Volusia County Public Records

The existence of records is mandated by law, but the same law that mandates the existence of records is anchored on a number of principles, chief of which is the principle of openness and practicability. Records are of great importance not only in public life, but also in private life because records are often the only means for a person to verify the happening of an event. It is also entirely possible that even if a person was there when the event happen, said person could not actually remember everything that had happened. More importantly, official records found within the archives known as the Volusia County Public Records are often the only type of documents that are accepted in official proceedings that are not limited to court proceedings.

To understand the importance of court records, one must first understand the contents of the same. It is the contents of records that make them very important because the information contained within the four corners of these papers are of importance. The information is used by law practitioners in searching for precedent in their pending cases and sometimes, the records themselves could serve as evidences in other proceedings. Indeed, the best evidence of a judgment is always the judgment itself. As for private concerns, the documents that are part of the archives contain some other types of information that they could use in their everyday lives.

As was mentioned before, one of the reasons for the existence of public records is practicality, but all the practical reasons in the world would be for naught if the documents are not available. This is the reason why the law made it clear that public records should always be available to the public at all times. The official custodian of the records, the clerk of courts, is not given the authority or the discretion to refuse a person permission to enter the archives and look at the records under their custody save for specific reasons.

To enter the archives, however, one must first comply with the relatively simple step of asking for permission from the clerk of court. There are a number of methods that a person could obtain permission, but the clerk recommends that a person who wishes to ask permission should just go to the office and ask there. Generally, the archives would be allowed access into the same day that permission was given so it is better to be actually there when permission is given.

Once permission has been given, the searcher has the option of doing the search himself with the assistance of a clerk, or to actually just leave the clerk to do the search. Given the presumable familiarity of the clerk with the filing system, a clerk should be able to locate the requested for files faster. Note that once the records are located, to be able to take them out is impossible, so a copy would have to be procured. This is available to the searcher upon request and after paying the copying fee which is usually one dollar per page, plus a two dollar certification per document.

Another option of obtaining public records would be to use the internet. There are a number of online databases that provide the same information as the ones that could be found within the office of the clerk. They would not be certified, but if they are not going to be used for official purposes anyway, there is no need for certification. These databases are faster, and because they are internet searches, there is actually no need to go to the office of the clerk of courts, or to actually leave the comforts of the home of the searcher.

Florida Public Records

Comprehensive Public Court Records of Florida Counties