Home Home Learn how find Florida arrest records and how to run a warrant search. Unfold a person's criminal history using this website's advanced background check tool.

Florida Arrest Records and Warrants Search

Florida arrest records specify a person's arrest history.

You will find in them details related to the causes, place and date of each arrest, and in some cases you may also find a mugshot of the person being arrested.

You have to bear in mind that there is a difference between arrest records and court records. Florida court records are created after a person had been convicted of a crime and they are kept in the county court. If a defendant is not convicted, he will have no criminal record on his name.Arrests records, on the other hand, specify all Florida arrests carried out against a person before facing trial.

Similar to other states across the country, an arrest warrant in Florida gives the police (or any other law enforcement agency for that matter) the right to arrest a person for a crime they believe he / she has committed. The police cannot issue an arrest warrant on their own; they have to convince a judge to sign it in order to make it legally valid. A judge will sign a warrant only if he believes there is a probable cause that justifies an arrest, and it is the duty of the police to convince him that such a cause does exist. It is important to stress that an arrest warrant does not necessarily indicate guilt. A person can only be proven guilty in court.

The moment an arrest warrant is issued, it becomes an active warrant and it means a person can be incarcerated anytime and anywhere. For example a routine license check can end up with the person whose name appears on the warrant being taken into custody.

An arrest warrant does not expire. It remains valid indefinitely. If it has not been served and an arrest has not been carried out, it becomes an outstanding warrant. For all practical purposes, an FL outstanding warrant is as good as an active warrant and it can lead to your arrest. For this reason, if you discover there is an outstanding warrant on your name, it is highly recommended to contact a lawyer and solve this problem as fast as possible.

A bench warrant is issued when a person fails to appear in court (sometimes in order to avoid conviction and jail time and sometimes simply due to not knowing he or she has a warrant on his or her name) and like any other arrest warrant, it can result in incarceration.

Florida arrest warrants usually include basic information such as first and last name of the person wanted by the police, his/her physical attribures, age and current place of residence. In some instances, you will also be able to find the person's alibi regarding the crime he/she is accused of.

How Can You Conduct a Florida Arrest Records and Arrest Warrant Search?

The obvious place to conduct a Florida arrest records search is the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) website. There you can find online valuable criminal history information on the subject of your inquiry. This search option, however, has some disadvantages.

First and foremost, to gain access to the website's database, you will need to fill in a form and disclose some personal details, such as your full name, address and e-mail. In other words, you will have to compromise your anonymity.

Second, each search will cost you $25.00. If you want to conduct another search, you will have to pay the same fee again, so it can turn out to be quite expensive.

Third, there is no possibility for refund regardless of the result you may get.

Fourth, the website will not give you certified criminal history records. If you want certified results (for example, for adoption purposes), you will be required to file the FDLE an official request via mail.

Finally, you should take into account that older records may not be included in the FDLA online database. Older Florida court records can be recovered in the local county court house. You can contact the Clerk of Court and ask them for their assistance. At https://www.stateofflorida.com/clerks-of-court/, you will be given contact details of all clerks of court in the state.

Is a Peson You Know Wanted by the Police

A Florida warrant search should start at the sheriff office of each individual county. These offices possess databases containing all warrants issued in their jurisdiction. Each county has its own regulations for providing such information. Some sheriff offices will give you the information on e-mail or via the telephone; others will demand that you pay them a visit (for specific information on each county, see below). One thing you should bear in mind though. If you come to the sheriff office and discover there is a warrant on your name, you might be arrested on the spot!

Another option is to use Florida Crime Information Center. Their database shows the state's most wanted persons and gives you access to active warrants issued against them.

Finally, there is third option available to you. You can use the search form above to carry out a full Florida criminal history search, and for a small fee you will get accurate results in less than a minute - all of that from the comfort of your home while remaining anonymous.

Why will you need to carry out a Criminal History Check?

There are myriads of reason why you might want to conduct a criminal background check on a person. For example, you want to be certain that an employee you are about to hire for a sensitive position has a clean record. Your daughter is dating a person with a dubious character and you want to make sure she is not in danger. Or you just acquired new neighbors and you want to check if they are alright. The information is available, so why not using it? In our age, information means power.

Florida Inmate Search

The Florida Department of Corrections (FDC) is the third largest in the entire USA. Its annual budget sums up to $2.7 billion. At present, there are approximately 80,000 active inmates in 55 prisons throughout the state and there are around 145,000 people on probation. To locate them, it is recommended to turn to the Inmate Population Information Search run by the Department . This online database will locate an inmate either by name or by DC number (a 6 digit number given to every inmate for purposes of identification). Results include prison inmate records that consist of the following:

Inmate's personal details (full name, age, sex, race and physical description – including distinctive features, such as scars and tattoos).
The facility (prison or jail) that houses the inmate.
Release date.
Prison sentence history.
Incarceration history.

You can also carry out a wider inmate search that gives data on past inmates as well as fugitives and a supervised population.

Florida Crime Rates and Statistics

According to the FDLE Annual Crime in Florida Report, in 2020, there were 1,285 murders, 7,650 rape cases, 13,439 robberies robberies and 60,657 aggravated assaults throughout the state. All in all, there have been around 82,950 violent crimes. As to property crimes, there were 51,928 burglaries, 291,923 larceny cases and 38,013 moto vehicle thefts. We are talking about 381,864 offenses.

Current violent crime rate is 3.87 per 1,000 residents. Property crime rate is 21.73. Your chances of becoming a victim of a violent and property crime in Florida is 1 in 258 and 1 in 56 respectively.