The clerk of the court acts as clerk of the circuit and county court, as well as recorder of deeds, clerk to the board of county commissioners, accountant and custodian of county funds, and county auditor. Acting in this capacity, the clerk of the court performs checks and balances for local government as an elected public trustee.

The clerk of court serves many county and court functions. Clerks’ responsibilities include but are not limited to processing all civil and criminal cases, collecting and disbursing intangible taxes, provide accounting services to all departments under the board of county commissioners, handling investments of available county funds, and conducting internal post-audits.

Each of Florida's 67 counties has a clerk of court. Each clerk of the circuit court is a constitutional officer elected by residents of their county. In addition to the clerks and their individual offices, there are two entities that support the clerks of court statewide.

The Florida Clerks of Court Operations Corporation is a statewide public corporation established by law to perform several functions for all 67 clerks of court, including

• developing and certifying a uniform system of workload measures and applicable workload standards for court-related functions;

• recommending to the Legislature changes in the amounts of the various court-related fines, fees, service charges, and costs established by law to ensure reasonable and adequate funding of the clerks of the court in the performance of their court-related functions; and

• approving the proposed budgets submitted by clerks of the court to ensure that the total combined budgets do not exceed the total estimated revenues from fees, service charges, costs, and fines for court-related functions.

The Florida Court Clerks & Comptrollers is a statewide, nonprofit member association comprised of the Florida Clerks of the Circuit Court and Comptrollers. Its responsibilities include

• providing local government support services and technical assistance;
• offering accreditation opportunities; and

• maintaining the Comprehensive Case Information System, a secured internet portal providing a single point of search for statewide court case information.

All funding for the offices of the clerks of the circuit and county courts performing court-related functions are provided by filing fees for judicial proceedings and service charges and costs for performing court-related functions.

Clerks of Court. The 2023 Legislature enacted Ch. 2023-284, Laws of Florida, to help the locally elected clerks of court by increasing funding for their offices. Clerks are allowed to retain service charges that are currently directed to the General Revenue Fund for the issuance of a summons in any civil action. Similarly, the law allows the clerks to retain an additional portion of the filing fees for dissolution of marriage, probate, and foreclosure cases. The law also changes the requirement for transfer of a clerk's budget overage to the Department of Revenue from monthly to quarterly. 

Protection of Specified Personnel. The 2023 Legislature enacted Ch. 2023-194, Laws of Florida, to create a new first degree misdemeanor offense to prohibit a person from knowingly and willfully harassing a law enforcement officer, a state attorney, an assistant state attorney, a firefighter, a judge, a justice, a judicial assistant, a clerk of court, clerk personnel, or an elected official, with the intent to intimidate or coerce such a person to perform or refrain from performing a lawful duty.

Real Property Fraud. The 2023 Legislature enacted Ch. 2023-238, Laws of Florida, to address real property fraud by requiring the clerk of the court in each county, by July 1, 2024, to offer free electronic notification of the recording of a land record associated with the name of a specific person. The service will be provided to members of the public who register for the service. The law also creates an expedited means for clearing title where a fraudulent deed or other instrument that may affect a real estate title has been recorded; creates a statutory form for a quitclaim deed; and requires, starting January 1, 2024, that the address of each witness to a real estate conveyance be included on any real property conveyance. 

Court Fiscal Administration. The 2022 Legislature enacted Ch. 2022-201, Laws of Florida, which made several changes to laws affecting the clerks of court. The changes include establishing a minimum monthly payment for fines and fees payment plans that does not exceed the greater of 2% of the person's annual net income or $25, limiting the down payment on money owed to the clerk to the lesser of 10% of the amount owed or $100, directing the clerk to ask the Legislature for increased funding related to increases in trial court judicial positions, allowing clerks to review property records to verify civil indigent status, allowing clerks to ask for Legislative funding for filings related to mental health and substance abuse, and requiring the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles to coordinate with the clerks on a system for reinstatement of driver licenses upon repayment of court-related obligations.

A Review of Home Address Redaction Processes and Real Property Interests, Report 20-06, December 2020

Florida Clerks of Court Study, Report 19-CLERKS, November 2019

Assessment, Collection, and Distribution of Fines and Fees in Criminal Cases, Report 19-14, November 2019

Other Reports
2021 Distribution Schedule of Court-Related Filing Fees, Service Charges, Costs and Fines, Florida Court Clerks & Comptrollers
2021 Annual Assessments and Collections Reports, Florida Court Clerks & Comptrollers
Clerk of the Circuit Courts Audits, Florida Department of Financial Services
Study of the Effectiveness of Collections in the Florida Courts, The National Center for State Courts, November 2012
The Florida Clerk of Courts Operations Corporation provides other clerk-related reports, including historical budget information, on its website
The Florida Court Clerks & Comptrollers provides other clerk-related reports on its website
The Auditor General reports on local government operations are available on its website

Websites of Interest
Florida Court Clerks & Comptrollers, Clerk Directory and Websites

Performance Information

Performance measures and standards for the department may be found in its Long Range Program Plan.

Article V of the Florida Constitution and Ch. 28, Florida Statutes

Chris Hart IV, Chief Executive Officer of the Florida Association of Court Clerks & Comptrollers, 850-921-0808
Florida Court Clerks & Comptrollers

John Dew, Executive Director of the Florida Clerks of Court Operations Corporation, 850-386-2223
Florida Clerks of Court Operations Corporation