Reviewed and updated October 9, 2026 by the SearchSystems.net editorial team. The arrest and crime counts are the ones each agency reported to the FBI, as the FBI held them on October 8, 2026. Every office link was opened and checked against the office's own site between September 23, 2026 and October 2, 2026.
DeFuniak Springs, Florida, in Walton County, has about 7,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate). In Florida the public criminal record is the court file, kept by the Clerk of the Circuit Court and Comptroller; the statewide criminal history kept by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement is open to anyone who asks. This guide says where each record of a criminal case from DeFuniak Springs is kept and how it is seen.
This guide covers the court file, the statewide record, local arrest records, the crimes behind the records, sex offender registry, records requests and common questions.
Related guides: DeFuniak Springs public records, Walton County criminal records, DeFuniak Springs arrest records, DeFuniak Springs warrants, DeFuniak Springs inmate search, DeFuniak Springs court records, Florida arrest records and Florida inmate search.
Criminal Cases in the Walton County Circuit Court
In Florida the public criminal record is the court file. Criminal cases from DeFuniak Springs are heard by the Walton County Circuit Court, which hears felonies, civil cases over $50,000, divorces, probate and juvenile matters; the County Court takes misdemeanors, traffic cases, small claims and civil cases up to $50,000, and the file of each case is kept by the Clerk of the Circuit Court and Comptroller.
The court records page SearchSystems verified for the county is at waltonclerkfl.gov/courtrecords (page title: Court Records Search | Walton County Clerk of Courts & Comptroller), which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 23, 2026.
Florida has no single public index of every trial court case; each court's records are looked up through that court.
The Florida Criminal History and Your Own Copy
Florida is one of the states that lets anyone look up another person's statewide criminal history: anyone can run a name-based criminal history search online for $24, for $24 a search, through the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. The result is the repository record, what agencies reported to the state, which is wider than one county's court index but can lag it. The search is on the Florida Department of Law Enforcement site.
Arrest Records Kept Locally in DeFuniak Springs
The Walton County Sheriff's Office and the agency that reports for DeFuniak Springs (filed by the FBI as DeFuniak Springs Police Department) keep the arrest records in and around DeFuniak Springs: the report and the booking record of each arrest stay with the agency that made it, separate from the court file and from the state repository.
The FBI's agency list also places five state agencies and one state police unit in Walton County (the arrest records guide names each one); each keeps the records of its own arrests.
Together, the two agencies in Walton County with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 2,227 arrests to the FBI that year; how each case ended is in the court file, not in the arresting agency's.
The agencies and their counts, year by year, are in DeFuniak Springs arrest records.
The Crimes Behind the Records: DeFuniak Springs in 2025
The agency that reports for DeFuniak Springs had 19 violent and 88 property crimes reported for 2025; each one is a report on file with it, and each arrest that follows is the start of a criminal record.
The Sex Offender Registry for DeFuniak Springs
Registered sex offenders living in DeFuniak Springs are listed on the Florida Sexual Offenders and Predators Registry, run by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement at offender.fdle.state.fl.us. The registry is public and can be searched online.
Registration itself is done in person with the local agency where the registrant lives: the sheriff's office, or the city police in a city with its own department.
Asking an Agency in Walton County for a Record
An arrest report, a booking record or a local criminal history letter comes from the agency that holds it, not from the court.
Under the Florida Public Records Act (Chapter 119) a county office must answer a request promptly and in good faith; the statute sets no number of days, and it may charge the copy fees set by statute, plus a special service charge for large requests. The county records request page SearchSystems verified is at waltonclerkfl.gov/courtrecordsrequest (page title: Court Records Request | Walton County Clerk of Courts & Comptroller).
Frequently Asked Questions
Are criminal records public in DeFuniak Springs?
The court files of criminal cases are public, and so is the statewide criminal history kept by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement: anyone can run a name-based criminal history search online for $24, for $24. The arrest report itself is released by the agency that made the arrest, under the Florida Public Records Act (Chapter 119).
Can I search DeFuniak Springs criminal cases online?
The court records page SearchSystems verified for the county is at waltonclerkfl.gov/courtrecords (page title: Court Records Search | Walton County Clerk of Courts & Comptroller).
How do I get my own Florida criminal history?
Through the same search, run on yourself.
Is this the official DeFuniak Springs website?
No. SearchSystems.net is an independent public records guide, online since 1997. It links to the official city, county, court and state offices described above and does not hold records, charge for them or take requests.