IN THE CIRCUIT COURT, SIXTH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT

IN AND FOR PASCO AND PINELLAS COUNTIES, FLORIDA

 

ADMINISTRATIVE ORDER NO. 2005-062 PA/PI-CIR

 

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RE:     ADOPTION RECORDS

 

Pursuant to section 63.162(2), Florida Statutes, all papers and records pertaining to an adoption, including the permanent record of the Court, are confidential and subject to inspection only upon order of the Court. 

 

Pursuant to section 63.162(3), Florida Statutes, the court files, records, and papers in the adoption are to be indexed only in the name of the petitioner and the name of the minor shall not be noted on any docket, index, or other record outside the court file.

 

Pursuant to section 28.29, Florida Statutes, final judgments of the Courts in civil actions are to be recorded in official records; however, failure to record a judgment does not affect its validity.  When section 28.29, Florida Statutes, was enacted, the family law division had not been created and thus, at that time, family law cases were considered civil cases. 

 

Pursuant to section 28.2221, Florida Statutes, the Clerk of Court is required to provide an index of official records on a publicly available Internet website.  The Clerk may not, after June 5, 2002, place an image or copy of a public record, including an official record, on a publicly available Internet website for certain documents, including records related to cases governed by the Florida Family Law Rules of Procedure and the Florida Rules of Juvenile Procedure.  Such records published prior to June 5, 2002, must be removed from a publicly available Internet web site upon request of an affected party. 

 

The Pinellas and Pasco Clerks of Court have recorded final judgments of adoption in the official records with differing information redacted from the judgments.  The Pinellas Clerk of Court has included at least some adoption final judgments on the office’s website and provided some information to the Florida Association of Court Clerks for publication on MyFloridaCounty.com. 

 

The Court finds that it is appropriate to provide the Clerks of Court with direction regarding the maintenance of confidential court records, including adoption final judgments. 

 

THEREFORE IT IS ORDERED:

 

1.         Final judgments of adoption entered after the date of this Administrative Order shall not be recorded in the official records of Pasco County or Pinellas County unless otherwise ordered by the assigned judge.

 

2.         To the extent that final judgments of adoption have been previously entered into the official records, the Clerk of Court Pasco County is directed to remove copies or images of such records to the extent that such judgments contain any information which is confidential or exempt from the Clerk’s  publicly available website, to request that the Florida Association of Court Clerks  remove copies or images of such records from MyFloridaCounty.com, and to otherwise maintain the confidentiality protections afforded court records as provided in sections 28.2221 and 63.162, Florida Statutes, for final judgments of adoption.  The Clerk of Court Pinellas County is also directed to remove copies or images of such records to the extent that such judgments contain any information which is confidential or exempt from the Clerk’s publicly available website, to request that the Florida Association of Court Clerks remove copies or images of such records from MyFloridaCounty.com, and to otherwise maintain the confidentiality protections afforded court records as provided in sections 28.2221 and 63.162, Florida Statutes, for final judgments of adoption.

 

DONE AND ORDERED in Chambers at St. Petersburg, Pinellas County, Florida, this ____ day of October 2005.

 

                                                                                    _________________________________

                                                                                    David A. Demers, Chief Judge

 

cc:        All Judges

            The Honorable Bernie McCabe, State Attorney

            The Honorable Robert H. Dillinger, Public Defender

            The Honorable Ken Burke, Clerk of Court, Pinellas County

            The Honorable Jed Pittman, Clerk of Court, Pasco County

            Betty Henderson, Assistant Court Services Director, Pasco County Clerk’s office

            Carol Heath, Director, Court Services Division, Pinellas County Clerk’s Office

            Gay Inskeep, Trial Courts Administrator

            Kerry L. Rice, Deputy Courts Administrator, Pasco County

Bar Associations, Pasco and Pinellas Counties

            Law Libraries, Pasco and Pinellas Counties