Wednesday, March 26, 2014

Quick Access To Florida Free Public Criminal Records

By Ben Kingsley


If you are looking for a person's arrest record or want to make a background check on yourself or another person, the FDLE Florida Arrest Records can help you find what you might be looking for. The FDLE is the main depository of arrest and criminal records of all the counties in the State and updated every day. The FDLE site provides a self-service application where individuals can make their research without having to go the FDLE office.

Although arrest records are public records, there are some reports that are restricted for the public. These reports include sealed and expunged cases and juvenile cases that have not been charged with felony. These reports are only available for authorized agencies and law enforcement agencies.

Researchers who will use the online portal will be charged $24 for every search inquiry that they make. Each succeeding search result that the researcher wants to perform, including obtaining complete information will cost additional $24. The online search will only allow up to a maximum of five possible matches for any person. It is important that the individual doing the research fill up all the fields in the search query to come up with the best possible match.

The researcher must indicate his/her credit card information before being able to access the self-service application. Once the person starts searching, the fee is charged to their credit card. A no-result or match might come up in certain cases. As the fee is non-refundable, it is important to make sure that one fills in the information completely. The FDLE will send an email to verify that the fee is charged on the person's credit card as well as other services that the latter might use. The site is SSL encrypted and does not keep a record of the person's credit card so one has to indicate it manually every time they avail of the service. Records are available and can be printed directly by the researcher or sent to their own email address. The FDLE does not send information via regular mail. Should the researcher need certification, it is highly advised to do it by sending the form to the office as well as the payment.

For those who cannot access the online application, they can still obtain a copy of the criminal report by printing the criminal history information sheet and send it to the FDLE. Fees and charges may apply and processing can range from two to five days. Please note that although the FDLE houses thousands of records, the office cannot verify the record unless they have in their possession a fingerprint card and that the person in the records has undergone an actual fingerprinting to verify the person's identity.

Although FDLE provides access to public criminal records, there would be times that the request might return no results. Reasons for this might be (a) the records are sealed and expunged, (b) juvenile records, (c) subject to NCIC rules, (d) arrest was not made in Florida and (e) the law enforcement agency failed to take fingerprints of the person. However, other online sites do allow access to these records that one can check out on their own. Some provide basic information free and a small payment for full access.




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