Records

By Florida law, the Clerk's Office is the only office in the county authorized to accept and maintain an Official Record of all legal documents such as deeds, mortgages, and judgments that would affect title ownership to land located in DeSoto County. These legal documents are accepted and recorded in the Clerk's Official Record and are then available for viewing by the public.

There are three categories of documents that the Clerk is authorized by Florida law to record: (1) all land documents, (2) all orders entered by the Court, and (3) other documents required by Law, for example, marriage licenses. An index of the parties' names, type of document, and Official Records Book and Page where the documents are recorded gives the public the ability to search for documents, which can then be viewed on-line or at the Courthouse.