Jefferson County Public Records

Jefferson County Public Records refer to a collection of documents in Jefferson County Florida that are so important that the same has to be available to the public at all times, regardless of the reason behind the request. Of all the types of documents included amongst this umbrella of classification, perhaps the most searched for document would be court records. This is because court records are important not only to those who practice the law, but also for the general public given the information contained within these pieces of papers.

Court records begin their life as nothing more but a document containing the names of the parties, the type of suit it refers to, a general summary of the facts that led to the filing of the suit, and the claims that the initiating party had against the defendant. Over the course of its life, however, additional documents would be added to the records so that by the end of its life many months, sometimes, even years, later, these records would contain, in addition to those already mentioned, a summary of the events that had happened while the case was being heard in the trial court, the minutes of the hearing, the principal counsels and witnesses of both parties and the evidences presented, and, if disposed of, the reason that it was disposed of the way it was. These provide information important not only to law practitioners but also as a means of background checks for prospective employees and employers.

The importance of court records could best be demonstrated by the fact that no less than Florida statute had mandated that they be available to the public at all times. That same statute identified the official custodian of court records as the clerk of court, and at the same time, mandated the clerk to not only keep and maintain court records, but also to secure the same. For this reason, while the clerk could not refuse anyone access to the records, the clerk would not allow the records to be taken out of their archives.

For those who wish to view the public records, they must first go to the office of the clerk of courts located in Monticello, Florida. Once there, there is no need to actually file a formal request to look into the records, a simple request at the on-duty clerk would do. However, of there is a specific record to be requested, it is suggested that the specific case should be named and the search thereof be left in the hands of the personnel of the clerk of court who, because of their familiarity with the records, would be more efficient in locating the same.

In any case, once the records had been located, the searcher is free to look at them under the supervision of a clerk. A copy of the same could be requested for and made after paying the required copying fee which is usually one dollar per page. After the record had been copied, the copy could be certified for two dollars per document.

Another option for those who want to look for the records as fast as possible would be to look for the specific court record online. Online databases provide information that are substantially the same as the ones in the archives of the clerk, and because of networks maintained by these databases, the information that they present to the searcher could be augmented by information from other databases that house other information. Further, these databases are often free to use and easy to locate, in addition to the fact that, because they are done using the internet, the results of \searches using these websites are often instant.

Florida Public Records

Comprehensive Public Court Records of Florida Counties