In Collier County, Florida, court records are part of a collection of documents collectively called Collier County Public Records. This is brought about not only because it was mandated by law, but also for other practical purposes. It must be remembered that court records are often the only way that a higher court could check on the conduct of lower courts in observing the statutory and constitutional requirements of due process during appellate proceedings. Court records also serve to educate law and other students in the course of their educational courses. These records are also of tremendous use to lawyers who are concerned about the precedence set by some of these cases. More importantly, these records could and are used by other private citizens in conducting checks on other people, especially in the field of business.
This is because these records contain not only the basic information regarding the case such as the name of the parties and the nature of the case, but also other pertinent documents that are of use to the people that are searching for these documents, such as notes made by judges, the evidence presented by the parties, and the very minutes of a hearing as recorded by the court stenographer. The importance of these documents in public life had necessitated their inclusion amongst the public records even if a statutory provision had not made it specifically clear that they are to be included.
In the state of Florida, aside from the statute making it mandatory for these records to be kept, the same statute identifies the official custodian of these records. Under Florida law, the clerk of court is the official custodian of these documents, mandated to keep and secure them, at the same time that the clerk is commanded to always make the same available. For this reason, it must be noted that the clerk, or anyone for that matter, could not refuse a request to see the official records.
To view the records in Collier County, Florida, a person who desires to see the records should visit the office of the clerk of court located in the city of Naples, Florida. The searcher should inform the clerk of their desire to see the records and the clerk would make the same available to the person who desires to see it. Note that this may take some time because of the volume of records on file, but once the search is done, the searcher is free to look into the documents, but not to take the same.
This is because these are the official records and the same are mandated by the law to be kept and secured by the clerk of court. It is possible, however, to secure a copy of the record, after paying the requisite copying fee which is usually one dollar per page. After the copies are made, the same would be certified by the clerk of court for an additional two dollars per document.
Searching for the records using online resources is an alternative method of searching for those who do not want to fall in line at the office of the clerk of court. The World Wide Web has a myriad of these online resources in the form of specialized online search databases. Often, these databases are more efficient to use because they are near instantaneous with their results and are almost always free. In addition, they provide more information, and while it is true that the same are not certified, note that it is easier to have the copies certified than to search for the same in the records of the clerk. Also, because these searches are done using the internet, the searcher merely needs a computer, an internet connection, and a printer, and there is no need to leave the house in order to finish the search.
Collier County Court Public Records Access
To use the online search database of the Collier County Clerk of Court, follow the following steps
- Visit the home page of the search database
- Enter your search criteria such as Name or Case number and Click Search. Note that when entering a name, you may enter all or just part of the name.
- A list of matching cases will display. Click any case number to display that case.
- A case information summary appears in the large white box.
- To print a copy, Click “Printer Friendly Version” in the top right hand corner of the page and follow the prompts.
Collier County Public Records Free Access
The other custodians of public records in Collier County may be reached through the following links
Florida Public Records
Comprehensive Public Court Records of Florida Counties