Florida is an open record state for criminal history. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement's Division of Criminal Justice Information Services is the central repository, and it says its responsibility includes providing public access to that information on request; the Legislature set the fee for public requests at $24.00 a search.
Three channels run from the Florida Criminal History Record Check page: an Instant Search with results on screen, a Certified or Non-Certified search run by FDLE staff and mailed back, and an ORI search for agencies with statutory access. Since July 1, 2020 FDLE no longer takes the old mailed request forms; every public request is paid by debit or credit card at the time it is made.
- Instant Search: an internet search by name on anyone, $24.00 plus a $1.00 card processing fee, results immediately, printable or emailed, not certified.
- Certified or Non-Certified: the customer supplies the demographics and an FDLE member runs the search; $24, returned by regular mail, notarized on request, five business days non-certified and six to seven business days certified, mail time not included.
- Personal Review: free under Florida Statute 943.056, fingerprint based, mailed to FDLE and answered within up to 30 working days; it cannot be used for immigration, employment, licensing or certification.
- Agencies: the ORI search, priced by statute for each authorized agency or entity, with results sent to the recipient the ORI designates; FDLE will not supply an ORI number.
Written by SearchSystems.net from Florida's own systems: the FDLE Obtaining Criminal History Information page, the FDLE State of Florida Criminal History Record Check page, the FDLE Personal Review page and application, the FDLE State and National Criminal History Record Check page, the FDLE Livescan provider pages, each read on October 14, 2026 by the SearchSystems editorial team.
The repository and the $24 fee
FDLE's CJIS division keeps Florida's criminal history and, in its own words, has the responsibility to provide public access to it when requested. To keep the service running, the Legislature implemented criminal history record check fees, and the fee for a public request is $24.00. FDLE's duties come from Chapter 943 of the Florida Statutes and Chapter 11 of the administrative code. The same Criminal History Records section links the Florida Sexual Offenders and Predators search and the Public Access System for wanted persons, missing persons and stolen property, which are separate public tools rather than record checks.
The Instant Search
The Instant Search is an internet search conducted by the customer, with results available immediately on screen to print or email. Each search costs $24.00 plus a $1.00 credit card processing fee, paid by debit or credit card, and the results are not certified. It is the option FDLE itself points to when a person needs a copy right away or wants to check another person: the personal review page says FDLE gives requesters the option to perform an online, name based search of publicly available Florida criminal history information on any individual for the statutorily mandated $24 fee.
The Certified and Non-Certified search
For a document that will be relied on, the customer provides the demographic information and, once FDLE staff receive it, one of its members conducts the search. The results can be notarized and are returned by regular U.S. mail. Non-certified processing takes five business days and certified processing six to seven business days, and FDLE stresses that its processing time does not include mail delivery, which depends on factors outside its control. Each search costs $24 by debit or credit card. A person who needs a certified copy of their own Florida criminal history uses this option, choosing Certified or Non-Certified, rather than the personal review, and can reach the Applicant Services Unit at ApplicantChecks@fdle.state.fl.us or (850) 410-8161 with questions.
The ORI search for agencies
Agencies and entities with statutory authority run the ORI search, which requires a valid ORI number. The cost of each search varies by state statute, state agency or authorized entity, and the results go directly to the recipient the ORI authorizes. FDLE cannot provide the ORI number; an employer or licensing body that must use one obtains it from the agency or entity that established it. The ORI fee search on the registered Livescan submitters page validates a complete ORI and shows its fees, and the Civil Workflow Control System status lookup tracks a fingerprint transaction by its full transaction control number.
State and national criminal history is available to governmental agencies for licensing and employment as Florida law authorizes. FDLE directs applicants to the agency that governs the job or license, giving two examples: a school district for elementary school work, and the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services Division of Licensing for a concealed weapon permit.
The free Personal Review of your own record
Florida Statute 943.056 gives individuals the right to a copy of their Florida criminal history record for personal review, to make sure it is accurate and complete, and to challenge anything inaccurate or incomplete. FDLE charges nothing for it. The application is fingerprint based: the applicant has a ten print card taken by a law enforcement or criminal justice agency, which most local police departments and sheriff's offices offer for a rolling fee by appointment, completes the Personal Review of Florida Criminal History Record form, and mails both to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, Post Office Box 1489, Tallahassee, FL 32302-1489, attention Criminal History Record Maintenance Section. The application may take up to 30 working days to process; a person with no record on file receives a no record response.
The limits are firm. Only the individual or their designated attorney may request a personal review, never someone checking on another person. The copy returned contains no demographic information and cannot be used for immigration, employment, licensing or certification. The review does not cover Florida's wanted persons file, other states' records or the federal database. The form asks whether the applicant already has a Florida record and its eight digit state identification number, the reason for the request, and, for a challenge, each arrest date with an explanation of what is wrong and whether the arresting agency or court has already been contacted, with any documents they provided. The Criminal History Record Maintenance Section answers at (850) 410-7898 or chrm@fdle.state.fl.us.
Juvenile records
Juvenile records are generally confidential and exempt from public release. FDLE's authority to release them, under Section 943.053(3)(b)1, reaches Florida sources only and only where the juvenile was taken into custody for a violation that would be a felony if committed by an adult, was charged with such a violation, was found to have committed one, or was transferred to adult court. Juvenile records that have been expunged or sealed are never released.
Livescan providers and fingerprint based checks
Section 943.053(13) requires every vendor, entity or agency that submits fingerprints electronically for a required or permitted record check to sign a user agreement with FDLE covering quality standards, fees, the applicant's personal information and audits. FDLE's rules for the trade say what a fingerprint based check is in Florida: FDLE accepts and processes fingerprint based checks only on behalf of a requesting entity, so an individual cannot request one without the agency's involvement; the results go to the requesting agency or entity, never to the Livescan provider or the person fingerprinted; FDLE does not send results out of state; and it does not process prints for immigration, TSA PreCheck or other federal applications. Not every provider may fingerprint concealed weapon license applicants under Section 790.06(5)(c). The fees for each check are set by federal law and Section 943.053 and published in FDLE's fee schedule; non governmental providers keep a credit card subscription that FDLE charges for every submission, and the provider collects that fee plus its own from the applicant. The provider page lists the registered Livescan service providers and device vendors.
The national record: the FBI route
A Florida check is a Florida record. For a fingerprint based federal Identity History Summary, FDLE points to the FBI's own service or to a written request with a completed fingerprint card and an $18.00 certified check or money order payable to the Treasury of the United States, mailed to the FBI CJIS Division, Summary Request, 1000 Cluster Hollow Road, Clarksburg, WV 26306. The state and national check for licensing and employment runs only through the governmental agency that the law authorizes.
Reading a Florida result
The Florida system is unusual in two ways at once. Anyone can buy a name search on anyone for $24, which makes the Instant Search the most used public criminal check in the state, while the fingerprint based result that an agency relies on goes only to that agency. A name search is a name match; FDLE's certified search, run by staff from the demographics supplied, is the version to rely on when a document will be presented, and the free personal review is the way to find and fix an error before an employer's search finds it.
Questions about background checks in Florida
Related Florida records
FDLE's record is one of the Florida records this site covers: the Florida arrest records page explains the automatic sealing and expunction laws behind what a check shows, the court records guide covers the clerks' case files, the sex offender registry guide covers FDLE's public registry, and the Florida county pages list each sheriff and clerk of court.