Where do all those public records go?

Last Tuesday, my Public Affairs class and I made the trek to the Hillsborough County Courthouse. It wasn’t the most thrilling field trip this semester, but I still managed to learn some key information about the court system that I didn’t know beforehand. For one, it is BUSY. That’s not even a big enough word, so if you can think of one, use that. There are mobs of people trying to enter the court, whether it’s for their traffic court hearing, a friend’s misdemeanor hearing, or something that has to do with child support payments. Mondays are typically the busiest of days because people come in for jury duty, so I can’t imagine the time it takes just to get through security checks. By the way, did you know you can be arrested for missing jury duty? Not the best day to forget to set your alarm for early in the morning.

Chief Financial Officer Pat Frank and Clerk of Court Dana Caranante gave the class some insight about how important the court system is. Obviously, this is the place where people are judged for their wrongdoings and subsequently learn their fate, but I didn’t realize how many public records were stored and for how long. According to Frank, every document that passes through the courthouse is stored in a warehouse and kept as public record for as long as 75 years, in some cases. 75 YEARS! Are you serious!?

Some records, like the ones that are from traffic court, can be discarded after 90 days, but other documents, like child abuse records (which are unavailable to the public, by the way) are kept for at least the lifetime of the child, plus a number of years afterward. Juvenile records are kept forever!

According to Frank, the most common records asked for are arrest records, and if the case is high-profile, (meaning people are hearing updates on the news, for instance) the cases are made available on the Internet.

To learn more information about the court system and what records are available and confidential to the public, visit www.hillsclerk.com