National News
Court Records Going Public With Provisos
March 19, 2015 posted by Steve Brownstein
Florida's clerks of court are in the middle of making electronic state court records available to the public online.
But in the process, they're creating two-tiers of public viewers with varying privileges based on how much information the users are willing to provide about themselves.
Any member of the public will be able to look up most criminal and civil cases over the Internet anonymously in most Florida counties, once the clerks' online records go live later this year.
But to access probate and family court records online, people will need to submit a notarized application and get approval from the clerks' offices.
There are also different levels of access for judges, lawyers, government workers and parties to a case.
Here's a look at the varying levels of access, listed by user type, type of access and how records will be accessed.
Anonymous public: All criminal and civil court records.
Subscriber public: All criminal, civil, family law and probate court records; username and password required after filling out application and signing agreement.
Judges, court personnel and clerk's office personnel: All court records except those expunged.
Attorneys of record: All records in the case except those expunged or sealed; username and password required after filling out application and signing agreement.
Parties to the case: All records in the case except those expunged or sealed; secure access on a case-by-case basis with notarized request required.
