For a statewide lookup, start with FDLE

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is the state’s central repository for criminal-history information. Its public Florida criminal-history search currently costs $24 per search. FDLE offers different request methods, so choose the product based on whether you need an immediate non-certified result or a staff-processed certified/non-certified response.

Instant and certified searches have different proof value

FDLE’s Instant Search returns results immediately and lets the customer print or email them, but FDLE says those results are not certified. The Instant Search is $24 plus a $1 credit-card processing fee. FDLE’s staff-processed certified/non-certified search is also $24; the agency currently states about five business days for non-certified processing and six to seven business days for certified processing, not including mail delivery.

A Florida criminal history is not the same as a court file

Use the FDLE result to identify reported Florida criminal-history information. If you need the complaint, judgment, sentencing document or another record from a specific prosecution, use the clerk for the court where the case was filed. A court index or document can answer case-level questions that a repository history does not reproduce.

Use Personal Review to inspect or challenge your own Florida history

FDLE's Personal Review process is for the individual or that person's designated attorney and requires fingerprints taken by a law-enforcement or criminal-justice agency. FDLE does not charge a fee for the Personal Review itself, although the agency that rolls the fingerprints may charge its own fingerprint fee.

The returned Personal Review copy contains no demographic information and FDLE says it cannot be used for immigration, employment, licensing or certification. If you need a certified Florida criminal-history copy for one of those purposes, use FDLE's paid Certified/Non-Certified Search instead.

Keep the geographic and identity limits visible

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    A Florida search does not establish what happened in another state or in federal court.
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    An online name-based result should be matched against date of birth and case details before being treated as the same person.
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    When a known case conflicts with the repository result, verify the court record and use the appropriate correction or challenge route.

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