The judicial system in Florida has taken a step closer to
the 21st century as a recent ruling by the Florida Supreme Court now
allows people access to court documents online.
This new ruling will allow people to stay at home and look
at documents instead of parking at the Broward County courthouse, which has an
astonishing $8 an hour parking fee – the most expensive fee in the South
Florida area.
The Florida Supreme Court’s decision will allow most civil
and criminal cases to be put online. There are a number of exceptions:
Juvenile, mental health, probate and family court records (divorces included) though
they can be still be viewed at the courthouse. All information that could be
used for identity theft such as bank information and Social Security numbers
have been removed from the documents.
Florida’s clerks are going to have a challenge on their
hands, as they have to digitize a plethora of records all the while keeping the
service free of charge for everyone accessing the courthouse.
The process has been smooth thus far, as Clerk of the Court
and Comptroller, Sharon Bock of Palm Beach County, is expected to have all of
her district’s records online halfway through 2015. It’s expected to be completely
free.
The Florida Legislature is not particularly fond of funding
the courts so there is worry that the system may struggle.
Florida has struggled with funding courts. This was clear
when three years ago Governor Rick Scott had to approve a nearly $20 million
emergency loan to keep the courts running.
It is important to mention that the funding of courts should
be done by state lawmakers. Online access to court records should not be a new
way to make money, but to promote access for the public.
The progression towards online documentation has been a work
in progress for some time. The wait has a lot to do with privacy concerns, but
paper documents have been digitized for the past while.
Manatee County has been a power house in online record
access as it has already tested easy access to records void of personal
information.
Marcadis Singer, PA
Florida Collection Attorney
5104 South Westshore Blvd.
Tampa, Florida 33611
info @ marcadislaw.com
(888) 547-1881
(813) 288-1881
New Clients
Ext. 247 Gil Singer
Ext. 240 Ralph Marcadis
Existing Client Client Liaison
Ext. 242
To Pay a Claim
Ext. 245
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