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