What Maricopa County Recorder does

The Maricopa County Recorder's Office is a county government department, founded on February 14, 1871, and operating under the authority of the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors with approximately 150 employees. It serves as the statutory record-keeper for Maricopa County, Arizona, with three core functions: (1) processing and preserving public records including deeds, plats, mortgages, and liens; (2) maintaining voter registration for 2.6 million+ active voters, making it the second-largest voting jurisdiction in the United States; and (3) administering the mail voting process for county, state, and federal elections, including signature verification for early ballots.

The office operates a digital recording platform featuring full-text retrieval across 52 million+ searchable documents and 200 million images dating to 1871, an interactive map locator, and dedicated electronic recording accounts for high-volume enterprise customers. Service delivery is multi-channel: a main downtown Phoenix office at 301 W Jefferson St, five recording kiosks in libraries and court centers, an online portal, mail recording, and joint STAR Call Center operations with the Assessor and Treasurer offices. Maricopa Title Alert, a free fraud-monitoring service launched June 2023, has reached 92,900+ subscribers.

As a government entity, the office does not generate traditional revenue. It is funded through the Maricopa County government budget, supplemented by statutory recording fees set by Arizona Revised Statutes (e.g., $30 per standard document). The Recorder position is elected; Justin Heap was elected in November 2024 as the 31st Recorder and took office in January 2025, succeeding Stephen Richer. The office has received multiple awards for innovation including the 2020 U.S. Election Assistance Commission Outstanding Innovations in Election Administration.

Name

Maricopa County Recorder

Legal name

Maricopa County Recorder's Office

Website

https://recorder.maricopa.gov

Company type

Private

Founded year

1871

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The Maricopa County Recorder's Office is a county government department founded in 1871 that records public documents, maintains voter registration for 2.6M+ voters (the second-largest US voting jurisdiction), and administers mail voting for Maricopa County, Arizona.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Public Records and Election Administration

NAICS

Justice, Public Order, and Safety Activities (922), Libraries and Archives (51921)

SIC

Services-Computer Processing & Data Preparation (7374)

akta.pro primary industry

City Clerk/Records, Elections & Civic Engagement (BPAIACAB)

akta.pro secondary industry

Document Preparation & Recording Services (Deeds, Liens) (BPAJAOAG)

Keywords

• Public records recording
• Voter registration administration
• Election administration services
• Property document recordation
• Government records management

Headquarters

HQ city

Phoenix

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices6 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Document Recording Fees: Statutory recording fees charged for document recordation. Standard documents $30 each, plats/surveys have tiered pricing, government agencies receive reduced rates.
2. Copy and Certification Fees: Fees for copies of recorded documents ($1/page), certifications ($3/document), and bulk data purchases
3. Bulk Data Sales: Fees for bulk purchasing of daily recorded documents, grantor/grantee indexes, and bulk images

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

The Maricopa County Recorder's Office processes and preserves public records including deeds, plats, mortgages, liens, and other essential documents, records approximately 1 million documents annually into a searchable database of over 52 million documents. It maintains voter registration for more than 2.6 million active voters, administers the mail voting process for all elections in Maricopa County, and operates the Maricopa Title Alert service to protect residents from title fraud. Services are delivered through a downtown Phoenix office, five self-service kiosks, an online portal, mail processing, and dedicated electronic recording accounts.

Product overview

Maricopa County Recorder's Office provides a unified suite of government services centered around three core functions: public document recording (deeds, plats, and essential records), voter registration maintenance for over 2.6 million voters, and mail voting administration. The digital platform integrates a Recorded Documents Search system, Customer Account management for electronic recording, Maricopa Title Alert fraud protection, Document Return Log tracking, Form and Map Requirements modules, Redaction Services, Public Records Request processing, and Resources. The office serves approximately 3,000-5,000 daily customers with both in-person and digital channels.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Document Recording Services Statutory recordation of public records including deeds, plats, mortgages, liens, subdivisions, and other essential documents for Maricopa County property owners and businesses, with approximately 1 million documents recorded annually and over 52 million searchable documents in the online database.
• Voter Registration Services Maintenance of voter files for more than 2.6 million active registered voters in Maricopa County, including registration, voter information updates, voter list maintenance, and registration cancellation through the elections portal.
• Mail Voting Administration Administration of the mail voting component of all elections in Maricopa County, including early ballot requests, signature verification, ballot processing, and the Active Early Voting List.
• Recorded Documents Search Online searchable database of over 52 million documents and 200 million images dating back to 1871, allowing users to search by document number, name, business name, document code, legal description, or address, with full-text retrieval available for records within the last two years.
• Maricopa Title Alert Free document monitoring service that alerts subscribers via email or text when documents are recorded under their name or business, helping prevent title fraud; more than 92,900 residents currently subscribe.
• Electronic Recording Accounts Account service for high-volume enterprise customers (title companies, law firms) enabling streamlined digital document submission, electronic recording, and fee management with credit balance system; requires application and $300 deposit.
• Redaction Services Service that protects names and identifying information of qualified protected individuals in recorded documents per A.R.S. § 11-483 and § 16-153, requiring court orders from Arizona Courts for redaction authorization.
• Public Records Request Process for requesting voter registration data, communications, and internal documents through online portal, email, fax, or mail, handled by the Public Records Custodian.

Quantifiable outcome

• 52+ million documents available for online search
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and major.

• Maricopa County ElectionscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerStrategic partnership for election administration. The Recorder's Office partners with Maricopa County Elections to plan and hold jurisdictional, county, state, and federal-level elections for all eligible Maricopa County voters.
• Maricopa County Board of SupervisorscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerClose working relationship with the Board of Supervisors for county governance coordination.
• Maricopa County Assessor's OfficemajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerClose working relationship with Assessor's Office. Both offices utilize the same STAR Call Center for customer service.
• Maricopa County Treasurer's OfficemajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerClose working relationship with Treasurer's Office. Both offices utilize the same STAR Call Center for customer service.
• Arizona CourtsmajorTechnology or IntegrationPartnership with Arizona Courts for personal information redaction services. Court orders required for redaction of protected persons' information from public records per A.R.S. 11-483.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Harris County Clerk (Texas): Administers voter registration and elections for Harris County, Texas (Houston metro), one of the largest voting jurisdictions in the U.S. Directly comparable to Maricopa in election-administration scale and the challenges of managing large urban/suburban voter rolls.
• Cook County Clerk (Illinois): Records deeds and vital records, and administers elections for Cook County, IL — the county containing Chicago. Operates as a direct functional equivalent to the Maricopa County Recorder under Illinois recorders-of-deeds law, with similar scale and document volume.
• Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk: California's largest county recorder, performing the same statutory document recording, voter registration, and election administration functions for a larger population. Directly comparable as a large-jurisdiction peer operating under analogous (though California-specific) statutes.

Emerging players

• Granicus: Government experience platform providing civic engagement, records management, and digital workflow tools to local and state agencies. Comparable as a technology vendor that serves the same recorder/clerks-of-record functional area with software products that could augment or replace parts of Maricopa's in-house stack.

Broad incumbents

• Tyler Technologies: Large public-sector software vendor providing recording, courthouse, and election technology used by many county and municipal governments. While not a recorder itself, Tyler is a broad incumbent whose platforms compete for the technology budgets of offices like Maricopa County Recorder.

Others

• First American Financial Corporation: Title insurance and settlement services company that is a high-volume customer of county recorders like Maricopa through electronic recording accounts. Adjacent rather than competitive — its business model depends on the statutory recording infrastructure the Recorder provides.
• CoreLogic: Property data and analytics provider that consumes public recording data from county recorders (including for bulk data purchases at $250/day noted in Maricopa's fee schedule). Ecosystem participant that derives value from but does not compete with the Recorder's statutory role.

Market position

Strengths1 record

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/RecordersOffice
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCAU_vPszKiHGBri-GjWJUJg
• Facebookfacebook.com/MaricopaRecorder
• Instagraminstagram.com/maricoparecorder
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/maricopa-county-recorder

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Maricopa County Recorder