Florida Public Criminal Records

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By Ben Kingsley


Public records in Florida are housed in the Sunshine State's Vital Statistics Office which operates under the Department of Health. These include records of births, marriages, divorces, and deaths. Criminal and arrest records in Florida, on the other hand, are maintained, updated, and kept by the State's Department of Law Enforcement.

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.

The cost for criminal history information is $24.00 per request and is non-refundable. Make check or money order payable to Florida Department of Law Enforcement. Please include in your request a return address and the individual's name, any known aliases, date of birth or approximate age, race, sex and if available, social security number and last known address. Your check or money order for $24.00 per individual should accompany your request. This process takes approximately five business days excluding postal delivery time.

Criminal records document serious arrests in Florida such as felonies. When requesting for criminal history information of an individual, the results will show whether that person has a criminal record or not. If an arrest or a criminal record is found, a copy of such information will be sent to you. However, it is impossible for such office to confirm if the record belongs to that person unless a fingerprint comparison is done. In case no record is found, a certificate of "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" will be provided.

Should you wish to acquire a copy of an arrest or criminal history information with ease and deftness, you can pull a quick online record review. The Law Enforcement office offers online searches in its website for the public's convenience. However, if you wish to cut costs, then you can resort to other independent online sources. Free public arrest records can be obtained through other service providers. Online service providers range from those that offer free services to those that require minimal fees. Regardless of which type of service provider you choose, it is imperative that you check first their background to ensure less to no errors in the results. With such independent record providers, you get to save not only time and effort, but also money.




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