Lake County Clerk of Court Office

Gary J. Cooney, Clerk of the Circuit Court and Comptroller

Gary J. Cooney is the elected Clerk of the Circuit Court and Comptroller for Lake County. The official Clerk website brands the agency as the Office of Gary J. Cooney. The Clerk is a constitutional officer who holds a four-year term and is voted in by Lake County residents. The office is not a court itself. It is the records-keeping arm that supports the courts and the Board of County Commissioners.

The lead office is downtown in Tavares at the main courthouse. The Clerk also keeps an Administrative Building one block away on West Main Street. Two branch offices serve outlying areas, plus a Records Storage Facility holds physical files. The main number is 352-742-4100 for general public help, and the mailing address routes to a PO Box.

The official bio page at meet the Clerk and Comptroller covers the Clerk's role and background. A short history is posted on the history of the Clerk's office page. The agency home page sits at lakecountyclerkfl.gov.

A look at the official bio page shows the Clerk's photo, the dual role of court clerk and county comptroller, and the agency mission. The page sets the tone for how the office mixes court duties with finance, audit, and records duties.

Source page: official bio page for the Clerk and Comptroller.

The bio image confirms the unified setup and the elected Clerk's name, which keeps the rest of the office structure simple to explain.

Unified Clerk Structure in Lake County

Lake County does not split court clerk and county clerk duties. A single elected office runs both. That keeps things simple for the public, but it also means the Clerk's website is large. People often land on it when they want one type of record and find six other services on the same menu. The main divisions are Courts Management and Records and Administrative Services. There is also a Finance area, an Internal Audit office, an Inspector General, and a Board Services area for County Commission meeting records.

Courts Management runs civil, county and circuit, criminal, family law, court data and records, jury and evidence, and traffic. Records and Administrative Services runs official records recording, marriage licenses, passports, tax deeds, and human resources support. Many record requests hit one of these two arms, so knowing the right path saves time. The official page that walks through department names is the official records area.

Florida Statute 28.222 names the Clerk as recorder of instruments under section 28.222. Service charges follow section 28.24. Public records access in court files is shaped by section 119.0714 and the wider chapter 119.

Court Records Duties of the Lake County Clerk

The Court Data and Records Division is the part of the office that holds case files and serves the public for court access. Staff file new pleadings, accept e-filings from attorneys and self-represented parties, index every document on the docket, log court events, post final judgments and orders, and process certified copies. The division also runs the public-search portal and helps people who do not know a case number.

Access is shaped by Florida Supreme Court rules and by case type. Older cases may have no images online. Confidential items in many civil cases must be requested by hand because the rule does not let the Clerk auto-redact. The official court records page explains the scope. The court records FAQs page covers common limits. Before any search, the user must accept an acknowledgement page about access rules.

For more, see court records, the court dockets page, and the Circuit Court page for the wider trial-court system.

• Open new civil, criminal, family, probate, and traffic case files
• Accept and date stamp each pleading and motion
• Issue summons, subpoenas, writs, and other process
• Maintain the docket and post events in case order
• Collect filing fees, fines, costs, and bonds
• Send notices, mail orders, and process appeals to the Fifth DCA

Official Records, Deeds, and Recording

Recorded documents live in a separate index from court case files. The Records and Administrative Services Department records deeds, mortgages, satisfactions, liens, plats, military discharges, notices of commencement, tax deeds, and many other instruments. Marriage licenses become part of Official Records once the ceremony is filed back with the Clerk.

The Acclaim portal is the public search tool for these instruments. Search by name, doc type, book and page, instrument number, legal description, consideration, record date, simple search, or case number. The Clerk scans documents at 300 DPI under Florida Administrative Code 1B-26.003(10)(d).

Recording fees follow a per-page model under state law. See the official recording fees page for current amounts. For property research, see also the public records page.

Source page: official records and administrative services.

That page outlines the divisions inside Records and Administrative Services, which is helpful before picking a search portal or a fee schedule.

Marriage Licenses, Passports, and Tax Deeds

Marriage licenses are issued through the Clerk under section 741.04 of the Florida Statutes. Applicants can start the process online and finish in person. See the official marriage licenses page, the eMarriage online form, and the marriage license FAQs. Lake County divorce filings, by contrast, are court cases in the family law division and not part of Official Records on the front end. See the divorce page and the divorce FAQs for that route. Divorce residency rules sit in section 61.021. For the local marriage and divorce hub, see marriage and divorce records.

Passport acceptance is a routine service at branch offices and the courthouse, with appointments often preferred. Tax deed sales handle properties with delinquent taxes, and the Clerk runs the auction process and posts the case file.

For probate, guardianship, mental health, Baker Act, and risk protection orders, see probate records. Those file types are court-side cases, not Official Records, though some final orders later get recorded.

Office Locations and Hours

Five locations make up the Clerk's footprint. The courthouse holds nearly all court services. The Administrative Building holds office support, finance, and some records functions. North Lake and South Lake handle marriage licenses and passports but not full court case work. The Records Storage Facility holds older paper files and is not a walk-in spot for the public. The official source list sits on office locations and hours.

The free parking garage at 200 N. Sinclair Ave. has eight stories and a seven-foot clearance for cars and small SUVs. Maps and directions are at the maps and directions page.

Source page: official Clerk office locations and hours.

The page lists each site, hours, and service lines so a visitor can pick the right office before driving to Tavares.

Online Portals and Payments

Two main search portals serve Lake County. ShowCase covers court case files. Acclaim covers Official Records. Both run as public sites with a no-cost public role.

• ShowCase court records search at courtrecords.lakecountyclerk.org
• Acclaim official records search at officialrecords.lakecountyclerk.org
• Jury login at juryweb.lakecountyclerkfl.gov
• eMarriage form for marriage license start at the eMarriage page
• CLERKPay for traffic and criminal fees and fines (linked from the Clerk home)
• E-Notify case alerts (linked from the Clerk home)

For attorneys and other approved users, the Clerk offers a registered-user role with greater access. The user must complete the registered user information page steps and submit the Registration Agreement form. There is no cost. Passwords must change every 90 days.

Court Subscription Services is a separate offering for bulk-data and high-volume users. See the court subscription services page.

Source page: official registered user information for enhanced access.

The page lays out who can apply for the enhanced role and what the agreement covers, including the 90-day password rule.

How to Request a Certified Copy

Certified copies are paper or sealed documents that the Clerk has signed and stamped to show they are true copies of the original on file. They are needed for many uses, like immigration cases, name-change steps, second marriages, real-estate sales, and out-of-state matters. A plain copy is fine for personal review, but a certified copy is needed when an outside agency wants proof.

1. Find the case or record. Use ShowCase for court cases and Acclaim for recorded instruments. Note the case number, book and page, or instrument number. Court case numbers in Lake County use the format 35-2026-CF-000553-AXXX-01, with CF for felony, MM for misdemeanor, TR for traffic, and similar codes.
2. Pick up or download the request form. The Clerk posts request forms on the record search forms page and the public records requests page.
3. Submit the form with the fee. You may mail it to PO Box 7800, drop it in the courthouse drop box, or hand it to a clerk at 550 W. Main St. Use credit, debit, money order, or check. Cash works in person.
4. Pick up in person, or wait for mail. Mail-back time varies with case type and staff load. Plain copies move faster than certified copies because the certification step adds a seal and signature.

For broad public records questions, see the public records page and the FAQ page.

Records Request Form Field Inventory

The Clerk asks for enough information to find the right file fast. Bigger gaps in the form may slow the request or push it back for a follow-up. Use the field list below as a guide before submitting.

Fees, Forms, and Phone Directory

The Clerk posts each fee schedule on its own page. State law caps many fees, and small surcharges may apply. The Clerk does not set most amounts on its own. Most dollar figures come straight from Florida Statutes and from the Clerk's own published fee pages.

For the full phone list, see the official phone directory. Direct numbers help skip the main menu. Phone payments for some traffic and criminal fees run through 352-742-3846. Bond verification runs through 352-742-4024.

Source page: official court data and records fees page.

The fee page shows per-page copy charges, search charges, and certification fees that match Florida Statute 28.24, so users see what the line items cover.

Daily Maintenance Window and Browser Help

The Clerk's online portals run a daily maintenance window when newly filed cases and updated dockets get pushed to the public site. During that window the public search may slow, time out, or skip recent items. Most users hit a clean session by mid-morning. The portals also need JavaScript and cookies turned on, and they ask for Adobe Reader for the document images.

Recent browsers work best. Older browsers may not load the search results table or the document viewer. ShowCase notes that cases before 2003 generally have no document images, that criminal traffic has no images before 2009, and that civil traffic has no images before 2013. Some older paper files may have been destroyed under state retention rules before scanning ever happened. The court records FAQs page covers these limits in plain words.

Customer Service Options

Many tasks can be done without a trip to Tavares. Payments, filings, requests, and even some marriage steps run online or by mail. The Clerk's Remote Services area lists each of the channels.

• Online: CLERKPay for traffic and criminal fees, eMarriage for marriage licenses, ShowCase for court cases, Acclaim for Official Records, and email forms for general help
• Phone: 352-742-4100 main line; 352-742-3846 for phone payments from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. M to F
• Mail: PO Box 7800, Tavares, FL 32778-7800 for filings, requests, and payments by check or money order
• Drop box: a secure drop box at the courthouse for filings and payments outside the counter line
• In person: counter service at 550 W. Main St., 315 W. Main St., 902 Avenida Central, or 290 Citrus Tower Blvd. Suite 116

The official public records requests page covers the steps for chapter 119 requests, and section 119.07 sets the rules on inspection and copies. For divorce and family records, see marriage and divorce records. For probate, see probate records. For traffic-court records and DUI files, see the related court records pages.

Related Lake County Resources

For court files, see court records. For docket entries, see court dockets. For probate, see probate records. For broader public records, see public records. For the trial-court overview, see the Circuit Court page. For general questions, see the FAQ page.