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| Florida Court Records- Listed below is contact information and/or links to websites containing resources to help in a search for Florida court records. | |||
| Search Florida Courts online and Access State and County Public Records | |||
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Florida’s court system became well known during the 2000 presidential election, when ballots and results were contested in several county courtrooms. The squabbles continued through to the Florida Supreme Court (which ordered selective recounts) and ultimately the election was decided by the United States Supreme Court, which threw out the recounts, settling the election in favor of George W. Bush. Florida's Supreme Court The Florida Supreme Court includes a chief justice -- which since Dec. 7, 1998, has been R. Fred Lewis, who was appointed to the post by the late Gov. Lawton Chiles – and six other justices. The chief justice also oversees the entire Florida court system, including a number of managerial functions centralized in Tallahassee under the Office of the State Courts Administrator. The FL Supreme Court’s Web site is accessible and informative, including court decisions and rules, a schedule for and information about oral arguments before the court, and a powerful docket search tool. The Supreme Court’s library – Florida’s oldest state-funded library -- has its own site that includes a multi-featured search function for the facility’s online card catalog. An extensive array of Florida public information is available at the court’s site, as well. The court is located at 500 south Duval St. in Florida’s capital city of Tallahassee. To contact the Supreme Court Clerk of Court, phone (850) 488-0125. Florida District Courts Most trial decisions that are appealed are not heard by the Florida Supreme Court. Rather, they are reviewed by three-judge panels of the district courts of appeal in the state, though Florida did not even have these courts of appeal until 1957. Before that time, the Supreme Court did hear all appeals, but as the state grew, so did the Supreme Court’s docket, and a new tier of appellate courts was necessary. There are five appellate court districts: The First District Court of Appeal (for the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 8th and 14th circuits) at 301 S. Martin Luther King Blvd., Tallahassee, (850) 487-1000; Second District Court of Appeal (6th, 10th, 12th, 13th and 20th circuits), at 1005 E. Memorial Blvd. in Lakeland, (863) 499-2290, or at 1700 N. Tampa St, Suite 300, Tampa, (813) 272-3430; the Third District Court of Appeal (11th and 16th circuits), 2001 SW 117 Ave., Miami, (305) 229-3200; Fourth District Court of Appeal (15th, 17th and 19th circuits), at 1525 Palm Beach Lake Blvd., West Palm Beach, (561) 242-2000; and, the Fifth District Court of Appeal (for 5th, 7th, 9th and 18th circuits), located at 300 S. Beach St., Daytona Beach, (386) 947-1500. The district courts of appeal have jurisdiction to review appeals from final judgments and certain other non-final orders emerging from lower courts. By general law, the district courts also can review final actions taken by state agencies in carrying out the duties of the executive branch of Florida government. Finally, Florida’s district courts also have the authority to issue extraordinary writes of certiorari, prohibition, mandamus, quo warranto and habeas corpus. FL Circuit Courts Prior to 1973, Florida had a wider array of trial courts than any state except New York. But a movement that developed in the late 1960s eventually reformed the confusing system. Now, Florida has a two-tiered trial court system. There were temporary exceptions for some municipal courts, the last of which were not abolished until Jan. 1, 1977. But most municipal courts were ended four years prior. The majority of Florida jury trials take place before a single judge sitting in circuit court. These courts are sometimes referred to as courts of general jurisdiction because most criminal and civil complaints in the state originate at the circuit court level. There are 20 circuit courts in Florida, though the size and scope of each is dependent upon population and caseload of the areas they cover. Circuit judges are elected by voters in nonpartisan contested elections. A chief judge is selected from among the circuit and county judges in each judicial circuit; this judge carries out administrative responsibilities for all trial courts, both circuit and county, within that circuit. Circuit courts have general trial jurisdiction over matters not assigned by statute to the county courts, and can also hear appeals from county court cases. Thus, Florida circuit courts are both the highest trial courts and the lowest appellate courts in Florida’s judicial system. The trial jurisdiction of circuit courts include: original jurisdiction over civil disputes involving more than $15,000; controversies involving the estates of decedents, minors and persons adjudicated as incapacitated; juvenile cases; criminal prosecutions for all felonies; tax disputes; cases to determine legal title and boundaries of real property; suits for declaratory judgments; and request for injunctions to prevent persons or parties from acting in a manner alleged to be unlawful. The circuit courts also are granted powers to issue extraordinary writes of certiorari, prohibition, mandamus, quo warranto and habeas corpus, and any other writ necessary to complete the exercise of the circuit court’s jurisdiction. The 20 Florida circuit courts include: First Circuit (counties of Escambia, Okaloosa, Santa Rosa and Walton); Second Circuit (Franklin, Gadsden, Jefferson, Leon, Liberty, and Wakulla); Third Circuit (Columbia, Dixie, Hamilton, Lafayette, Madison, Suwannee and Taylor); Fourth Circuit (Clay, Duval and Nassau); Fifth Circuit (Citrus, Hernando, Lake, Marion and Sumter); Sixth Circuit (Pasco and Pinellas); Seventh Circuit (Flagler, Putnam, St. Johns and Volusia); Eighth Circuit (Alachua, Baker, Bradford, Gilchrist, Levy, and Union); Ninth Circuit (Orange and Osceola); Tenth Circuit (Hardee, Highlands and Polk); Eleventh Circuit (Dade County); Twelfth Circuit (DeSoto, Manatee and Sarasota); Thirteenth Circuit (Hillsborough); Fourteenth Circuit (Bay, Calhoun, Gulf, Holmes, Jackson and Washington); Fifteenth Circuit (Palm Beach County); Sixteenth Circuit (Monroe County); Seventeenth Circuit (Broward County); Eighteenth Circuit (Brevard and Seminole); Nineteenth Circuit (Indian River, Martin, Okeechobee and St. Lucie); and Twentieth Circuit (Charlotte, Collier, Glades, Hendry and Lee counties). Florida County Courts Florida’s constitution establishes a county court in each of the state’s 67 counties. As with circuit courts, the size and scope of those county courts (number of judges particularly) varies with the population and caseload of the county. To become a county judge, a person must be both an elector in that county and have been a member of the Florida Bar for five years, which in counties with populations of 40,000 or less, a person must only be a member of the Bar. County judges can be, and frequently are, assigned to serve in a circuit courtroom as needed, within the same circuit that their county is located. County judges serve six-year terms. Trial jurisdiction of the county courts is established by statute. The county jurisdiction extends to civil disputes valued at $15,000 or less. Often known as “the people’s courts,” the county system in Florida is largely devoted to citizen disputes and minor offenses such as traffic infractions, misdemeanor crimes and relatively small monetary disputes. Florida’s county judges have their own association, the Conference of County Court Judges of Florida. |
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| Florida Court Web Sites with online Search Databases | |||
6th Judicial Circuit, Pasco and Pinellas Counties 9th Judicial Circuit, Orange and Osceola Counties Brevard County Clerk of Courts Web Site Osceola County Clerk of Courts Palm Beach County Clerk of the Circuit Court, 15th Judicial Circuit United States District Court, Southern District of Florida United States District Court, Middle District of Florida United States District Court, Northern District of Florida United States Bankruptcy Court, Middle District of Florida United States Bankruptcy Court, Southern District of Florida United States Bankruptcy Court, Northern District of Florida Florida District Courts - General information and links to the district courts. Florida County Courts - County Website directory and map. Florida Supreme Court - Florida Supreme Court Opinions, rules and other Court Documents Florida Supreme Court - Public Information Pages with High Profile Case Descriptions. |
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| Florida County Courthouses, Addresses and Phone numbers | |||
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