How to Look Up a Court Case in Santa Rosa County

Start here

Santa Rosa County court records are maintained by the Clerk of the Circuit Court & Comptroller. Unlike its neighbors, Santa Rosa’s search runs on OCRS — the Online Court Records Search, a shared platform used by a number of Florida clerks. Santa Rosa is county 57 on that system:

You will pass through a disclaimer screen before reaching the search. If you arrive via a link that does not carry the /county/57/ path, check that you are actually looking at Santa Rosa records — the same platform serves multiple counties, and it is easy to end up in the wrong one.

Be cautious with search results generally: several commercial sites rank well for “Santa Rosa clerk of court” while stating in their own fine print that they are private companies not affiliated with any government agency. The Clerk’s own domain is santarosaclerk.com.

Three offices, three addresses

Santa Rosa splits its functions across separate locations more than the other counties we cover. Going to the wrong one is the most common wasted trip:

There is also an Archives Division at 6444 Open Rose Drive, Milton, FL 32570, which handles records management and copy requests, plus a South End Service Center serving the Gulf Breeze and Navarre side of the county.

All locations run Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Central.

Requesting copies of documents

To get copies of a court record, complete the Request for Copies or Viewing of Court Records form. You will need:

• The case number
• The names of the parties on the case
• The name or title of the document being requested

Run the online search first — you need the case number to fill out the form.

If you are a party to the case requesting non-redacted or confidential information, Santa Rosa requires either a notarized form or picture ID if you appear in person. That notarization option is a difference from some neighboring counties, and useful if you cannot make the trip.

Payment is accepted by cash, check, money order, or card — but note a 3.5% surcharge is added to all credit card transactions. Frequent requesters can set up an escrow account through the Records Division at (850) 983-1966.

One more thing: under Florida’s Senate Bill 80, effective July 1, 2006, all email correspondence and email addresses sent to the Clerk are public record. If that matters to you, call or write instead.

Reading the results

A criminal case record typically shows the case number, the charges as filed by the State Attorney (which often differ from the arrest charges), a docket listing every filing and hearing in date order, and the disposition once the case concludes.

The disposition is what most people are looking for:

What these records are — and what they are not

Santa Rosa offers this access under Florida’s public records law, Chapter 119. As with every Florida clerk, the online system is a convenience copy — not the official record. Fine for finding out what happened; not sufficient for anything with legal consequences.

For an employer, landlord, immigration filing, or court, you need a certified copy from the Clerk.

What you can see is also set by the Florida Supreme Court’s Access Security Matrix, which determines access based on who you are. The general public sees less than attorneys or parties. Santa Rosa publishes separate guidance for attorney court record access if you qualify for the expanded view.

A note on the circuit

Santa Rosa County sits in Florida’s First Judicial Circuit, along with Escambia, Okaloosa, and Walton counties. All four operate under the same Chief Judge and circuit-level administrative orders, so differences between them are usually local practice rather than different law.

Bay County is the exception among the counties we cover: it belongs to the Fourteenth Judicial Circuit.

If your case was resolved in your favor

If the Clerk’s record shows your charges were dropped, dismissed, or nolle prossed, and an arrest listing for it still appears on this site, you can ask us to remove it. Removal is free and always will be. A certified disposition is the fastest way to confirm it — submit it through our Mugshot Removal Policy page.

To clear the record more broadly, see our guide on sealing or expunging a Florida criminal record.