Reviewed and updated October 9, 2026 by the SearchSystems.net editorial team. Every office link was opened and checked against the office's own site between September 23, 2026 and October 1, 2026.
Alachua County, Florida, has about 292,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate). A traffic ticket written in Alachua County is a court case in the County Court, and the conviction it ends in goes on the driving record kept by the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles. This guide says which court takes the ticket, who writes them and where the driving record lives.
This guide covers where tickets go, who writes them, the driving record, cities and common questions.
Related guides: Alachua County public records, Alachua County arrest records, Alachua County warrants, Alachua County inmate search, Alachua County criminal records, Florida arrest records and Florida inmate search.
Where a Ticket Written in Alachua County Goes
Tickets in Alachua County go to the County Court, which takes misdemeanors, traffic cases, small claims and civil cases up to $50,000. A paid ticket, a dismissal and a trial all end up in that court's records.
The court records page SearchSystems verified for the county is at alachuacounty.us/Depts/Clerk/PublicRecords/pages/courtrecords.aspx.
Florida has no single public index of every trial court case; each court's records are looked up through that court.
Who Writes the Tickets in Alachua County
The Alachua County Sheriff's Office and the agencies that report for Gainesville, Alachua and High Springs write the traffic tickets in Alachua County.
The FBI's agency list also places two campus police departments, five state agencies and one state police unit in Alachua County (the arrest records guide names each one); the Highway Patrol in Alachua County writes the tickets on the state highways.
The Driving Record and the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles
The driving record is a separate document from the court file. It is kept by the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, which adds each conviction the court reports and handles suspensions; the court does not issue driving records.
Paying a ticket is a conviction, reported to the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles like any other; contesting it means a plea of not guilty entered with the court by the date on the ticket.
A DUI is a criminal charge rather than a ticket, with its own license case before the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles (see Alachua County DUI).
Cities in Alachua County
Wherever in the county a ticket is written, it is answered in the County Court.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Alachua County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own traffic tickets guide opens there:
- Gainesville (148,720)
- High Springs (6,806)
Frequently Asked Questions
Where do I pay a traffic ticket from Alachua County?
With the County Court.
Who keeps my driving record in Florida?
The Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles. The court reports each conviction to it, and paying a ticket counts as one.
Which court handles traffic tickets in Alachua County?
The County Court, which takes misdemeanors, traffic cases, small claims and civil cases up to $50,000.
Is this the official Alachua County website?
No. SearchSystems.net is an independent public records guide, online since 1997. It links to the official county, court and state offices described above and does not hold records, charge for them or take requests.