Florida Free Criminal Records

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 Criminal 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 the government’s records are considered public property, and therefore open for the public scrutiny, there are some cases, which are restricted meaning that they are not open for the public’s eyes. These cases might be sensitive by nature, have already been sealed, expunged and in some instances, juveniles are involved in the cases. These cases are only open to law enforcement agencies.
The FDLE self-service application is easy to use although one has to pay $24 for every report that he/she might want. Once the person doing the research looks for the information, depending on the information provided, the search query might return more than one result. The researcher has the option to choose from the results provided. Do remember that once one clicks to retrieve the record that they want, they will be charged the fee.
To start logging in and using the application, the researcher must input his/her credit card information as the fee is directly deducted from the person’s card once they request for a report. The fee is non-refundable and a search that returns a “no result” will not be refunded the fee so it is essential that one should include all pertinent details of the information they want. An email verifying the charge is sent to the person’s email address including an e-receipt. The application runs through SSL encryption and no credit card information of the cardholder is saved. Once the person decides on the record that they want, they either can download the report or send it through their email. Regular mail is not applicable in this instance. For individuals who require certification of the criminal report, they can send the report together with the fee and send it to the FDLE office.
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.
For public criminal records that are restricted, researchers might want to check out online search engine sites that do offer this for free. Although some of the cases might be restricted, such as juvenile records, one can find other records that are not restricted to the public and they can start their information gathering there.