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For Pinellas County public court records, use the Clerk guest court-record system for adult cases or traffic matters and keep it separate from the county Official Records instrument index. The Clerk of the Circuit Court is the court-record custodian when you need the underlying filing or official copy.
Do not mix Pinellas court cases with the Official Records index
Court Records guest access
- Adult case lookup by name or case.
- Traffic lookup by name or citation.
- Designed to identify a court matter and its docket information.
Official Records search
- Indexes recorded instruments such as deeds and other county recordings.
- Includes categories that are not court-case dockets.
- Should not be substituted for the court-record search when the question concerns a lawsuit or prosecution.
Pick the Pinellas lookup field that matches the case
| Detail | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Adult case number | Best when a court case identifier is already known. |
| Party name | Useful for discovery, but verify the matching court matter before relying on it. |
| Traffic citation | Use for the Clerk traffic lookup when the citation is available. |
| Docket item | After locating the case, identify the specific order or filing needed from the court file. |
The Clerk’s role continues after the online Pinellas search ends
The guest portal is a convenient public window into adult and traffic dockets, but it is not a different custodian from the Clerk. Pinellas County describes the Clerk of the Circuit Court as the record keeper for the circuit and county courts. That means the online search and the official court file are two access modes into the same court-record function.
This matters when the search interface does not show the document needed for a formal purpose. First confirm the correct case and docket entry, then use the Clerk’s record-copy process rather than searching the county’s separate Official Records database. Keeping these systems distinct avoids a surprisingly common mismatch between a court pleading and a recorded instrument that happens to involve the same name.
From a Pinellas guest search to the correct court record
1
Open the Clerk court-record guest accessChoose adult case or traffic lookup rather than the Official Records instrument search.2
Verify the matterMatch the name, case identifier, court context and available docket details.3
Identify the exact filingNote the order, pleading or docket event that answers the research question.4
Use the Clerk for the record productRequest the court document or formal copy from the Clerk when the online view is not enough.