Free Florida Public Records Online

The Freedom of Information Act, which was enacted in 1966, paved the way for the full or partial disclosure of records controlled by the government. Prior to this, Florida has started giving people access to public records due to the passing of the Florida Public Records Act in 1909 in Chapter 119 of the Florida Statutes. The law contains policies, definition of terms, exemptions, general information on records access, inspection, and copying of records.

The act states that the government has the responsibility to make county, state and municipal records available to the public. The records should be allowed to be inspected and copied by any individual, provided that all prerequisites are obliged to. Also, the records are to be encoded online but must contain the exactly the same contents of the original records. Confidential records are to remain confidential even if encoded online.

Even though they are characterized as open for access to the public, some records in some states are confidential and have their respective restrictions as to who are given access to certain records. This will vary on a state-to-state basis depending on their laws. Some examples of records that are exempt for inspection are ongoing criminal investigations, anything pertaining to public agency’s administration, bid proposals, and more.

There are many types of records that are part of public records such as Photo Archives, Contracts, Death Certificates, Vital Statistics (Birth, Death, Marriage, and Divorce), Social Security Statistics, Criminal Records, Health Care Administration, Land Boundary Information System, Adoption papers, etc .They can be obtained at their respective government agencies who are assigned to keep and disseminate them.

Over the years, more and more records have become part of public records. Maps, books, tapes, photographs, film, sound recordings and computerized data are now considered as public records.

Obtaining them from government offices is often lengthy and will be a disadvantage if you urgently need the records for legal purposes. This is where online record providers will come in handy. You can search for one over the Internet but you have to choose between free-of-charge and fee-based providers. Both have the capacity to provide public records but vary in the quality in terms of completeness and comprehensiveness. Fee-based providers utilize powerful databases that access both government and private resources so they can gather more data. Although they are technically free public records, fees are required for the process of retrieving them. Fees vary depending on the type of record you want to obtain. It is inevitable that at times jargon will be used in the records and this will make it hard for ordinary citizens to decipher. Online Record providers arrange the records in such a manner that is easier to understand.