Marion County Clerk Records Office

About the Marion County Clerk of the Circuit Court and Comptroller

Florida runs a single combined office at the county level called the Clerk of the Circuit Court and Comptroller. Marion County's elected Clerk is Gregory C. Harrell, who has held the office since January 5, 2021. The Clerk is a constitutional officer under the Florida Constitution and is independent of the Board of County Commissioners and the judges. That structure matters for records work. The Clerk is the keeper of the file, not a party to the case.

Harrell grew up in Ocala and is a third-generation Marion County resident. He earned his undergraduate degree Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Virginia and his law degree from the University of Florida Levin College of Law. He practiced in Tallahassee, Miami, and Ocala before joining the Marion County Clerk's Office as General Counsel in 2013.

The Clerk biography page on marioncountyclerk.org sets out his term and background.

The biography frames the Marion County Clerk as the independently elected keeper and protector of county records and finances, which sets the path every record request follows.

Clerk Duties and Responsibilities

The Clerk's Duties & Responsibilities page calls the office a complex organization that supplies record-keeping, financial, and information-management services to the public, the Board of County Commissioners, and the court system. Most of the roles touch the records side in some way.

• Clerk of the Circuit and County Courts for Marion County.
• Official recorder and custodian of Marion County Official Records.
• County chief financial officer, internal auditor, and Board budget officer.
• Clerk to the Board of County Commissioners and issuer of jury summonses.
• Marriage license issuer and marriage ceremony officiant.
• U.S. Department of State passport acceptance facility.

That list pulls court files, recorded land documents, finance records, jury records, marriage records, and passport intake under one office. Each line of work has its own intake desk in the Marion County system, which is why so many users ask which building to visit. The Clerk says all records filed with the office are open for public inspection during normal business hours, except records exempted by judicial order or statute.

Note: A docket entry in a case file is not the same as the document itself; one is a line item, the other is the filed paper or PDF.

Marion County Clerk's Office Locations

The Clerk runs three Ocala buildings. Court records, finance, and the main desk sit at the Marion County Judicial Center. Recorded documents, finance services, marriage, passports, and tax deeds run out of the Annex on North Pine. Records management runs out of the Records Center on Northwest 4th Avenue. All three keep the same weekday hours.

The Records Center at 870 NW 4th Avenue holds records-management work that does not happen at the main courthouse desk. Most visits land at the Judicial Center or the Annex. The Clerk's locations and mailing addresses page lists each site, its hours, and the services it covers.

The screen pairs each desk with the right Ocala address, which is the quickest way to pick a building before a trip.

Court Records Maintained by the Marion County Clerk

The Clerk lists court records by case family. Each family has its own court-type code in the Marion County OCRS search system, the public portal hosted by Civitek. Court-type codes for Marion County include AP, CA, CC, CO, CT, DR, CF, GA, MM, MO, IN, CP, SC, and TR.

• Criminal felony cases (CF), filed in circuit court.
• Criminal misdemeanor cases (MM), filed in county court.
• Civil cases, both circuit civil (CA) and county civil (CC).
• Family and domestic relations cases (DR).
• Probate and guardianship cases (CP and GA).
• Small claims (SC), juvenile cases, and traffic (TR and CT).

Juvenile, dependency, adoption, and some family and mental-health cases are restricted by statute and by Florida Rule of General Practice and Judicial Administration 2.420. Sealed and expunged cases under Fla. Stat. § 943.0585 and Fla. Stat. § 943.059 may not show in public search. For a deeper walk through these files, see the court records page.

Official Records Searched Through the Marion County Clerk

Official Records are not court cases. They are recorded instruments such as deeds, mortgages, liens, notices, and related filings indexed by the Marion County Clerk under Fla. Stat. § 28.222. The Marion County Official Records index sits in a separate system called NVWeb BrowserView. A user searches by party name, document type, book and page, file number, parcel ID, town, or legal description. The party-name format is Last-Name First-Name with no comma, or a full company name.

For a recorded judgment lien that came out of a court case, a search may need both systems: OCRS for the court file and BrowserView for the recorded lien. The Clerk's Official Records BrowserView portal opens the recorded-document side of the index. The Search Records hub links to both systems and to e-certified records. For recorded marriage and divorce documents, see marriage and divorce records. For recorded probate-side filings, see probate records.

How to Search Court Records Through the Marion County Clerk

Marion County OCRS is the public court-record portal at civitekflorida.com/ocrs/county/42/. The first screen asks for access type. Public access is anonymous; attorney, registered user, and party access are gated. A full walkthrough lives on the court records page. The short path is below.

1. Open the Marion County OCRS county page and pick "Public."
2. Read the disclaimer and click "I Agree."
3. Pick the Person Search tab or the Case Search tab.
4. Enter at least a last name or a business name.
5. Use a filing date range and court-type filters to narrow results.
6. Pass the Turnstile robot check and click "Search."

OCRS shows docket and case-summary data to the public. Document images may be limited or require a registered or party login. For a certified copy of a record, the OCRS screen is not the official certified record. The Clerk's certified copy desk handles that step, either in person, by mail, or through the e-certify service.

How to Request a Certified Copy

Certified copies prove a record is a true copy of what the Marion County Clerk holds. People need them for closings, court use in other states, probate, employment, immigration, school enrollment, and bond filings. A plain print from the public portal is not a certified copy. The Clerk applies a seal, signs the copy, and charges a per-page fee plus a certification fee.

1. Find the case number or recording number. Court files use OCRS; recorded documents use NVWeb BrowserView. Clerk staff can help by phone at 352-671-5604.
2. Pick the right desk. Court file copies are at the Marion County Judicial Center, 110 NW 1st Avenue. Recorded Official Records, marriage, and tax deed copies are at the Annex, 19 N Pine Avenue, Room 126. Older files may route through the Records Center at 870 NW 4th Avenue.
3. Submit the request. Bring photo ID in person. Mail requests go to PO Box 1030, Ocala, FL 34478 with a check or money order and a self-addressed stamped envelope.
4. Pay the fee. The base rate is $1.00 per page plus a $2.00 certification fee, with marriage and probate items priced separately.
5. Pick up in person or wait for mail. The Clerk also offers e-certify online through the Search Records page for certain electronic certified records.

Note: certified copies are required for legal proceedings in other counties or states; uncertified online prints are usually not accepted.

Marion County Clerk Records Request Form Fields

Most Marion County Clerk forms ask for the same core information. A complete form gets a faster turn at the counter and by mail. The table below is built from the Marion County Clerk's request templates and the OCRS public-search field set. Field names vary slightly between the court side and the Official Records side.

OCRS also offers a Date of Birth field and a masked Social Security Number field, but those are most useful for authorized access and are not required on a routine copy request.

Clerk Fees and Service Charges

Clerk fees in Marion County follow Fla. Stat. § 28.24 and the local Schedule of Service Charges. The table below pulls the line items most users hit when they request copies. Filing fees for new civil, family, probate, and small claims cases are higher and depend on case type and amount in controversy; the full schedule PDF lists the rest.

Eviction forms can be printed for free from the Marion County Clerk forms page. Sheriff records carry their own fee schedule from the Marion County Sheriff's Office, with extra rates for clerical research over fifteen minutes. The Clerk's PDF schedule controls fees inside the Marion County Clerk's office; pair both schedules when planning a multi-agency request.

Marriage License, Passport, and Tax Deed Services

The Annex Building at 19 N Pine Avenue in Ocala is the front door for several non-court services. Marriage License Room 126 issues marriage licenses, processes passport applications under the U.S. Department of State acceptance program, runs tax deed sales, and supports Official Records pickups. The marriage desk line is 352-671-5588; the main Clerk line is 352-671-5604.

Couples who want a Clerk-officiated ceremony pay a $30 fee. An extra certified ceremony copy is $3.00, and the keepsake certificate is $10. For the divorce side, see the marriage and divorce records page, which walks through dissolution case access through OCRS and the family-case code DR. Tax deed sales run at the Annex on a published schedule under Florida tax deed statutes.

Clerk e-Certify Service and Online Options

The Clerk's Search Records hub ties the public search portals together with the certified electronic record service. A user can run a court-record search through OCRS, an Official Records search through NVWeb BrowserView, and buy certified electronic court records or certified electronic Official Records through e-certify.

Remote viewing is separate from public search. The Online Options list pairs remote viewing of court records with Civitek and remote viewing of Official Records with NVWeb. Remote viewing can require an agreement, a login, and statutory eligibility for documents not visible to anonymous users.

For more on how AOSC 16-107 shapes what shows in the public portal, see the court records page. For the broader county records framework, see public records. For trial-court files split across divisions, see the Circuit Court and County Court pages, and the FAQ page.

Public Records Access Laws Governing the Marion County Clerk

Florida public-records law sits on Article I, section 24 of the Florida Constitution and Chapter 119 of the Florida Statutes. Court records carry a second layer of rules from the Florida Rules of General Practice and Judicial Administration. The Clerk applies both layers and must cite a statute when withholding or redacting a record.

• Fla. Stat. § 119.01 sets the policy that state, county, and municipal records are open to inspection and copying.
• Fla. Stat. § 119.07 governs inspection, copying, fees, and the rule that exemption claims must cite a statute.
• Fla. Stat. § 119.0714 handles court files and Official Records, including redaction of Social Security and account numbers.
• Fla. Stat. § 28.24 sets the statewide service charges on the Marion County Clerk fee schedule.
• Florida Rule 2.420 controls public access to judicial-branch records and confidential information in filings.

For arrest records held by the Sheriff rather than the Marion County Clerk, see criminal records. For traffic citations, see traffic court records. Each agency applies the same Chapter 119 framework with its own custodian, intake desk, and fee schedule.