Free Hillsborough County Public Records: Marital, Criminal, Court

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Free Hillsborough County Public Records Search

Access Hillsborough County Records: marriage, divorce, warrants, arrests, probation, criminal, court, background checks, and all public records.

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Review free Hillsborough County public records through county and municipal agencies today.

Once you know where to look, information can be found thanks to the federal Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and Florida’s state Public Records Laws.^1,2

Look up details on anyone by following the guidance outlined in this brief resource. You’ll find details of everything necessary to track down public records such as arrests, mugshots, criminal charges, probation, warrants, marital status (divorce or married), death and birth certificates, court documents, and property records in Hillsborough County, Florida.

Written or authored by Attorney Robert Bailey Jr, who possesses a Juris Doctorate in Law from Widener University School of Law and is a Licensed Attorney.

How To View Free Arrest Records & Mugshots in Hillsborough County Florida

To find free arrest history, it’s important to search county law enforcement agencies since they cover a wider area. If nothing is found there, checking local police departments is the next best option. How quickly you find this information depends on whether you have enough information about the individual you are searching.

For instance, if you have their name you may be able to easily access someone’s Hillsborough county bookings online. If you only have a partial name or none at all then you may have to find what you are looking for by gathering other information such as where or when they were arrested.

Run an Inmate Search via the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office

The county’s sheriff’s office provides an online repository for searching Hillsborough County arrest records.³ You can enter the following information when searching their police records:

• Booking number
• Name
• Booking Date
• Release Date
• Race
• Sex
• Date of birth

The Hillsborough County arrest inquiry tool also allows you to determine whether or not you want to include arrest details and if you want to limit your search to current inmates only. They also allow you to sort your results by any of the following:

• Booking Date
• Booking Number
• Name

Once you enter whatever available information you have you will receive your search results. This page will display the individual’s booking name, booking number, race and sex. Once you click on the individual you are searching for, you can find their jail records and a significant amount of additional information.

In addition to what’s provided on the search results page, the HCSO arrest inquiry provides the following information:

• Mugshot
• Arrest Date
• Arrest Age
• Date of Birth
• Place of Birth
• Current Age
• Eyes
• Hair
• Height
• Weight
• Address
• Aliases
• Arrest Status (this includes whether they are currently incarcerated and, if so, their bond)
• Arresting Agency
• Arrest Location
• Release Information
• Attorney
• Employer

They also provide detailed information on all charges brought against the individual, including the disposition of those charges and sentence, if the individual was already convicted of the crime. If interested in receiving custody status updates about the person arrested, you can also sign up for notifications through VineLink.

If you need additional assistance in searching arrest records you can contact the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office (HCSO).⁴ You can contact them by phone at 813-247-8200. If you would like to visit them in person, you can go to:

Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office
2008 E. 8th Ave
Tampa Florida 33605

This is the location of their general Sheriff’s Operation Center. The HCSO is separated into five specific districts. Here is the contact information for those locations as well:

Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office District	Address	Phone Number
District 1	14102 N. 20th Street Tampa, Florida 33613	813-247-0600
District 2	2310 N. Falkenburg Road Tampa, Florida 33619	813-247-8555
District 3	7202 Gunn Highway Tampa, Florida 33625	813-247-0330
District 4	508 33rd Street SE Ruskin, Florida 33570	813-247-0455
District 5	10128 Windhorst Road Tampa, Florida 33619	813-318-5400

Note: If you are not sure which district you should contact, try using this map of district boundaries that provides a helpful visual of the locations these districts cover.⁵

How To Check With Other Law Enforcement Agencies & Police Departments in Hillsborough County Florida

If the county sheriff’s office doesn’t have someone in custody, there are other ways to find out if someone is in jail in Hillsborough County. A couple of the larger cities in Hillsborough County have their own law enforcement agencies you can reach out to when checking for daily arrests and related information.

Those in Tampa or near the University of Florida can use the resources in the next two sections.

For other cities in Hillsborough County, check to see if your city has a local police department and/or jail by searching the web for “[Name of City] arrests” and navigate to the jail or police departments webpage. There is usually an inmate roster in the menu but if not, find their search page and give them a call instead.

Utilize the Tampa Bay Police Department’s Online Inmate Roster or Contact Them

The city of Tampa is the largest city in Hillsborough county and operates its own police department but does not run its own jail. If you are looking for Hillsborough County arrest records from the Tampa Police Department, you will have to contact them directly, as they do not have an online search tool.

One option is to reach out to their Records Section.⁶ Their Records section provides an online service for requesting police records from their police department.⁷ You can enter your contact information and a message regarding the records you request.

If needed, it also allows you to upload attachments when making your request. The Public Records section will provide you with a tracking number and access key so you can check on the status of your request.

You can also use their online directory to contact the Tampa Bay Police Department by phone or in person.⁸ You can contact them by phone through their main line at 813-231-6130. The Tampa Bay Police Department is separated into various districts.

Here is the contact information for each specific location:

Tampa Bay Police District	Address	Phone Number
Headquarters (One Police Center)	411 N. Franklin Street Tampa, FL 33602	813-276-3200
District 1 (West Tampa, South Tampa, West Shore area and Davis Island)	3818 Tampa Bay Blvd. Tampa, FL 33614	813-354-6600
District 2 (North Tampa and Tampa Palms)	9330 N. 30th Street Tampa, FL 33612	813-931-6500
District 3 (Downtown Tampa, East Tampa, Ybor City, and Port of Tampa)	3808 North 22nd Street Tampa, FL 33610	813-242-3800

Reach Out to the University of Florida’s Police Department

The university is technically not considered a city but an “unincorporated census-designated place” just outside Tampa and the University of Florida campus.

While the city itself does not have its own independent police department, there is a University of Florida Police Department you can contact for arrest records.⁹ The University of Florida’s primary police department is located at

University of Florida Police Department
1515 Museum Road
Gainesville Florida 32612

You can also contact them by phone at 352-955-1818.

The UF Police Department does not have an online search tool but they do have a specific records unit in which you can make a request for arrest records. Similar to other state and local agencies, the UF Police Department is required to provide public arrest records.

The easiest way to request records is to go to their public records center.¹⁰ Here, you can submit a records request, track the status of a request and download the records you requested. If you have any additional questions, check out their FAQ page.¹¹

Other larger cities like Town ‘n’ Country, Brandon and Riverview do not have their own police department and are under the jurisdiction of the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office.

How To Retrieve Marriage & Divorce Records in Hillsborough County Florida

If you want to check for Hillsborough County Marriage Records, start by visiting the website for their Clerk of Court for more information.¹²

If you visit in person, the Hillsborough County Clerk of Court has marriage license records and indexes dating all the way back to 1846. You can go to their Official Records Library at:

Hillsborough County Clerk of Court
Official Records Library
419 Pierce Street, Room 140
Tampa, Florida 33602

Here, you can check if someone is married and find additional related information.

If you are searching for records from 1972 to present you can check using their online search of official records.¹³ Once you navigate to this page, there is a link on the left-hand side labeled “Marriage Documents,” which you will want to select. From there, you can enter the following search information:

• Last/Business Name
• First Name
• Record Beginning Date
• Record Ending Date

Once you perform your search, the results will show the following information:

• Name of parties married
• Recording date
• Document type
• Instrument number

Once you click on the specific record you can view the entire marriage record issued by the Department of Health’s Office of Vital Statistics. On this page they also provide you the option to order a certified copy.

Generally, the cost is free whether you are searching marriage records online or in person. The only time a fee is charged is if you are requesting a certified copy. This will cost $3 and can be requested by mail, phone, in person or by using their eCertify for Official Records.¹⁴ By phone you can call them at 813-276-8100.

For making a request by mail, use the following address:

Clerk of Court – Marriage
PO Box 3249
Tampa, Florida 33601

If the above options prove unsuccessful, try using the University of Florida’s online search tool, as they also store some historical marriages from Hillsborough County.¹⁵ You can also try broadening your search results by checking with Florida’s State Office of Vital Statistics.¹⁶

You can access Hillsborough County divorce records through the Hillsborough County Clerk of Courts online case search tool.¹⁷ This online search tool is for all Hillsborough County judicial records, so you have to know how to narrow down your search results. The easiest way, if you do not have a specific case number, is to search by party name.

After you enter the person’s name, select “Family” under the case categories drop-down menu. Once that is selected, you can narrow your search further by selecting the case type. Select one of the three “dissolution of marriage” options.

Note: you can actually select more than one case type, so if you are unsure, simply select all three “Dissolution of Marriage” options.

Once you select the divorce record you are looking for, you can select “view” for a history of the divorce case. This will include the same standard information provided for all Hillsborough County court records. For these cases, you will be able to see the entire case history, including the specific date when the divorce decree was issued.

If you want to search and request divorce records in person, you can use the below contact information for the various Clerk of Court locations:

Clerk of Court Location	Address	Phone Number
Edgecomb Courthouse	800 E. Twiggs Street Tampa, Florida 33602	813-276-8100
Pat Collier Frank Courthouse	419 Pierce Street Tampa, Florida 33602	813-276-8100
Plant City Courthouse	301 North Michigan Ave., Room 1071 Plant City, Florida 33563	813-276-8100
Brandon Regional Service Center	311 Pauls Drive, Suite 110 Brandon, Florida 33511	813-276-8100

If a needed vital record cannot be found through any of these methods–or if the event was held in a different Florida county–searchers can rely on the Florida records search guide resource to find marital records and other publicly available information (such as court documents, property ownership, or criminal history) on anyone in the state.

How To Access Hillsborough County Criminal Records

While a recent arrest report may help you find someone’s mugshot and other helpful information, you may need information that you can only find with a Hillsborough County criminal record. This may be a court date for a pending case or information on whether or not a person was found guilty from a past arrest.

Here are a couple of options for conducting a free criminal record check in Hillsborough County:

Search the Hillsborough Clerk of Courts & County Courthouses for Local Criminal Records

The Hillsborough Court of Clerks provides criminal records through their Hillsborough Online Viewing of Electronic Records (HOVER) search tool. To perform a Hillsborough County case search for criminal records, make sure you select “criminal” under the case categories section. If you want, you can narrow down the results even further by the particular case types.

Some options include felony burglary, misdemeanor and felony sexual offenses.

Once you find the criminal case you are looking for, you can click on it to get a list of all the charges brought against the individual for that particular case. You can also find information on their bond amount as well as detailed case information. However, if you are trying to find someone’s mugshot, you will have to look up the individual’s arrest record.

Hillsborough’s case search does not provide that information.

You can also reach out to the Clerk of Courts at 813-276-8100 if you have any additional questions about searching their criminal records. You can also visit them in person at

Hillsborough Clerk of Courts
401 North Jefferson Street
Tampa, Florida 33602

Finally, you can also check directly with county courthouses to search their available criminal records. Here is a list of Hillsborough County Courthouses:

Courthouse	Address	Phone Number
Edgecomb Courthouse	800 E. Twiggs Street Tampa, Florida 33602	813-272-5894
Criminal Courthouse Annex	401 N. Jefferson Street Tampa, Florida 33602	813-276-8100
Plant City Courthouse	301 N. Michigan Avenue Plant City, Florida 33563	813-757-3918

Request Criminal Records via the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office & Other Local Police Departments

While the HCSO is the arresting agency, its online search tool provides portions of information typically found in criminal records. For instance, their arrest search will show court-related information, including the case number and how long they were sentenced from any convictions.

You can also request copies of these records through their Records Request Center.¹⁸ You can create an online account and submit your request electronically.¹⁹ You can also make an online request with the Tampa Police Department for criminal records.²⁰

You will have to create an account before submitting your request. You can use the addresses provided earlier in this article if you would like to make an in-person request.

If you are specifically looking for how to obtain a background check, that will be discussed later in this article.

Track Down Criminal Records Through Florida State Resources

If you are looking to find Florida criminal records, you should consider using some of these resources. You can look up someone’s criminal record through the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.²¹

You can also use the Florida Department of Corrections Offender Information Search.²²

Alternatively, you can conduct a Sexual Offenders & Predators Search if you are specifically looking for information on individuals that have committed sex crimes in Florida.²³ Lastly, you can perform a nationwide search with the National Sex Offender Public Website.²⁴

For more information on Florida public records and state resources, visit the guide for Florida criminal records search.

How To Run a Background Check in Hillsborough County FL

The method in which you conduct a background check in Hillsborough County depends on what information you need and why you need it. Generally, there are two types of background checks: professional and personal.

Personal background checks are usually more informal. You can conduct a personal background check for any reason by performing your own Hillsborough County public records search.

Maybe a new neighbor moved in, and you want to learn a little more about them. You can perform a personal background check, and you are not required to request their permission. The only real limitation is that you cannot use this information to commit a crime.

For example, you could not use the information to stalk or intimidate your new neighbor.

To perform a background check for personal purposes, use the resources and government agencies in this article to conduct your own search through online search tools, contacting local courts and law enforcement agencies.

For example, you can submit a public records request with the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office among other agencies like the Clerk of Courts seen above. Searchers can also use third-party sites to run background checks across multiple county and state databases at once.

On the other hand, professional background checks are fundamentally different. They are usually used for the following reasons:

• Screening a potential tenant
• Verifying a potential employee’s background
• Adopting a child
• For employees working with the elderly (e.g., nursing home) or children (e.g., teachers)
• Buying a gun

Sometimes, a professional background check is required by state or federal law. For instance, Florida requires Child Care Background Screenings. Hillsborough County assists with making sure employers comply by providing background screening information to guide them through this process.²⁵

Requests for professional background checks must comply with the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and other state laws.^26,27

The EEOC’s overarching protection is to prohibit discrimination, while the FCRA requires explicit consent before a professional background check can be performed.

Public record requests can be submitted online where you can also track the progress of your request and download the records you requested. You can contact them by email at [email protected] or by phone at 813-247-0960.²⁸

The Records Request Unit processes requests in the order they are received and may require a deposit for extensive records requests. For additional information, they also have an FAQ page as well as a public records archive where you can search other Hillsborough County public records requests.

If you prefer, you can also make a records request in person. To request a background check in person, you can go to the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office Identification Section at the following address:

Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office
Identification Section
1238 Tech Boulevard
Tampa Florida 33619

If you need to get fingerprinted for a broader background check, such as through the FBI, you can schedule a fingerprinting appointment with the Tampa Police Department.²⁹ The charge is waived if you are a Hillsborough County resident and only $10 for out-of-county residents.

For a Florida criminal history report, you should visit the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.³⁰

How To Check for Arrest Warrants in Hillsborough County Florida

The HCSO has its own dedicated warrant search tool to check if someone in Hillsborough County has a warrant out for their arrest.³¹

On their warrant search tool, you can search by individuals using any of the following information:

• Warrant number
• Name
• Race
• Sex
• Date of Birth

If the person you searched for does not have a warrant, you will receive a message stating, “No matching records were found.” If your search yields results, you will see the individual’s name, warrant number, race, sex and date of birth. Once you click on their name, you can view the following additional information:

• Height
• Weight
• Hair
• Eye Color
• Address
• Aliases
• Investigating Officer & Agency
• Case Number
• Charges

If you do not find what you are looking for or need to broaden your search slightly, you can try searching on Central Florida’s Internet Warrant System.³² Here you can search using some of the same search criteria as HCSO’s warrant search.

Two unique search criteria is the ability to search by address information and to narrow down your results by particular crime (labeled “special interest” on the search tool). You can also narrow your search by only showing warrants that were added in the past 10 days.

On the other hand, you can broaden your search by completing a statewide warrant lookup to find information on anyone wanted throughout Florida.

How To Determine if an Individual Is on Probation in Hillsborough County FL

As with a few other Hillsborough County public records, probation information is viewable through state resources since the county does not host a dedicated public index or probation search tool.

To search for individuals on probation in Hillsborough County you can use the Florida Department of Corrections Supervised Population Information Search.³³ Here you can search by name or Department of Corrections Number.

When you select an individual, you can see their supervision begin date and scheduled termination date. You can also see what type of supervision the individual is under and their current community supervision history. You can also get similar information that you see on a criminal record, such as descriptive information on the individual, current location and aliases.

How To Check for Court Records in Hillsborough County FL

The Hillsborough County Clerk of Courts provides a case search tool to search for all court records in the county. Here you can search court records by citation number, party or business name, court date, date range, case type and court type. For court type there are several options to choose from.

Those include:

• Circuit Criminal
• Probate Guardianship
• Domestic Relations
• Search Warrant
• Misdemeanor
• Traffic
• Juvenile Dependency

Once you enter your search options, the search results page will provide the following information:

• Case Number
• Citation
• Case Style (Parties in the Case)
• Case Status
• Filed Date
• Case Type

There is also a Case Options & Payment section, which allows you to view information on the parties and other third parties involved (e.g., bond company). On this page, you can request to subscribe for case notifications.

Back on the search results page, you can also select the “View” link. When you select this link, you will receive a case summary report. This will provide you with detailed information regarding a particular case.

Some of this information includes

• Case Party Information (including attorney information)
• Judge Information
• Case Offense Information
• Case Event Information (this includes the event date with a brief summary of what occurred during this event)

How To Obtain Death & Birth Certificates (Vital Records) in Hillsborough County FL

The primary custodian for Hillsborough County birth and death certificates is the Florida Department of Health.³⁴ In Florida, birth certificates are not considered a public record until 100 years have elapsed since the individual’s birth.

Prior to that, a birth certificate will only be provided to the individual or, if they are a minor, their parent, guardian or legal representative.³⁵ Additional people can access a birth certificate once the individual is deceased, such as a spouse or grandchild.

The Florida Department of Health in Hillsborough County provides a list of Birth Certificate Forms for making a request.³⁶ In addition, they also provide detailed steps for ordering birth certificates.³⁷ For computer-generated certificates, the cost is $14.00 and $9.00 for additional copies as long as they were all ordered at the same time.

For an additional $3.00, they will provide a protective plastic cover.

You can order your birth certificate online through VitalChek.³⁸ You can also fax a request to 813-903-3370 or go in person to one of their vital statistic locations in Hillsborough county.³⁹ Finally, you can mail an application to the following address:

Florida Dept. of Health in Hillsborough County Vital Statistics
PO 5135
Tampa, FL 33675

Access to death certificates is slightly broader in Hillsborough County. Anyone can request a copy of a death certificate from any period of time although the cause of death and first 5 digits of the decedent’s social security number will be redacted.

For individuals who died less than 50 years ago, a fully unredacted death certificate, including the cause of death, will only be provided to a limited group of individuals (e.g., spouse, parent, child, sibling). It will also be provided to a legal representative or anyone who can show proof that they have an interest in that person’s estate.

To request a death certificate, you must provide a signed Affidavit to Release Cause of Death Information.⁴⁰ Similar to birth certificates, you can apply using VitalChek. You can request a copy in person at

Florida Department of Health
Bureau of Vital Statistics
1217 North Pearl Street
Jacksonville Florida 32202 

You can also go to any Hillsborough County Health Department for any deaths starting in 2009.⁴¹ You can also mail your request to the following address:

Florida Bureau of Vital Statistics
PO Box 210
Jacksonville Florida 32231 

The cost for a death certificate is $5.00 plus $4.00 for any additional certified copy. If you are not sure when the individual died, you may have to perform multiple searches. There is a $2.00 search fee for every calendar year when you do not know the exact year.

How To View Hillsborough County Property Records

The primary way to search for Hillsborough County property records is through the basic property search provided by the county’s property appraiser.⁴²

Here, you can search by parcel number, owner name or address. Once you click on the property you are searching for, here is some of the information you can view on the Hillsborough County property record card:

• Property Owner’s Name
• Mailing Address
• Site Address
• Tax District
• Property Use
• Tax & Property Value Information
• Sales History
• Construction Details
• Specific Property Features
• Aerial Image of the Property

You can also find some of this information through Hillsborough County’s Tax Collector Property Tax Search.⁴³

For Hillsborough county criminal records you will want to contact the Florida Department of Law Enforcement or the Florida Department of Corrections. For arrest records you can search with the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office or other local law enforcement agencies. For vital records contact the Florida Department of Health.

If you’re looking for other types of Hillsborough County public records, the Hillsborough County Clerk of Court is the primary record custodian, although other records can be found through the other agencies detailed in this resource. ⁴⁴