Reviewed and updated October 4, 2026 by the SearchSystems.net editorial team. Every office link on this page was opened and checked against the office's own website at review time.
Lake Wales is a city in Polk County, Florida, with about 18,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate). Its public records are split between the city and the county. The city keeps police reports, council records and its own licenses and permits; court cases, jail bookings, deeds and vital records are county or state records. This guide names the Lake Wales offices SearchSystems verified, links to each one's own website and gives the phone number and address where the office publishes them. SearchSystems verified 3 city office pages for Lake Wales, every one opened and checked.
In this guide: City or county, Police records, City Hall, Records requests, Other cities and Questions.
City or county record: where Lake Wales records are kept
- Kept by the City of Lake Wales: police reports, council and board meeting records, ordinances and the city's own licenses and permits.
- Kept by Polk County or the state: court cases, jail bookings, deeds and property values and birth and death certificates. These are not city records; they are in the Polk County public records guide under court records, jail lookups, property records and vital records.
Lake Wales police reports and records
Incident reports, crash reports and the other records of the Lake Wales police are requested from the department's records unit, usually in writing or through an online form. Reports on open investigations and the names of victims and juveniles are usually withheld or redacted, and some states limit crash reports to the people involved and their insurers. The page below is the one SearchSystems verified for Lake Wales police records.
- Website: lakewalesfl.gov/947/Police-Record-Requests (page title: Police Record Requests | Lake Wales, FL)
- Phone: 863-678-4223
- Checked: September 25, 2026, the page answered.
Jail bookings and inmate lookups are usually handled by the county, not the city police. They are in the Polk County public records guide under jail and inmate lookups.
Lake Wales City Hall: departments, licenses and permits
Business licenses, building permits, code enforcement cases and the city's other records are kept by the department that issued them. The city's own website below lists its departments and how to reach them.
- Website: lakewalesfl.gov/148/City-Administration (page title: City Administration | Lake Wales, FL)
- Phone: 863-678-4182
- Hours: Monday - Friday 8 a.m. - 5 p.m.
- Checked: September 25, 2026, the page answered.
Public records requests to Lake Wales
Florida public records law applies to the city government of Lake Wales. The city runs one records request page for its departments; it is the page below, verified by SearchSystems. A request that names a date, an address, or a report or case number is the easiest to answer.
- Website: lakewalesfl.gov/643/Records-Division (page title: Records Division | Lake Wales, FL)
- Checked: September 25, 2026, the page answered.
A record the request page does not cover is asked for from the office that holds it: the police records unit for police reports and the department that issued a permit or license for its records.
Other cities and towns in Polk County
SearchSystems has a guide like this one for these other cities and towns in Polk County. The Polk County public records guide covers the records the county keeps for all of them.
Lake Wales Arrest Records
The Lake Wales arrest records guide covers the agency that reports Lake Wales's arrests to the FBI. It also says where a person arrested in Lake Wales is held, how to find out about an arrest and how to get a copy of the report.
Lake Wales Records Guides
SearchSystems has nine more guides to Lake Wales, each written from the city's own offices and figures: Lake Wales warrants (who issues and serves them, where a person arrested on one is held, how to check for one), Lake Wales inmate search (the jail page of the Polk County Sheriff's Office, the jail numbers and who books people), Lake Wales criminal records (the court file, the Florida criminal history and the local arrest records), Lake Wales court records (which court hears what, the case search and who keeps the files), Lake Wales police reports (which agency holds a report and what the Florida Public Records Act (Chapter 119) requires), Lake Wales traffic tickets (which court takes the ticket, who writes them and the driving record), Lake Wales DUI (the DUI law, the arrest, the court case and the license case), Lake Wales divorce records (which court holds the file and how a certified copy is had) and Lake Wales property records (deeds, assessed values, permits and evictions).
Frequently Asked Questions
Is this the official Lake Wales website?
No. SearchSystems.net is an independent public records directory, online since 1997. It links to the official Lake Wales offices listed above, and the city's own website is lakewalesfl.gov; SearchSystems does not hold records, charge for them or take requests.
How do I get a police report in Lake Wales?
Request it from the Lake Wales police records unit at lakewalesfl.gov/947/Police-Record-Requests, phone 863-678-4223. Reports on open investigations and the names of victims and juveniles are usually withheld or redacted.
Where do I find court records or jail bookings for Lake Wales?
Lake Wales cases are heard by the courts that serve Polk County, and people arrested in Lake Wales are usually booked into the county jail. Both are covered in the Polk County public records guide on SearchSystems.
How do I request a public record from Lake Wales?
Through the city's records request page at lakewalesfl.gov/643/Records-Division. A record it does not cover is requested from the office that holds it: the police records unit for police reports and the department that issued a permit or license for its records.