Most Florida court records are made available to the public, including but not limited to information related to civil, criminal and divorce proceedings. In fact, a great deal of information regarding Florida court records is available online. Unless you know where to look and have detailed information, searching through Florida court records can be rather time consuming.

 Why Search Florida Court Records?

A number of different reasons exist as to why you would want to search Florida court records. Perhaps you need to investigate your new business partner, check out your daughter's new boyfriend or track down individuals from your family tree. Combined with other government records that are open to the public, you can gain quite a bit of knowledge from Florida court records.

 What Information Is Available to the Public?

As you begin your records search, it is important to know what information is available to prevent a big waste of time. You should be able to obtain Florida court records that pertain to the following cases:

·         Divorce

·         Criminal

·         Bankruptcy

·         Civil

·         Property

However, some information will not be available to the general public, such as social security numbers or the identities of minors involved in court cases.

 Where Do You Look for Florida Court Records?

To find Florida court records for most civil and criminal cases, including divorce cases, you should start with the county court where the case was originally heard. Florida has sixty-seven counties, searching through the court records of each of these counties may not be feasible. Therefore, whenever possible, you need to narrow your search down to the county level.

The best option for searching Florida court records is to get as much of your research done online as possible. If you attempt to personally visit the courthouse, even if you just go to the local courthouse, you can expect to spend several hours, or even days in some cases, searching for the information that you need. If the Florida court records that you seek are not available through your local courthouse, the cost to travel to a different county will most likely cost you more than the fee that you would pay to search online.

The Florida court system consists of county courts, circuit courts, district courts and the Supreme Court.

·         County courts have jurisdiction over any civil case that involves less than $15,000. Most non-jury trials are held in county courts, including traffic violations, misdemeanors and cases involving small monetary disputes.

·         Circuit courts have jurisdiction over cases not assigned to the county courts as well as appeals from cases heard in county court. Simultaneously, circuit courts are the lowest appellate courts and the highest trial courts in the state of Florida.

·         District courts are responsible for hearing appeals on final judgments and have the authority to review specific non-final orders as well.

·         The highest level court in the state of Florida is the Supreme Court.

Keep in mind that you will save a great deal of time and money by going directly to the court responsible for hearing the case in question.

• Florida State Court Districts

• Florida State Legislature