Wakulla County Public Records

When it comes to official proceedings, there are always records. The making, keeping, and securing of these records are mandated by law anchored on the principles of openness and practicability. It must be remembered that only official records are considered by entities of the government to be binding in other proceedings for it is entirely possible for a person or a property to be subject to a number of proceedings. This is one of the primary reasons why a collection of records contained within an archive known as the Wakulla County Public Records exists.

Public records are titled after the names of the parties involved in the proceeding. Sometimes, it is only named after one party, because the other party is unknown and could not be identified. From the title alone, a lot of information could be gleamed for, because it is a dead giveaway as to the identity of the parties. A prospective employer could then tell if his prospective employee was involved in a case, for example, either as defendant or plaintiff. More so would the information contained within these records be important. Law practitioners often refer to past decisions of courts and past outcomes of other proceedings in their own cases, following the doctrine of precedent.

Public records, as its name implies are public. This means that they are available to the public at all times and at all circumstances. The official custodian of these records is the clerk of courts and they are not allowed to refuse a person who wishes to access these records. No less than a law mandates that these records should be available to the public at all times, but the same law also commands the clerk to keep, maintain, and secure the records. The last of the three commandments of the law authorizes the clerk of courts to therefore prescribe a set of rules that must first be followed before access could be given to the records.

Although the clerk of courts is not allowed to refuse permission, still, to access the records there must be permission. Permission could be obtained through a number of methods like sending a letter via mail or email, but the most efficient method is generally held to be the personal appearance before the clerk and asking permission therein. This is because the records are going to be made available to a person right after he asks permission.
Once permission had been given, the searcher is now free to look into the records. Often, a clerk would be sent to assist the searcher for a faster search, but it is also possible for the searcher to leave the actual search with the clerk. Presumably, the clerk is more familiar with the filing system and could locate the records faster. Once the records had been located, a copy of the records would cost one dollar per page, plus the two dollar per document certification fee.

For those, however, who require the records as soon as possible and could not head over to the office of the clerk, the other option would be to conduct the search over the internet. A number of online databases provide the same information as the information available within the office of the clerk of court. These databases are often easier to use and do not charge anyone for the information contained within their databases. They are also faster with their returns, and because they are connected to other databases, they offer the possibility of other information that may be of use to the searcher.

Florida Public Records

Comprehensive Public Court Records of Florida Counties