Online Searches

Court Records

The Florida Supreme Court has authorized  electronic access to court records indexes and dockets as well as non-confidential court document images through this website. There is no longer a requirement for a subscription of website login to access public document images. 

In addition, based on the identity of the user and their relationship or role, the law provides expanded records access and the clerk offers several levels of electronic access to court records. These users must enter into a subscription agreement to establish access to court records through a secure login and password.

Florida law restricts access to some cases, documents and information based on the record and the user. For example, Florida law prohibits public access to juvenile records but makes an exception for law enforcement. In addition, attorneys and parties have increased access to their own cases. Learn more about electronic access to court records.

Board Records

Official Records

The Clerk of Circuit Court is designated by Florida Statutes to be the official records keeper for the county. Official Records are documents relating to land records, persons, or legal actions which are maintained by the Clerk in what are called official records books and pages, set forth in the order in which they were received.

Official Records are stored in indexes in a database. The database covers all official records from January 3, 1978 to the present. Online images begin at August 12, 1981 (Book 1012). Official Records filed prior to January 3, 1978 are indexed and stored at the clerk's office and can be obtained through the Public Access Department.

To have a means of retrieving the thousands of documents that are recorded each week in Manatee County, an Index of the documents was created. The index stores the date the document was recorded, the names of the parties, the legal description of the property, the Book and Page where the document is recorded, and information on taxes and fees paid when the document was recorded. The index is set up to allow various searches to review the history of title to a piece of property, the history of documents, and legal cases involving a person or company.