Palm Beach Criminal Court Cases
Palm Beach County divides criminal cases by offense level. The Circuit Court of the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit hears felonies. Palm Beach County Court hears misdemeanors and county ordinance matters. City police departments investigate and arrest, but they do not run separate criminal trial courts. Once prosecutors file a charge, the Clerk preserves the case number, parties, docket activity, rulings, disposition, sentence, and financial entries.
The Main Courthouse at 205 North Dixie Highway in West Palm Beach is the chief records location. Criminal customer service is in room 2.2300. Public eCaseView computers are available in the fourth-floor Records Service Center, room 4.2500, and the first-floor Self-Service Center, room 1.2500. Branch access is also offered in Palm Beach Gardens, Delray Beach, and Belle Glade. Call criminal customer service at (561) 355-2994 or record search at (561) 355-2996 before a trip if the case location is unclear.
Palm Beach Court Case Levels
The offense degree controls the trial court. Capital, life, first-degree, second-degree, and third-degree felonies belong in Circuit Court. First- and second-degree misdemeanors belong in County Court. A booking screen may display an early degree, but the State Attorney can file a different charge after reviewing the police submission.
| Record question | Best Palm Beach source |
|---|---|
| Felony prosecution | Circuit Court docket in eCaseView |
| Misdemeanor prosecution | County Court docket in eCaseView |
| Filed charge and outcome | Clerk case file |
| Incident narrative | Arresting police agency or PBSO |
| Recent custody or bond | PBSO booking and inmate records |
This distinction matters when reviewing a named person. A police report tells what the agency investigated. A booking entry documents jail intake. The Palm Beach County court file shows what the State Attorney filed and what the judge ultimately decided.
How to Search Case Records
Start at the Clerk's official eCaseView page and choose “Continue as Guest.” Guest access is free and supports the core public search. A case number is the cleanest key. A name search also works, but common names require care. Confirm that the court type is criminal, then compare the filing date, charge, case status, and events rather than treating a similar name as a certain match.
| Search field | Access | Use |
|---|---|---|
| Case Number | Guest | Direct file lookup; keep known hyphens |
| First and Last Name | Guest | Find possible party matches |
| Court and Case Type | Guest | Limit results to criminal matters |
| Offense Date | Guest | Narrow a broad result list |
| Citation Number | Guest | Find a citation-linked matter |
| Date of Birth | Registered | Distinguish similar names |
| Incident or Booking Number | Registered | Connect agency and jail identifiers |
| Arrest Date or License Number | Registered | Advanced narrowing fields |
Registration adds search fields but is not needed for ordinary public access. Sealed, expunged, and other nonpublic cases will not appear. Users outside North America may also encounter the Clerk's published security restriction and need a U.S.-origin connection.
Palm Beach Court Defense Role
The Public Defender for the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit represents eligible defendants after court appointment, while the Clerk remains the public case-file custodian.
The office at 421 Third Street in West Palm Beach may appear as counsel in a public docket. It is not a general criminal-record search office. Filed motions and case events are read through the Clerk's Palm Beach County criminal court record.
What the Case File Shows
A Palm Beach County case file is organized around one prosecution. The header identifies the case number, filing date, court type, division, status, and judge. Party entries identify the State of Florida, the defendant display, and counsel where public. Charge rows can list the count, offense description, statute, degree, offense date, and disposition.
| Case Header | Case number, filing date, court, division, status, and judge |
|---|---|
| Parties | Public defendant display, State of Florida, and counsel |
| Charges | Counts, descriptions, statutes, degrees, dates, and outcomes |
| Docket Events | Complaint or information, arraignment, notices, motions, hearings, plea, and judgment |
| Documents | Public images, generally from late 2008 forward |
| Financial Entries | Assessments, payments, balance, and collection flags |
A disposition is the result of a charge. It may be conviction, dismissal, acquittal, or nolle prosequi, which means the prosecutor formally chose not to continue that charge at that time. A withhold of adjudication means the court did not formally adjudicate guilt despite the plea or finding, subject to Florida law. Those terms should not be collapsed into a simple “guilty” or “not guilty” label.
Missing Palm Beach Case Images
Many Palm Beach County document images begin in late 2008. An older docket can therefore appear online while the scanned filing does not. That gap does not mean the document never existed. It usually means the reader must move from the portal to Clerk research service.
Use the Records Service Center in room 4.2500, the Self-Service Center in room 1.2500, or a branch courthouse computer. Free uncertified viewing and printing are available online when an image is present. Electronic certification costs $8 per document plus a 3.5 percent processing charge. Standard Clerk copies are generally $1 per page for pages up to 8.5 by 14 inches, and certification commonly adds $2 per instrument. Confirm the current criminal fee schedule before ordering.
Incident reports remain with the agency that created them. If eCaseView shows a prosecution but not the police narrative, request that report from PBSO or the city police department. The broader Palm Beach County criminal history overview explains how local, state, jail, and court sources fit together.
Stages of a Criminal Case
The docket grows in sequence, though a case may end early or skip some steps. Reading dates in order helps separate an allegation, a filed charge, and a final result.
The State Attorney files an information or pursues another valid charging route. At arraignment, the charge is stated and a plea is entered. Pretrial entries can include discovery notices, motions, hearings, and calendar changes. A plea or verdict leads to disposition. If the result permits punishment, the sentencing entry states the court's sanctions, which may include jail, prison, probation, costs, restitution, or other lawful terms.
Palm Beach Court Charges Change
A booking charge records the basis for custody at intake. It is not a promise that the same count will be filed. The Palm Beach State Attorney reviews the police submission and decides whether and what to prosecute. Charges can be amended, reduced, added, declined, or dismissed. For that reason, a booking blotter is not the right source for a final case outcome.
Read the complaint or information, then trace each count to its disposition. “Nolle prosequi” means the prosecutor stopped pursuing a count at that point. “Dismissed” means the prosecution or court terminated it without conviction. “Acquitted” means a not-guilty result after trial. The Clerk docket is the best public local trail for these changes, while the Palm Beach County arrest history page addresses the separate booking record.
Palm Beach Court Access Rules
Florida's Constitution and Chapter 119 support broad access, while Florida Rule of General Practice and Judicial Administration 2.420 governs access to judicial records. Those rules do not make every item public. Sealed and expunged cases are excluded from ordinary eCaseView access. Protected victim information, Social Security numbers, financial account numbers, juvenile material, and confidential records may be hidden or redacted.
Florida Rule 2.423 and Marsy's Law protect qualifying crime-victim information. A requester should ask for the record held by the correct office and expect lawful redaction. The Clerk holds the court file. PBSO holds sheriff incident, booking, and custody records. A city police agency holds its own report. FDLE holds the statewide criminal-history product, which is not a substitute for the Palm Beach County case docket.
Online financial totals also need care. The Clerk warns that a displayed balance may omit post-judgment interest or added collection charges. Call (561) 355-2996 when a full balance or certified disposition is needed. Always tie conclusions to the latest filed event and verify important details with the originating office.
Palm Beach Specialty Court Dockets
Palm Beach County also uses specialty court programs, including drug, mental health, and veterans court tracks. These are not separate public record systems. A qualifying case remains in the Clerk criminal docket, where hearings, program orders, violations, disposition, and sentence can appear when public.
Search the ordinary case number in eCaseView first. Program participation does not erase the filed charge or shift custody of the record to a treatment provider. Some clinical details remain confidential even when the docket shows a program event. For a certified order or final disposition, request the court document from the Clerk rather than asking the program for a criminal history.