Martin County Public Records

The keeping, maintenance, and securing of public records is mandated by law. This law is founded upon the basic requirements of due process, checks and balances, as well as the general condition that every action involving the government should be made public. This is one of the reasons why the documents classified under the umbrella of the Martin County Public Records are so important.

To be sure, the contents of these records are of great interest to the public. Not only do law practitioners frequently depend upon these documents in the exercise of their profession, searching for precedents for their cases and for the appellate proceedings, but also the general public who frequently find use for the contents of the archives in their background checks and for other purposes not limited to legal purposes. Frequently, these records are also used by the public to assure themselves in the daily process of contract making, such as when they wish to buy real estate and to ensure that the seller is indeed the owner of the property that they wish to purchase.

The importance of public records in the everyday lives of citizens is best demonstrated by the fact that no less than a law had declared that they should be available at all times to the public. Under Florida law, the official custodian of these records, the clerk of courts, has the triple responsibility of keeping, maintaining, and securing these records as well as to ensure that they are available at all times to the public. It is for this reason that the clerk of courts could not refuse anyone access to the records.

For a person who wishes to view the records at the office of the clerk of courts, the first step would be to head over to the office. There are a number of other methods that a searcher could gain access to the records, but because, generally, the records would be made available at the same day that the request is made, this is more efficient given that the records could not actually be taken out of the archives. Once at the office, the searcher would have to make a personal request to look into the records. Note that while the searcher could search the records himself, it is suggested that this is left in the hands of the clerk. Presumably, they would be more efficient because they are the ones who are more familiar with their filling process.

Either way, once the records had been located, the searcher is now free to look at them. Note that the searcher could only look at the original copies because these copies have to be secured for posterity and in case they are needed in the future. A copy of the records could be made upon request by the searcher and after payment of the copying fee which is usually one dollar per page. After the copy had been made, the same would be certified by the clerk of court, the only person who could actually certify these records, for an additional two dollars per document.

For those who have neither the time nor the inclination to head over the office of the clerk of courts, the only other option would be to conduct the search online. The office of the clerk of courts do maintain their own online database, but the same is still incomplete owing to the volumes of records that must be transcribed. Instead, it is suggested that the searcher should use a number of other online resources in the form of online databases, an undeterminable number of which currently populate the internet. These databases are easier to use and are easy to locate, in addition to the fact that most of them give their services for free and are instant with their results. In addition, because they are online, they are connected to other databases that offer more information that may be of use to the searcher.

Martin County Court Public Records Access

The procedure to obtain public records from the database of the clerk of court is provided for here

  • Click “Martin County Official Records Search
  • Read the Disclaimer then click “Accept”
  • Select how you would like to search (Party Name, Document Type, File Number or Book/Page)
  • Follow the instructions on the screen for entering search criteria.
  • Click “Search”
  • Once you follow these steps, you will be presented with a list of documents matching your search criteria.
  • If you would like to view a document, click “View” in the first column. On the next page, click “Get Image” and the document will open on the right side of the screen. If your computer settings do not allow the image to open, you can generate PDF image by clicking “View PDF”.

Martin County Public Records Free Access

For additional procedures and other questions, refer to the following links

Florida Public Records

Comprehensive Public Court Records of Florida Counties