User Guide to Official Records Search

What are official records?

What is the Courthouse Information Processing System?

What is the difference between each search option?

How do I read the Index of search results?

How do I get an image?

How do I print my image?

How do I read the Data Sheet?

How do I get a certified copy of a document?

Frequently Asked Questions

The Clerk of Circuit Court is designated by Florida Statutes to be the official records keeper for the county. Official records are documents relating to land records, persons or legal actions which are maintained by the clerk in what are called official records books and pages, set forth in the order in which they were received. Florida statutes, section 28.222 states that the Clerk shall file the following documents:

a) Deeds, leases, bills of sale, agreements, mortgages, notices or claims of lien, notices of levy, tax warrants, tax executions, and other instruments relating to the ownership, transfer, or encumbrance of or claims against real or personal property or any interest in it; extensions, assignments, releases, cancellations, or satisfactions of mortgages and liens; and powers of attorney relating to any of the instruments.

(b) Notices of lis pendens, including notices of an action pending in a United States court having jurisdiction in this state.

(c) Judgments, including certified copies of judgments, entered by any court of this state or by a United States court having jurisdiction in this state and assignments, releases, and satisfactions of the judgments.

(d) That portion of a certificate of discharge, separation, or service which indicates the character of discharge, separation, or service of any citizen of this state with respect to the military, air, or naval forces of the United States. Each certificate shall be recorded without cost to the veteran, but the clerk shall receive from the board of county commissioners or other governing body of the county the service charge prescribed by law for the recording.

(e) Notices of liens for taxes payable to the United States and other liens in favor of the United States, and certificates discharging, partially discharging, or releasing the liens, in accordance with the laws of the United States.

(f) Certified copies of petitions, with schedules omitted, commencing proceedings under the Bankruptcy Act of the United States, decrees of adjudication in the proceedings, and orders approving the bonds of trustees appointed in the proceedings.

(g) Certified copies of death certificates authorized for issuance by the Department of Health which exclude the information that is confidential under s. 382.008, and certified copies of death certificates issued by another state whether or not they exclude the information described as confidential in s. 382.008.

The Courthouse information Processing System (C.H.I.P.S.) is the Manatee County Clerk of Circuit Court's digital storage system developed by the clerk for the storage and retrieval of all official and court records.

Official records are stored in indexes in a database. The Database covers all official records from January 3, 1978 to the present. We have images online from August 12, 1981 (Book 1012) and will have all records from January 3, 1978 imaged in the near future. Official Records filed prior to January 3, 1978 are indexed and stored on microfilm at the clerk's office and will be made available online in the near future.

Official Records are stored with an Index which shows the type of document filed (called "Instrument Type" or “Document Type”), the people or companies who are the parties involved in the document, the legal description of the property involved and the date the instrument was recorded. When you perform a search on this system, you will first be shown the Index, then you can get the Data Sheet and image of the document for viewing.

This is a listing of the abbreviations of the instrument or document types which are listed in the indexes, the standard type, standard description and whether the document or instrument type is active. For example it will show you that a listing for the instrument type "Mortgage" will be shown in the index as "MTG". Print this legend to help you in your search. TOP

Learn the Difference Between List View, List View (No Name Data) and Page View

The List View search will deliver an index with all records that match the search criteria you entered, so you may choose which record and image you would like to view. The List View (No Name Data) search will deliver new document images that have been scanned, but no information on the image if it hasn’t been indexed. The Page View search will deliver the first document image with the information about the image. You can move page by page through the list of indexes for the results of your search criteria. TOP

This will take you to a page where you can search and view images of any documents where a person, company or other entity is listed as a party to the document. For example, if you type in "Smith" for the last name in the last name box and "John" for the first name in the first name box and then hit "Submit", you will receive a listing of the index of all documents where the name John Smith is a party. You may also narrow your search for a specific document type, start date and end date. TOP

This will take you to a page where you can search for a document if you know the Official Records Book and Page where the document was recorded. This is useful if you need an image of a single document without searching through a list of documents. If you know the book and page, type those numbers in and hit "Submit". If there is no exact match, you will be given the closest book and page. TOP

This will take you to a page where you can obtain an indexed listing and the images of all documents where the Manatee County Property Appraiser's parcel identification number for a particular piece of property is found on the document recorded. If no parcel ID number was typed on the original document, the document will not show up on this search. To perform a search, type in the correct parcel ID number, choose whether you would like to view the results by List View or Page View and then hit "Submit". You will receive a listing of the index by order in which the documents were recorded from oldest to most recent. TOP

This will take you to a page where you can obtain an indexed listing and the images of all documents where a recorded subdivision is listed within the legal description of any property. Type in the name of the Subdivision, then hit "Submit" you may also choose which document type you would like to search for and a start date. You will receive a listing of the index by order in which the documents were recorded from oldest to most recent. TOP

This will take you to a page where you can obtain an indexed listing of all documents where a condominium is listed within the legal description of any unit or property. Type in the name of the condominium, then hit "Submit". You will receive a listing of the index by order in which the documents were recorded from oldest to most recent. TOP

This will take you to a page where you can obtain an indexed listing of all documents where the legal description of any property contains the Section, Township and Range you type in the query. Manatee County is divided by map into different land Ranges. These Ranges are divided into Townships which are further divided into one square mile Sections. If Section Township and Range are not included in the legal description, the document will not show up in this search. Type in the Section number, the Township number and the Range number, then hit "Submit". You will receive a listing of the index by order in which the documents were recorded from oldest to most recent. TOP

This will take you to a page where you can search for documents that have listed on their face, a court case number. For example a Final Judgment of Dissolution of Marriage for case number 2003-DR-2330 will be found by searching by the case number. Type in the case number, choose whether you would like to view the results by List View or Page View and then hit "Submit". You may receive a list of many case numbers. If your case number is on the system, it will be contained in the list. Please be aware that if you do not put the case number in the search box EXACTLY the way it was recorded, you will not receive any records. TOP

This will take you to a page where you can search for all documents of a particular instrument type. You can view the different instrument types by clicking on the Instrument Types button. You may also view the descriptions for each instrument type on this page. To search, go to the Instrument Search page. In the first box, you will see a description on how to search. The first drop down box is where you choose which type of instrument you would like to search for and a description of the instrument next to each code. The next box will describe how to add a date. The second drop down box is where you enter the date of the record(s) you would like to view. If you enter a specific date, you will only view the documents that were recorded on that date. If you enter a date that our office was closed, such as a holiday or weekend, your search will not return any documents. The bottom box is to view all documents recorded in that month according to the instrument type and date you chose above. An example would be to select an AFF (Affidavit), then enter 01/07/2004 and at the bottom of the page, click the box to view all documents recorded for the month then hit “Submit”. You will receive a listing of all Affidavits recorded in January of 2004 and will be sorted by most recent to oldest. TOP

This will take you to a page where you can search for all documents that contain a particular legal description. The legal description you type in has to match the description listed in the index exactly to get an exact match. A partial description will match any document which has a partial match. If you first find a document through a name search, you can use the legal description from that index in this search to find other documents regarding that property. TOP

Once you hit "Submit" in a search, a list of documents in the Index should appear, which looks like this:

The result is the Index which shows how many records were found. The NAME INQ button will return you to the Name Search screen and the MAIN MENU link will return you to the main menu. Page 1 of 8 indicates how many Index pages your search returned. If the Image button is visible, there is image(s) associated with that record. The REV button will allow you to reverse the search by the Other Party Name (OTHNAME) on the document. The name of the party is listed as well as the CODE, Association (ASC), Document Date (DOCDATE), Document Type (DOCTYPE), the other party associated with the record (OTHNAME), BOOK, PAGE, partial LEGAL description, how many PAGES were recorded and the STATUS of the document. The status on the far right of our index refers to what stage the document is in. When we initially index it, it will say Indexed. At the point that it is rekeyed it will change to Verified. Verified is the final stage.

Once you click on the "Image" button after you receive your search results and Adobe Acrobat © opens, hit the printer symbol on the Acrobat toolbar just above the image and a print window will appear. For official printed copies, see the instructions in the "How do I get a certified copy of a document?" section below or go to the Main page of Official Records. If you want an unofficial copy, follow these instructions. Not all printers are configured the same, so there may be some difficulty printing an image, depending on your type of printer.

The C.H.I.P.S. Official Records Data Sheet is a table containing the basic information about a document recorded in the system. It is a quick reference showing the date and time a document was recorded, the book and page, the file number, the document or instrument type, recording fees, trust fees, documentary stamp fees and other taxes and fees paid, type of case, a partial legal description and the parties involved. The information listed in the Data Sheet is input from the original document.

This page can give you information to perform other searches of documents of this type or other documents involving the parties or the property.

If there is an image of this document available, it will appear to the right of the Data Sheet. TOP

For a document to be an official record of the Clerk's office, it must bear the seal of the Clerk and a statement signed by the Clerk or his or her deputy attesting that the copy is a true and correct copy of the document file at the Clerk's office. The Court, banks and other businesses will not accept a non-certified copy of a document. To obtain a certified copy of a document you will need to mail us information containing the Name of the document, the Book and Page of the document and the parties. An image printed from this system mailed to us with a request for a certified copy will suffice. A check or money order must accompany the request along with your name, address and phone number.

If, for example, you need a certified copy of a mortgage of 7 pages in length, you will need to send $8.50 with your request. TOP

You need to go to the main page and click on "Name Search". Then type your last name in the last name box and your first name in the first name box. You may put a begin date and end date in the next two boxes or leave it blank. You may also choose which document type (DEED) you would like to search for. Then hit "Submit". A new Index page should open. Find your name in the list. To the right of your name there will be an abbreviation for the type of document filed. Depending on the type of deed you received, there could be several possible document types such as "DEED" for general Deeds, "WD" for Warranty Deed, "AGMTD" for Agreement For Deed or "QCD" for Quitclaim Deed. Click on the "Image" button to the left of your name and a Data Sheet with the image(s) should open. TOP

If it was filed after September 10, 1981, the image will be on the system. Follow the same steps above for deeds or go to the user guide page on name searches to learn how to find it. If it was filed before then, you can still search the database to find the data from the document, which will show the Book and Page numbers where it was recorded. If there is not an image on the system, you can either stop by the office or write us a request for a copy and we will make a copy for you from our microfilm records. The fee for this is $1.00 per page plus $1.50 per document to certify the document. TOP

The Clerk is only authorized to file those documents listed in Florida Statutes, Section 28.222. Those are listed in the User Guide section: what are official records.

If you want to find out who owns a piece of property, you should visit the Manatee County Property Appraiser's web site: Manatee County Public Access. You can do a search there using the street address. From that you can obtain the owner's name then return to our site to research the property.

Determining whether your property is free and clear of any liens is a difficult task. One missed lien or document could be disastrous, so you should consult with an attorney who handles real estate matters or a title company to have a title search performed. If you want to check yourself, you can perform a name search in our system of all the names on your deed, using the date of your deed as the starting date of the search. TOP