justice courts take electronic filing through eFileAZ, and service is a separate step you arrange and pay for.
Arizona's justice-court e-filing applies statewide except at the Pima Consolidated and Maricopa County justice courts (Arizona Judicial Branch), so Pinal filers use eFileAZ. Pinal publishes its own eviction complaint form. The sequence:
- Confirm the parcel's county and justice precinct.
- Complete the summons and eviction complaint, and attach the termination notice and rent ledger.
- File through eFileAZ, or through the court's self-represented filing channel where allowed.
- Arrange service by the constable, sheriff or a licensed process server.
- File proof of service before the hearing.
- If you win possession and the resident stays, request and pay for the writ of restitution and its execution.
Filing the complaint doesn't arrange service for you, and in a county this spread out, service is where the cost varies.
How Much Does an Eviction Cost in Pinal County?
Court fees start from a statewide base plus local surcharges. Constable charges are set by statute, and mileage is the part that moves.
| Item | Amount | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Eviction (forcible detainer) filing, statewide base | $41 plus local surcharge | AOC fee schedule |
| Small claims filing, statewide base | $30 plus local surcharge | AOC fee schedule |
| Regular civil filing, statewide base | $86 plus local surcharge | AOC fee schedule |
| Court issuance of a writ | $33 plus local surcharge | AOC fee schedule |
| Serving each summons | $16, plus mileage | A.R.S. 11-445 |
| Executing a writ of restitution | $48, plus $40 per hour per officer after three hours | A.R.S. 11-445 |
| Posting for a writ of restitution | Up to $10 | A.R.S. 11-445 |
| Affidavit of service | $8 | A.R.S. 11-445 |
Sources: the Arizona Judicial Branch justice court filing fees and A.R.S. 11-445. Counties add local surcharges to the base court fees: Maricopa County's eviction complaint totals $69, and its writ of restitution is a bundled $125 including six miles of travel (Maricopa County Justice Courts). Pinal's surcharged totals differ from Maricopa's, and the figures we found didn't agree, so confirm the current total with the precinct clerk before filing. The bigger Pinal variable is mileage: the constable charges from the justice court to the property, and a Copper Corridor or Western Pinal address can sit a long way from the courthouse. Distance affects cost, but the legal timetable is the same everywhere in the state.
Eviction and Collection Timelines
The hearing is set 3 to 6 days after filing, and a writ can issue 5 days after judgment.
| Stage | Typical timing |
|---|---|
| Filing to hearing | 3 to 6 days |
| Judgment | Usually at the hearing, if uncontested |
| Ordinary writ of restitution | 5 calendar days after judgment |
| Constable posting and lockout | Depends on precinct workload and travel |
| Total, uncontested | Often about 8 to 14 days after filing |
| Contested, defective service, appeal or bankruptcy | Potentially much longer |
The statewide timetable is summarized by Maricopa County Justice Courts; Pinal follows the same rules but publishes no median time to lockout by precinct, so don't promise a fixed completion date. For a balance after move-out, the money case runs on a slower track. Small claims cover up to $5,000 and regular justice court civil cases up to $10,000, excluding interest and costs (A.R.S. 22-503). Under Pinal's small claims plaintiff checklist, you file where the defendant lives or where venue otherwise allows, file proof of service within 45 days, the defendant has 20 days to answer, and a hearing follows within 60 days of the answer. That works for ordinary apartments and houses. Mobile-home lots and RV spaces need a different law first.
Mobile-Home Lots and RV Spaces Follow Different Laws
In Apache Junction especially, check whether the resident rents the home itself or just the space under it.
Research prepared with the city by ASU counted about 125 mobile-home and RV communities in Apache Junction and found that more than half of its housing stock is mobile, manufactured or RV housing (ASU Project Cities). Arizona splits these rentals across three laws (Arizona Judicial Branch):
| Arrangement | Governing law |
|---|---|
| Resident rents the mobile home itself | Residential Landlord and Tenant Act |
| Resident owns the mobile home and rents a lot in a park with four or more spaces | Mobile Home Parks Residential Landlord and Tenant Act |
| Resident owns the RV and rents a space for more than 180 consecutive days in a park with more than two spaces | Recreational Vehicle Long-Term Rental Space Act |
| Qualifying park model or park trailer space | Recreational Vehicle Long-Term Rental Space Act (A.R.S. 33-2122) |
The right act decides the notice, the documents served with the complaint, the grounds for termination and what happens to an abandoned home or RV. Record the resident's ownership status, the number of spaces in the park and how long they've stayed before you pick a form. Many of those residents are also seasonal, which adds a collection problem of its own.
Winter Visitors, Commuters and Fast Growth
Pinal's renters include winter visitors who leave each spring and commuters whose jobs are in the Phoenix metro.
The Apache Junction Chamber of Commerce estimates about 35,000 seasonal residents arrive between mid-October and mid-April (Apache Junction Chamber). That's an estimate, not a census count, but the pattern is real: full parks in winter, then spring move-outs to other states. Collect a permanent address, email, phone and emergency contact at move-in, because chasing a balance after someone has gone home to another state is much harder.
Year-round renters are often commuters. A state labor-market analysis found more than 53% of Pinal commuters traveled over 25 miles to work, with Phoenix the most common destination in nine of eleven communities studied (Arizona@Work), so payment risk tracks Phoenix-area jobs and fuel costs. And the county is growing fast: its population rose from 515,726 in July 2024 to 539,380 in July 2025, up 4.6%, the seventh-fastest among U.S. counties with at least 20,000 people (U.S. Census Bureau). Growth on that scale is outrunning the apartment stock, which shows in the market numbers.
Pinal County Rental Market
Pinal's apartment stock is small and new, so vacancy is high while new buildings lease up.
| Metric | Pinal County | Phoenix metro |
|---|---|---|
| Average asking rent | $1,509 per unit | $1,588 |
| Vacancy | 33.0% | 12.1% |
| Tracked inventory | 5,554 units | n/a |
| Under construction | 896 units | n/a |
Source: Cushman & Wakefield Phoenix MarketBeat, Q1 2026. Pinal's vacancy is high partly because new properties are leasing up, and the series covers tracked institutional apartments only. Most of the county's rentals are single-family: one data provider counted 35,694 investor-owned single-family rentals in Q4 2025, 77.1% held by individual landlords (BatchData). With that much choice, a delinquent resident can move easily, so relet promptly and keep marketing records to support any loss-of-rent claim. Statewide eviction counts by county are in the Arizona Judicial Branch's limited jurisdiction filings dashboard, reported by fiscal year. Help for residents behind on rent is thinner here than across the county line.
Rental Assistance and Local Rules
We found no standing rent-arrears program in Pinal County, and Maricopa County's 2026 pilot doesn't reach it.
In the official 2024-2026 sources we reviewed, no Pinal city runs a broad, permanent rent-arrears fund. The Pinal County Housing Authority runs voucher programs (payment standards), but a voucher isn't an on-demand payment for a filed eviction; our guide to collecting unpaid rent from Section 8 tenants covers how those balances work. Maricopa County launched an eviction-prevention pilot in August 2026, but it covers only four Phoenix ZIP codes (85008, 85040, 85041 and 85042), not the City of Maricopa or anywhere in Pinal (Maricopa County Justice Courts).
Local ordinances mostly touch short-term rentals. Casa Grande requires an annual permit for rentals under 30 days from January 1, 2025 (City of Casa Grande), and the City of Maricopa licenses short-term rentals too. Neither changes how you collect ordinary long-term rent. The remaining question is how Pinal stacks up against its bigger neighbor.
Pinal County vs. Maricopa County
Same state law and the same timetable. The differences are court count, e-filing, mileage and the county line.
| Issue | Pinal County | Maricopa County |
|---|---|---|
| Justice courts | Six | Twenty-six |
| E-filing | Statewide eFileAZ | Excluded from statewide justice-court e-filing |
| Eviction hearing | 3 to 6 days after filing | 3 to 6 days after filing |
| Ordinary writ | 5 days after judgment | 5 days after judgment |
| Writ service cost | Statutory components plus mileage from the court | $125 bundled, including six miles |
| Eviction assistance pilot | None identified | Four Phoenix ZIP codes, from August 2026 |
Pinal isn't legally faster or cheaper than Maricopa. The timetable and base fees are statewide; what differs is e-filing, how far the constable drives and Apache Junction's county line. For turning a judgment into payment, see eviction judgment collection, and for the Tucson side of the corridor, our Tucson guide. If you'd rather hand the file off, an experienced collection agency for landlords can work balances in both counties, including residents who've left the state.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Which court handles evictions in Casa Grande?
Casa Grande Justice Court, Precinct 2. Confirm the parcel on the precinct map first, since justice-court boundaries don't always match city limits.
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Is the City of Maricopa in Maricopa County?
No. The City of Maricopa is in Pinal County, and its evictions go to Western Pinal Justice Court. Programs run by Maricopa County, including its 2026 eviction-prevention pilot, don't cover it.
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Which county is Apache Junction in?
Mostly Pinal County, but the city says Meridian Road is the county line. Property east of Meridian files in Apache Junction Justice Court in Pinal County; property west of Meridian files in the right Maricopa County justice precinct.
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How much does an eviction cost in Pinal County?
Arizona's statewide justice-court base fees are $41 for an eviction filing and $33 to issue a writ, and counties add local surcharges, so confirm the total with the court. Constable charges are set by statute: $16 to serve each summons, $48 to execute a writ of restitution, posting up to $10, plus mileage from the court.
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How long does an eviction take in Pinal County?
The hearing is set 3 to 6 days after filing, and an ordinary writ of restitution can issue 5 calendar days after judgment. An uncontested nonpayment case often finishes in about 8 to 14 days after filing, depending on the constable's schedule and travel.
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Does the Arizona landlord-tenant act apply to RV parks in Apache Junction?
Not always. If the tenant owns the mobile home and rents a lot in a park with four or more spaces, the Mobile Home Parks Residential Landlord and Tenant Act applies. If the tenant owns the RV and rents a space for more than 180 consecutive days, the Recreational Vehicle Long-Term Rental Space Act applies. Each has its own notice rules.
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What is the small claims limit in Arizona?
$5,000, excluding interest and costs. Larger claims up to $10,000 can go to a regular justice court civil case.