Florida Arrest Records

According to the laws of the State of Florida, the Florida Arrest Records are public records except they are expunged or sealed records. Florida Government agencies are responsible for providing free arrest records against the requests made. A person making a request for accessing arrest records can be charged for Admin fees but the records won’t be charged. Florida law enforcement agency prepares arrest reports – the arrest reports are made public once they are issued. At the same time, some information, such as the identity of a sexual battery victim is exempt.

In the state of Florida, the county agencies, such as police departments, highway patrols, sheriff’s offices and other law enforcement agencies of the state of Florida maintain records of all the arrests they make. The official arrest record database is regularly updated with new records and search capabilities. Generally arrest records include date of arrest, fingerprints and photograph of the criminal detained. The particular departments are also required to submit the arrest records to the state repository every month to be collected and maintained at State level. Correspondingly, all Florida arrest records are also reported to the higher federal agencies like the FBI and Justice Department.

The Division of Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS) is the division of The Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE). All the information about criminals’ history record informations (arrest records, trial dates, convictions, settlements and sentencing etc) for the state of Florida is kept and manages by CJIS. This is the main division which not only maintains the criminal records including arrest records but also provides facility to general public for accessing the information about criminals arrest whenever asked for. It is illegitimate to report public arrest records in particular by pre-employment screening services.

Computerized Criminal History System (CCH) is used by FDLE to maintain the records of the criminals. The criminal records of an individual include informations like arrest record, imprisonment, case number and charge, offense, filing date and disposition with date and sentence etc. All arrest made by the officials of the state are recorded despite the consequences of outcome. Consequently, even dropped charges, plea bargain and other form of compromise or release would still be captured on file.

Obtaining Criminal Arrest Records

General public and legislative licensing and employment entities may obtain the public version of the Florida state criminal history including arrest record of a person upon special request and payment of the requisite fee of $24 at the following address:

Details on Florida’s arrest records can be found by

1. Contacting FDLE Office of General Counsel
• Phone (850) 410-7676
• Fax (850) 410-7699)
2. Contacting FDLE Public Information Office
• Phone (850) 410-7001
• Fax (850) 410-7022).
3. Calling at (850) 410-8109
4. Free of cost online database of arrest records of the State of Florida can be searched as well.

According to the state statute the Florida arrest records are public records unless the records are removed or sealed by the state courts upon the request of the concerning person. Florida’s Arrest Records provides the most effective way of assessing an individual’s tendency for brushes with the law. Florida State Repository only allows access of offense and misdemeanor convictions as the Florida arrest records are technically public records under Florida state laws if not removed or closed by the courts of the state. An arrest record is entered for every detention whether or not imprisonment resulted.

Generally Lawyers or experts are needed for this purpose. Another practical alternative is to simply source the arrest information from commercial record providers and permit them to handle the legality issues. These persons are experts on the subject in their own right. The county agencies, such as police departments, highway patrol’s, sheriff’s offices and other enforcement agencies all over the state of Florida keep records of all the arrests they make. The agencies submit these records every month to the state repository to be compiled and maintained at state level. Moreover, all arrests records of Florida are also reported to higher federal agencies namely the FBI and Justice Department. Most of the criminal arrest record searches in Florida should be performed on the county level by contacting the clerk of court.