Quick Access On Florida Criminal Records

By Ben Kingsley


In Florida, all vital records created and kept by the public entities should be made available to any member of the public in need and this is pursuant to the state's Public Records law. Vital records such as those of birth certificates, marriage certificates, divorce decrees, and death certificates are maintained by the Sunshine State's Vital Statistics Division, Department of Health. On the other hand, criminal and arrest records in Florida are housed in the Department of Law Enforcement in the state.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement, Division of Criminal Justice Information Services is the central repository for criminal history information for the state of Florida. In order to maintain the highest level of service, and to better meet the needs of criminal history record check customers, Florida's legislature has implemented criminal history record check fees. The fee for public requests is $24. In addition to maintaining criminal history information, it is such agency's responsibility to provide public access to such information when requested by any member of the public in need.

In appealing for a copy of a criminal record, you can visit the office directly, do it online, or file a request via mail. If you want to personally obtain a copy, you can go to their office, fill out a request form, and bring with you the appropriate payment. In requesting for a copy online, just visit the Department of Law Enforcement's website as such agency offers online searches. However, the accuracy of the information you provide is vital since searches are based on the details that you submit. Hence, you have to provide more accurate details as much as possible. For requests via mail, you have to fill out a request form which you can get from their webpage and send it to the Department.

Each copy of a criminal record is worth $24 per request. Such payment is non-refundable regardless if a record is found or not. A payment check or money order should be made payable to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. Include in your request the individual's name, any known sobriquets, date of birth, social security number if available, and the last known address. The usual turnaround time for such requests takes five business days.

Criminal history information is a record of serious arrests in Florida. When you request for the criminal record of an individual, your results will indicate whether the subject has or does not have a criminal record. If there is a record found for such person, a copy of the criminal history record along with your request will be forwarded to you. Bear in mind that unless a fingerprint card is submitted and a fingerprint comparison performed, it is impossible for such office to be sure if the record belongs to the individual you requested or if another individual has a similar name and identifiers. If no possible record is found in their repository, your request will be stamped in red ink, "Florida Department of Law Enforcement found no Florida criminal history based on the information provided. No criminal record check was conducted for other states or for the FBI."

If you want to get a copy of criminal records in a fast and practical way, then do it online. For the public's convenience, the State's Department of Law Enforcement provides online searches. But if you wish to cut costs, you can resort to other online record providers which proffer the same service but for free to a minimal fee only. Such online sources can actually provide you with free public arrest records in Florida. Others may charge you with a minimal fee. Instead of the usual five days processing, such service providers can give you the results in just a matter of minutes. However, doing a quick background check on the record provider you're eyeing for is vital to ensure accurate and comprehensive results. Compared to the usual way of obtaining criminal and arrest records in Florida, doing it online will save you time, effort, and money.




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