How to search Florida court records

Florida has no statewide trial-court search at all. Each county runs its own independent case-management system, so finding a record means first identifying the right county, then searching that county's own portal. There's no charge and no account required — results are visible to anyone who searches.

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Open the official Florida portal →

What's actually there

Florida has no free statewide public search. Search the clerk of court's site in the county where the case was filed; public searches need no account. The clerks' statewide CCIS index is for official use only, and the statewide CaseAccess search costs $20 a month.

Other official lookups for Florida

How Florida's courts are organized

Florida has four court levels. At the top are the Supreme Court of Florida and six District Courts of Appeal. Below them are two kinds of trial courts: circuit courts and county courts. The state is divided into 20 judicial circuits that together cover all 67 counties, and every county has its own county court.

Circuit courts are the general trial courts. They handle felonies, larger civil suits, family cases, probate and guardianship, and juvenile matters. County courts hear misdemeanors, traffic cases, small claims, and civil cases worth up to $50,000 for suits filed on or after January 1, 2023 (section 34.01, Florida Statutes).

Trial court records are kept by the elected Clerk of the Circuit Court and Comptroller in each county. There is no free, public statewide name search run by the courts. The statewide index the clerks maintain, the Comprehensive Case Information System (CCIS), is marked for official use only and is limited to judges, law enforcement, state agencies and other authorized users. In October 2026 the clerks and the Florida Courts E-Filing Authority opened a paid statewide search called CaseAccess, built on CCIS, at $20 a month or $200 a year through the E-Filing Portal. Its announcement says public case information remains available through each county clerk's own public access system, and that CaseAccess is not the official court record.

Searching a county clerk's records online

For most people the right starting point is the online search on the website of the clerk in the county where the case was filed. The Florida Supreme Court's Standards for Access to Electronic Court Records set the ground rules every clerk follows. Members of the general public do not need a username or password, and anonymous web access is allowed.

Public web searches are limited to five fields: case type, case number, party name, citation number and date range. Registered users such as attorneys and government agencies get broader tools under written agreements.

The public can see all records except those that are expunged, sealed, automatically confidential under Rule 2.420 of the Florida Rules of General Practice and Judicial Administration, or made confidential by court order.
Under section 28.2221(5)(a), Florida Statutes, the public gets no remote access to document images in family law, juvenile or probate cases. Docket entries may still show, but the documents must be requested from the clerk.
Some documents are marked viewable on request. Clicking one sends a request to the clerk, who must check it and redact confidential information before it can be viewed.
Remote access may be more limited than the terminals inside the clerk's office, so a record you cannot see online may still be viewable in person.
Automated or bulk searching is allowed only on the indexes, and only with the clerk's authorization.

Getting copies and certified copies

Copies come from the clerk of court in the county that holds the case. Most clerks take requests in person, by mail and through their websites. The Florida Court Clerks and Comptrollers association keeps a directory of all 67 clerks with links to each office's records search and public records request process.

Clerk fees are set by section 28.24, Florida Statutes. Paper copies are $1.00 per page for pages up to 14 by 8.5 inches. Certifying a copy of a court record costs $2.00. If you ask the clerk to search the records for you, the fee is $2.00 for each year searched. Section 28.24 does not set a price for electronic copies; it points to the public records law in chapter 119 instead, so check the clerk's website for its online document fees.

Sealed and expunged records

Florida lets a court seal or expunge an adult criminal history record, but only after the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) issues a certificate of eligibility. Expunction under section 943.0585 is generally for cases where no charges were filed or the charges were dismissed, dropped, or ended in acquittal. Sealing under section 943.059 is generally for cases where the person was not adjudicated guilty. The FDLE application carries a $75 fee unless waived, the certificate is valid for 12 months, and the judge still decides whether to grant the petition. In most cases a person may seal or expunge only one record in a lifetime.

Expunged records are destroyed by most agencies and kept confidential by FDLE. Sealed records stay on file but are closed to the public; judges, criminal justice agencies and certain licensing and employment screeners can still see them. FDLE also seals its own copy of some records automatically when the clerk reports a qualifying outcome under section 943.0595, but that does not seal the county clerk's file. Juvenile records may be expunged automatically at age 21 or 26 under section 943.0515.

The summary above describes Florida law only and is not legal advice. To find out whether a record qualifies, talk to a lawyer or the self-help center at your county courthouse.

Tip: reading a Florida case number

Florida trial courts use a Uniform Case Number set by the Florida Supreme Court. The full number is 20 characters: a two-digit county code, the four-digit year, a two-letter court type, a six-digit sequence number, a four-character party code and a two-character branch code. Most clerk websites display only the first parts, for example 2024-CF-001234.

The court type letters tell you which division to search. Common codes include CF for felony, MM for misdemeanor, CT for criminal traffic, TR for traffic infractions, CA for circuit civil, CC for county civil, SC for small claims, DR for domestic relations and family, and CP for probate. Appellate case numbers start with SC for the Supreme Court or a district code such as 1D.

Sources

Checked against the official sources above in October 2026. Court rules and fees change; the court's own site is the final word. This is general information, not legal advice.

Federal cases filed in Florida

State portals don't cover federal court. If the case you're looking for might be a federal criminal prosecution, civil suit, or bankruptcy, use CourtRecordsFree's live federal search — it queries CourtListener/RECAP directly and isn't limited to any one state.

Largest counties in Florida

Miami-Dade County — The Civil, Family and Probate Courts Online System is free under Florida Supreme Court electronic-records standards — unlike the statewide CCIS index, no account is required.

Search tips

Try both "Last, First" and "First Last" — courts index names inconsistently.
Middle initials and suffixes (Jr., III) often matter for common names.
A date of birth or case number is the only reliable way to confirm you found the right person.
An arrest or charge shown in a docket is not a conviction — read the disposition.

Frequently asked questions

Is it free to search Florida court records online?

Yes. Florida's statewide search is free to use, with no account or subscription required.

Does this include criminal records?

Yes. Florida's portal includes criminal case records alongside civil cases, though sealed and expunged cases are not shown.

Does one search cover the whole state?

No single search. Florida has no statewide index — you need to find the right county first, then search that county's own system.

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