Of all the documents that are classified under DeSotto County Public Records, perhaps nothing is more important, or most searched, than court records. Court records are those set of records that begin whenever a new case is filed in court and are constantly updated until the case reaches its end. The story of how the case began, how it prospered or floundeared, and how it ended with the final judicial disposition could be found within these records. Often, the envelope that houses these records also houses the minutes of the trial and the evidences presented by both parties. It is for the contents of these records that they had become important because they are not only used by the appellate court in their review of the case but also by lawyers and law students who are out looking for precedent to help them in their cases, and by business owners and even ordinary people who just wants to know.
These records are considered so important, a Florida statute secures them and mandates an official custodian, the clerk of court, to maintain and secure the same, but at the same time, the same statute commands the clerk of court to make the same available to any person regardless of circumstance and regardless of reason. It is for this command that the clerk of court, or anyone else for that matter, could not deny anyone who wishes to look into the records.
To obtain a certified copy of a court record from the clerk of court, a searcher must first personally appear before the clerk of court and inform the clerk that he or she would want to look into the records. Note that the clerk could not deny anyone the right to look into the record and to actually search the record, but more often than not, it is advised to let the clerk do the searching because of the sheer number of records that may be involved. This search would usually take anywhere between five to fifteen days so the searcher would have to return to peruse the records. Alternatively, the searcher could do the actual search, but one must note that it is possible for some records to be missed because of the volume of records that may be involved.
Once the records had been located, the same would be made available to the searcher who, nevertheless, could not actually remove them from within the archives. This is because the law charges the clerk of court with securing the same, but for a fee, a copy could be made. The fee is usually a dollar per page, plus two dollars per document for certification of the same.
For those who have neither the time nor the inclination to go to the office of the clerk of court and to fall in line or wait, there is the option of doing the search online. Note that the clerk of court of Columbia County operates their own online search database, but the same is limited to cases filed after 1995 and newly filed cases could take up to ten days to appear in the system. A more efficient system would be to use other online resources in the form of specialized online databases. These databases are everywhere in the World Wide Web and are more efficient because not only do they provide more information than the one requested, they are also instantaneous with their results. In addition, most of them are free and easy to use and because they are done over the wire, there is no need for the searcher to typically leave the comforts of their own rooms in order to conduct the search.
DeSotto County Court Public Records Access
To view a court record using the online database of the DeSotto County Clerk of Court, the procedure is provided below
- Visit the Disclaimer Page of the DeSotto County Clerk, then click search
- Input the information requested on the blank pages. Note that not all blanks are required to be filled.
- Once filled, click search.
- A results page should show you all the matches, locate the one that you want then click on the box before the case title, checking it, before clicking view at the bottom of the page.
- The specifics of the case should now be available for your viewing.
DeSotto County Public Records Free Access
The other custodians of official public documents in DeSotto County may be reached through the following links.
Florida Public Records
Comprehensive Public Court Records of Florida Counties