Official Records

The Clerk of Court is custodian of a large volume and variety of records, all of which are "official records". We are the custodian of
  • all financial related records (for more information on these records please visit the Comptroller page)
  • all court records (for more information on these records please visit the Courts page)
  • all board of county commissioners meeting records (for more information on these records please visit the Clerk to Board page)
  • all other records having to do with land ownership such as deeds, mortgages, liens, judgments, etc. This responsibility is called the "County Recorder" and our Official Records department maintains all of these records as well as other functions such as tax deeds, marriage licenses, and passport applications.

These land and property related official records can be viewed in two ways:

  • You can visit the Courthouse and view, inspect and copy the paper records on file
  • You can view or print an unofficial copy (contains a “watermark”) of electronic records online by visiting http://www.wakullaclerk.com/landmarkweb

Our responsibilities for recording a document in the Official Records are:

  • To review the document to make sure it meets Florida Statute requirements in form. Please note that we cannot give legal advice and our office does not and cannot confirm that the information contained on a document is correct before recording it in the official records
  • Record the instrument number, book and page number, date and time of recording, and amount of documentary and intangible tax, if required, on the document
  • Create an alphabetical Official Record index from information contained in each document
  • Collect all appropriate recording fees and documentary and intangible taxes
  • To digitally image each document, perform quality control checks on the image, and redact certain statutory information from public viewing

Our office strives to record documents expeditiously and in the order that they are received; however, there may be times that unforeseeable circumstances may result in the delay of recording your document, such as delayed mail delivery, software failures, and natural disasters. If you have a time-sensitive document, we suggest that you bring it to the Courthouse in person or use an e-record vendor.

New Deed Requirements

Section 695.26 Florida Statutes was revised to include a new requirement for addresses to be included with witnesses’ signatures. This new requirement goes into effect January 1, 2024.  Documents affecting real property must include:

  • The name of each witness legibly printed, typewritten or stamped immediately beneath the signature of the witness
  • The address of each witness legibly printed, typewritten or stamped on each instrument

The new requirement applies to any instrument by which the title to real property or any interest therein is conveyed, assigned, encumbered or otherwise disposed. If the document is notarized on or after January 1, 2024, we will reject the document and send it back with our rejection form indicating the problem.  The filer will need to add the address for each witness and resubmit. If the document is notarized prior to January 1, 2024, we will record the document without the witnesses’ addresses.

Your Redaction Rights

Any person has a right to request that a county recorder remove, from a publicly available Internet website, information made exempt from inspection or copying under Florida Statute 119.071 or an image or copy of a public record, including an official record, if that image or copy is of a military discharge; death certificate, or a court file, record or paper relating to matters or cases governed by the Florida Rules of Family Law, the Florida Rules of Juvenile Procedure, or the Florida Probate Rules. However, grantor, grantee or party names may not be removed from the Official Records index.  Requests must be notarized, state the statutory basis for removal, and confirm the individual’s eligibility for exemption.

The request to redact form can be found here.

e-Recording

The Official Records Department is pleased to offer e-Recording through the vendors listed below in alphabetical order. Please note that the Official Records Department is precluded from recommending a particular vendor. For your convenience, we have included a link to these vendors for you to determine which vendor best suits your personal and/or professional needs.

e-Certification

The Official Records Department is pleased to offer e-Certification. If you need a certified official copy of a record you can request an electronically certified copy online by visiting https://www.clerkecertify.com/. The advantage of having an e-certified record is that you can save the document electronically and use it in the future as many times as you need to and the e-certified document is digitally encrypted. The office that is receiving an e-certified document from you can electronically verify the accuracy and authenticity of the document as well.

All Official Records Are Available Online

It took a little while, 18 years in fact, but all Wakulla County Official Records are now online! How did we get here and why did it take so long? Well, it took this long because digitizing 160 years of records is time consuming and costly! We did it in three steps:

1. In 2007, the Clerk's Office began electronically scanning and indexing all official records and stopped creating paper books. But that left all official records from 1842 to 2006 unavailable unless you came to the Courthouse. The first step was the least expensive step but the most time consuming - clerk staff began scanning and indexing records from 2006 backwards. No additional staff was hired and employees scanned "in their spare time". It took 11 years (2018) to scan back to 1988.

2. In 2018 the Clerk's Office applied for a grant through the Florida Department of State, Division of Historical Resources and was awarded a grant in the amount of $26,316 to hire Pioneer Records Management Services to scan, image and index the records from 1842 to 1962 (Deed Books A-61). This made these historically significant documents available to our citizens online. But, this left a gap of records from 1963 to 1987 that were unavailable online.

3. The County received a significant amount of funding through the Covid-19 Cares Act and in 2021 the Clerk's Office asked the Board of County Commissioners to fund the final step so that our citizens could safely find all records online without having to come to the Courthouse. The Clerk's Office hired Catalis Courts & Land Records, LLC to scan, image and index all official records from 1963 to 1987 for $54,000.

It's just not the same scrolling through electronic records as it is flipping pages in very large and heavy books but it is a lot easier and much more convenient! Click here to start your search. When searching Alphabetical Books please choose the following combinations: AB, CD, CONT CD, EF, F, and GHI

Frequently Asked Questions
How much does it cost to record a document in the official records?
Recording fees vary depending on the type of document being recorded, the number of pages being recorded, how many names are in the document, whether the document needs certifying or notary services, etc… To assist you in calculating the cost for recording a document, our website has a calculator to help you. Go to http://www.wakullaclerk.com/landmarkweb and click on “Fee Calculator” at the top of the page. We also have published a Fee Schedule which can be reviewed here.
How can I get a copy of an Official Record?

You can get a copy of an Official Record in the following ways:

How can I search for an Official Record?

You can search the County’s Official Records: