Florida Criminal Records

• Florida has 10,058,557 total people (FBI, 2018).
• Florida is the 5th largest state by population.

Court System

• The County Courts are the people's courts and they have trial jurisdiction in civil disputes involving $15,000 or less. They handle cases such as citizen disputes, traffic offenses, misdemeanors and small monetary disputes.
• The Circuit Courts have general trial jurisdiction and they handle civil disputes involving more than $15,000, juvenile cases, controversies involving the estates of decedents or minors, and they hold criminal prosecutions for all felonies. They also handle cases including tax disputes, conflicts in cases where the boundaries of land is disputed, and suits for declaratory judgements.
• The District Courts of Appeal hear appeals from the trial courts to correct errors that may have occurred in a trial. They can also hear appeals from final judgments and can review certain non-final orders.
• The Supreme Court has mandatory jurisdiction in cases involving a death penalty, bond validations, or district court decisions declaring a state statute or provision of the state constitution invalid. They have discretionary jurisdiction in any decision of a district court of appeal that declares a state statute valid, in a case that affects a class of constitutional or state officer and in any case where great public, direct conflict, judgment of trial courts of question from federal courts has been certified.