Making the Most of Florida Public Records

Find information on individuals or property with Florida public records

Making the most of Florida public records will require you to have a guide or referral. You can conduct Internet searches of many government agencies for free but you will spend a lot of time looking at irrelevant links and websites if you have no idea where to start.

You will first need to obtain some basic information on the individual or property for which you are seeking Florida records for. For example, if you are seeking free Florida divorce records, it will be helpful to know some addresses where that person has previously lived.

There are three general types of public records in Florida:

1. Criminal records that include files on registered sex offenders, past convictions or current information on current inmates in a particular prison. These records can help you investigate individuals such as prospective employees.

2. Real estate records like property appraisals, ownership and taxes. These types of records can be useful when buying or selling a home.

3. A general Florida record such as consumer protection information or legislation minutes. You may find these records helpful when researching a product or political candidate.

 

Find state of Florida public records from local government agencies

City and county clerks in Florida can frequently provide a great deal of current information on an individual when you know their name and address.
Try: The Florida Free Public Records Directory provides access to a variety of public records in Florida including criminal records, property records and general information on individuals. State and Local Government on the Net has many links related to Florida including links to the websites for cities and counties in Florida.

Learn more about the laws regarding free Florida public records

The records that are publicly available vary widely by state. You will want to have at least a general idea of what information you can expect to find before conducting your search.
Try: The Attorney General of Florida provides extensive information on Florida’s open government laws. The Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles provides information on driving records and also summarizes Florida’s open records laws.

Perform searches of Florida court records

Many cities and counties in Florida maintain a variety of court records on individuals and property that are freely available to the general public.
Try: The Court Clerk of Miami-Dade County has an online search capability of the county recorder’s records. Orange County keeps a public record of the people incarcerated at the Orange County jail.

 

• Exhaust free sources of information before you consider paying for Florida public records. Sites that charge a fee may only provide information you could obtain elsewhere for free. Fortunately, libraries frequently subscribe to services that you would normally need to pay a fee to access. You should also bear in mind that many public records are simply not available online.

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