Pasco County Public Records

The policy of openness and the requirements of checks and balances are often cited as the primary reasons why records exist in the government. This is the reason why the collection known as the Pasco County Public Records exists. Certainly, these records are of great use in confirming the existence of something, and these things are not limited merely to corporeal things such as land or property, they also refer to incorporeal things such as rights and even the processes such as registrations and trials. They are of great use in ascertaining whether or not something not only existed, but had also happened. It is for this reason that they had become indispensible.

The contents of these records vary depending on the type of records that they are. Generally, however, the names of the parties, or at least one of them, are indispensible and would always appear on the face of the record. In addition, these records would typically contain the events that are related to the records such as manuscripts and trial records. Often, these would include minutes of the hearing if a hearing had occurred. This made records very important in the appellate proceedings and for many law practitioners, these also make records important when they are preparing for their cases, especially when the facts of their case are substantially the same as those that the records refer to.

Public policy, as was mentioned before, played an important part in making these records available to the public. This general openness had led to the passing of a law that called for the official custodian of these records, the clerk of courts, to keep, maintain, and secure the records at the same time that they had been commanded to keep these records open for the public at all times. Striking a balance between these two seemingly contradictory commands, the clerk of court had prescribed a set of rule that one must follow before seeing the records, but the clerk is not allowed to refuse access to the records, no matter the reason.

Original copies of records are located within the office of the clerk of courts, and because of that, this is always the first, and oftentimes, the only, place to look. A number of methods could be resorted to in order to as permission to access the records, but the most efficient one would have to be personal request. This is because the archives would be opened at the same time that the request was made, it is better to be actually there when permission is given rather than waiting for a letter from the clerk that would just say the same.

Once the records had been opened, the searcher may search for the record or he may ask a clerk to do it for him. Presumably, the clerk would be faster in the search since they are the ones who are more familiar with the filling method. Once the records had been located, the same could be copied by the clerk for a fee which is usually one dollar per page, plus an additional two dollars per document for certification.

Another option for those who could not find the time to go to the office of the clerk would be to conduct the search online. There are a number of online databases that provide substantially the same information as the one that could be found within the walls of the archives of the clerk of courts, and sometimes, such database actually contain more information because they are connected to other database that provide other types of information. In addition to this, these databases are easy to locate and are often easier to use, not to mention mostly free of charge. They are also faster because they are internet searches.

Florida Public Records

Comprehensive Public Court Records of Florida Counties