Hillsborough, Florida Criminal Records Search: Cases & Public Records

Hillsborough County, Florida official-record guide

Start with HOVER for the court case — then use the Sheriff or FDLE for the record they actually maintain

Hillsborough County criminal information is spread across several official systems. The Clerk of Circuit Court maintains felony and misdemeanor court files through HOVER; the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office publishes arrest and county-jail information; and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement maintains Florida’s statewide criminal-history repository. Those systems answer different questions, so choosing the right one is the fastest way to find an accurate result.

Jurisdiction: Hillsborough County, Florida Court: Florida Thirteenth Judicial Circuit Information checked: September 30, 2026

Fast answer: For a Hillsborough criminal prosecution, begin with the Clerk’s Hillsborough Online Viewing of Electronic Records (HOVER). For a recent arrest or current jail booking, use HCSO “Who’s In Jail” / arrest records. For a statewide Florida criminal-history check, use FDLE. Do not treat an arrest listing as the final outcome—the Sheriff’s Office itself directs users to the Clerk for the final disposition.

Find a court case Felony, misdemeanor, docket, disposition and public document access.

Use HOVER →

Find an arrest HCSO arrest records and recent custody information.

Arrest search →

Find someone in jail Current Hillsborough County detention information.

Jail search →

Search statewide Florida history FDLE public criminal-history record check.

Florida search →

Get an official copy Non-certified or electronically certified court documents.

Copies →

Which Hillsborough criminal record are you actually looking for?

The phrase “criminal record” can describe an arrest, a court prosecution, a jail booking, a statewide criminal-history record or a correctional record. Hillsborough County does not combine all of those into one database.

Clerk of Court

Criminal court case

Filed charges, docket events, hearings, dispositions, sentencing entries and many public documents.

HCSO

Arrest record

Information describing a Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office arrest and the circumstances known at the time.

County jail

Current custody

Booking and detention information for people incarcerated in the Hillsborough County jail system.

FDLE

Florida criminal history

Statewide Florida criminal-history information maintained by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.

Florida DOC

State corrections

State prison and correctional supervision information rather than county-jail information.

Federal judiciary

Federal case

Federal prosecutions are separate from Hillsborough County criminal cases and use PACER.

Do not use an arrest record as proof of guilt. The Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office expressly states that its arrest information reflects circumstances known at the time of arrest and does not show whether a person was later found guilty, acquitted or had a charge dismissed.

HOVER is the main online court-record search for Hillsborough County

The Hillsborough County Clerk of Circuit Court & Comptroller operates Hillsborough Online Viewing of Electronic Records (HOVER).

HOVER provides public electronic access to many court indexes, case-progress dockets and non-confidential document images, subject to Florida court-access rules.

Open HOVER Court Records

You can search HOVER using

case number
Uniform Case Number
citation number
party or business name
date range
court type
case type
court hearing lookup

No account is required for every basic lookup. HOVER provides access to anonymous users as well as registered users, attorneys and self-represented parties. The exact documents visible can depend on the user’s role and Florida’s electronic court-access rules.

How to search a Hillsborough criminal case step by step

Open HOVER

Begin with the official Hillsborough Clerk system rather than an unrelated people-search website.

Choose the strongest search method

Use a case number when available. Otherwise search by party name and narrow the result using criminal court or case-type filters.

Open the matching case

Confirm the defendant name, case number, filing dates and court type before assuming that the result belongs to the person you are researching.

Review the progress docket

Look for charging activity, arraignment, motions, hearings, pleas, disposition entries, sentencing and later post-judgment events.

Open available document images

Public non-confidential images can be viewed remotely when permitted by the applicable Florida court-access rules.

Move to the Clerk when an image is unavailable

A missing online image does not necessarily mean the underlying court record does not exist. You may need an in-person view, paper-file request or copy order.

Felony cases are maintained by the Circuit Criminal Department

The Hillsborough Clerk’s Circuit Criminal / Felony Department files, processes and maintains the court records associated with felony prosecutions.

Many felony case indexes, dockets and non-confidential electronic document images can be viewed through HOVER.

Practical route: if an HCSO arrest entry lists a serious charge, search the defendant in HOVER and look for a Circuit Criminal case. The court filing—not the initial arrest description—is the better source for determining which charges were formally prosecuted and how each charge ended.

Misdemeanor records are maintained by County Criminal

Hillsborough County’s Misdemeanor Department maintains court records for misdemeanor offenses and certain non-criminal, non-traffic infractions.

The Clerk explains that after a misdemeanor arrest, initial paperwork from the Hillsborough County Jail is sent to the Clerk. The State Attorney then reviews the matter and determines whether formal charges will be filed.

This explains why an arrest and a court case can look different. An arresting officer’s listed charge is not necessarily the exact charge later filed by the prosecutor. Always read the court case after the State Attorney has made the charging decision.

How to read a Hillsborough criminal case correctly

Finding someone’s name is only the beginning. A useful court-record search should determine exactly what happened to each charge.

Case information	What it helps establish	Important caution
Case number	Identifies the specific criminal proceeding.	Save it once you locate the correct file.
Charge	Offense formally associated with the case.	A charge is not automatically a conviction.
Progress docket	Chronological court activity.	Read later entries, not only the first filing.
Bond information	Bond type, status and posting information when available.	Bond does not determine guilt.
Disposition	How the charge was resolved.	Different counts can end differently.
Sentence	Penalty or court conditions after qualifying disposition.	Confirm the associated charge first.
Appeal	Whether appellate activity is linked to the case.	An appeal may change or further interpret the judgment.

Local search habit: once you locate the correct HOVER record, keep the exact case number. It makes later document, certification and paper-file requests substantially easier than starting over with a name search.

Some Hillsborough criminal files still require paper-file access

HOVER can show whether a file is electronic or whether a paper court file exists. Paper files can be ordered in advance for viewing at an available Clerk location.

1 Search HOVER Locate the case and open the Case Information screen.

2 Check file location Look for the Paper Court Records / order-file option.

3 Select viewing site Choose an available Clerk location such as Tampa or Plant City.

4 Wait for notice The Clerk can email you after the requested paper file is ready.

The Clerk says that when the requester is not a party to the case, paper-file processing can require approximately four business days so staff have time to perform required redactions.

Ordered paper files are generally held for a limited period after arrival, so check the Clerk’s current instructions before making the trip.

Sensitive-case limitation: some criminal case images involving sexual abuse may not be viewable remotely because of sensitive content and redaction requirements. The record may instead require in-person viewing.

Non-certified and certified Hillsborough court documents

HOVER allows users to view and print many available non-certified court documents at no charge.

When an official certified court record is required, the Clerk provides Clerk eCertify, which can deliver tamper-evident electronically certified court documents online.

Find the case in HOVER Electronic Certified Copies

How eCertify works

Find the document through the Clerk’s online records system and use the certification option when it is available. The Clerk issues a secured PDF with authentication features that allow recipients to validate the electronic certificate.

If the needed document is not imaged: use the Clerk’s court-document copy request form. Provide the case number, case style and the specific document or filing date when known. The Clerk can calculate the applicable copy cost.

Official request page: Request Copies of Court Documents.

How to make a written court-record request

Requests for access to judicial-branch court records are handled differently from ordinary county public-record requests.

The Hillsborough Clerk instructs that court-record access requests under Florida Rule of General Practice and Judicial Administration 2.420(m) must be in writing and directed to the custodian.

Hillsborough County court-record custodian

Email: PublicRecords@hillsclerk.com

Telephone: (813) 284-2131

Hillsborough County Clerk of Circuit Court and Comptroller
601 E. Kennedy Blvd.
13th Floor
Tampa, FL 33602