Alachua County Court Records

Alachua County court records are managed by the Clerk of Court at 201 E. University Avenue in Gainesville. The clerk's office handles all case filings for the 8th Judicial Circuit, which serves Alachua County along with several neighboring counties. With a population near 280,000, Alachua County processes a high volume of civil, criminal, family, and probate cases each year. Court records here are public under Florida law, and most can be searched online through the clerk's website or state court portals. Gainesville, the county seat, is home to the University of Florida, which means a steady flow of cases tied to a large and active community. If you need to find a case filing, check a court date, or get copies of documents from an Alachua County case, the clerk's office is where you go first.

Alachua County Clerk of Court

The Alachua County Clerk of Court, led by J.K. "Jess" Irby, runs the court records system for the county. The main office is at 201 E. University Avenue, Gainesville, FL 32601. You can call them at (352) 374-3636. Under Florida Statute Chapter 119, most court records in Alachua County are open to anyone who wants to see them. The clerk files and stores civil, criminal, family, and probate cases. There are limits, of course. Cases involving minors, mental health matters, and sealed files are not open to the public. But the vast majority of Alachua County court records are accessible either online or at the clerk's office in Gainesville.

The clerk's office does more than just store records. They process new filings, collect court fees, issue summons, and handle jury management for Alachua County. If you need a certified copy of a court document, the clerk's office can provide one. Walk-in requests are taken at the Gainesville office during regular business hours.

The Alachua County Clerk of Court website is the starting point for looking up case information and court records.

From the clerk's site you can also find info on traffic citations, marriage licenses, and how to pay fines in Alachua County. The site is fairly easy to use and has separate sections for court records and official records.

Alachua County Court Records Online

The Alachua County court records search lets you look up case information from the clerk's website. You can search by name, case number, or date range. The tool pulls results from civil, criminal, family, and probate divisions in Alachua County. This is a free tool. You do not need to create an account or pay a fee to search. The results show case type, party names, filing dates, and the current status of the case. It is a solid way to get a quick look at what is on file for a particular person or case in Alachua County.

Keep in mind that the online search may not show every single document in a case file. Some records that are confidential under Florida law will not appear in the results. Per Florida Statute 119.0714, clerks must redact personal information like social security numbers and bank account numbers from court records before making them available to the public. So the records you see online in Alachua County have already been scrubbed of certain sensitive data.

You can also search Alachua County court records through the statewide MyFlCourtAccess portal, which connects to case data from multiple Florida counties.

Note: Some older Alachua County court records may not be in the online system yet, so check with the clerk's office if you need records from before the digital era.

Official Records in Alachua County

Court records and official records are two different things in Alachua County, and the clerk handles both. The Alachua County official records search covers recorded documents like deeds, mortgages, liens, and other instruments filed with the county. These are not court case filings. They are property and financial documents that the clerk records and stores. If you are looking for a land deed or a lien in Alachua County, use the official records portal rather than the court records search.

The official records system goes back further than the court records database in many cases. You can search by name, book and page number, or document type. Alachua County has a large volume of recorded documents given its population and the amount of real estate activity around the Gainesville area. Both the court records and official records searches are available through the clerk's website, but they are separate tools that look at different sets of data.

Filing Court Records in Alachua County

All new court filings in Alachua County go through the Florida Courts E-Filing Portal. The state of Florida requires electronic filing for most case types. You can file court documents in Alachua County at any time of day since the portal runs around the clock. Once you file, the Alachua County clerk processes the document and adds it to the case record. You can track your filing status through the portal.

Per Supreme Court Administrative Order AOSC 16-14, public court documents in Alachua County may be posted online for viewing. This includes certain filings, orders, and other case materials. Sealed and confidential records are kept out of public view. Florida Rule of Judicial Administration 2.420 spells out which court records are open and which ones have restricted access. The rule gives the public a right of access to all judicial branch records unless a specific exemption applies. If you think a record has been wrongly withheld in Alachua County, you can file a motion under Rule 2.420 to challenge that decision.

The Florida Court Clerks and Comptrollers association ties all 67 county clerks together. Their site has links to every county clerk's office in the state, which can be helpful if you need to search court records in a county near Alachua.

The Florida Court Clerks and Comptrollers portal connects all county clerk offices across the state.

The MyFloridaCounty portal handles online payments for court fees across the state, including Alachua County. For statewide appellate court records, ACIS gives free access to case info from all Florida District Courts of Appeal and the Supreme Court.

Note: Alachua County is part of the 8th Judicial Circuit, which also includes Baker, Bradford, Gilchrist, Levy, and Union counties.

Copies of Alachua County Court Records

To get copies of Alachua County court records, you can visit the clerk's office in Gainesville, make a request online, or send a written request by mail. The clerk charges standard fees for copies under Florida law. Certified copies cost more than plain copies. If you need a document for a legal proceeding, you will likely need the certified version. Walk-in requests at the Gainesville courthouse are usually the fastest way to get copies, but the online system works well too if you know the case number and document you need.

Florida law sets the fees that clerks can charge for court records. Here are the standard rates in Alachua County:

• Plain copies: $1.00 per page
• Certified copies: $2.00 per page plus certification fee
• Search fee: $2.00 per year searched per name
• Electronic certified documents: varies by document type

If you are making a request by mail, include the case number, the document you need, and a check or money order for the fees. Send your request to the Alachua County Clerk of Court at 201 E. University Avenue, Gainesville, FL 32601. Mail requests can take a week or more to process, so plan ahead if you have a deadline. The clerk's office staff can give you a fee estimate over the phone at (352) 374-3636 if you are not sure how much your request will cost.

Cities in Alachua County

All court cases in Alachua County are filed through the clerk's office in Gainesville, regardless of which city the case involves. Gainesville is the largest city and the county seat. Other communities in Alachua County include Alachua, Archer, Hawthorne, High Springs, LaCrosse, Micanopy, Newberry, and Waldo. Court records from all of these places are held at the same clerk's office in Gainesville.

Nearby Counties

Alachua County sits in north-central Florida and shares borders with several other counties. Each county keeps its own court records, so be sure you are searching in the right county before you start. A case filed in Marion County will not show up in the Alachua County system.