What Is a Marion County Court Docket
A Marion County court docket is a list. In Marion County, the word covers two related things. The first is the daily docket, which is the list of Marion County cases set for hearing in one courtroom on one date. The second is the case docket, which is the running log of every event filed in a single Marion County case from the day it opens to final judgment. Both forms live inside the Marion County Clerk's case-management system and both feed the public Marion County Online Court Records Search, also called OCRS.
A Marion County case docket is not the file itself. It is the index that points to filings. A motion, an order, a notice of hearing, a plea, a bond entry, or a clerk action all show up as one line on the Marion County docket with a date, an event code, and a short label. The full text of those papers may or may not be open to the public, but the Marion County docket line is. Florida courts treat the docket as the public-facing map of the case file, with sealed or sensitive entries marked or redacted under Florida Rule of General Practice and Judicial Administration 2.420.
Why the split matters in Marion County. A lawyer who needs to know what was filed in a Marion County case last week looks at the case docket. A reporter who needs to know which Marion County hearings are set for tomorrow morning looks at the daily docket. A person who lost a Marion County court date may need both. The Marion County Clerk indexes the entries the same way so each case docket line also drops into the right judge's daily docket on the hearing date.
How to Search Marion County Court Dockets
The public path to Marion County dockets runs through Marion County OCRS, the same Civitek portal that holds the Marion County case search. The Marion County Clerk labels the link as Search Court Records. Public access to Marion County dockets is anonymous and free. The portal asks for a name or business and lets the user narrow Marion County results by date and court type. The result list shows the Marion County case docket once a case is selected. Florida AOSC 16-107 controls online access to Marion County data and gates some entries behind attorney, party, or registered-user logins.
- Open the Marion County OCRS county page at civitekflorida.com/ocrs/county/42.
- Pick the Public access tier from the four-tier choice screen.
- Read the Clerk disclaimer and click I Agree to reach the search form at civitekflorida.com/ocrs/app/search.xhtml.
- Stay on Person Search or switch to Case Search if a case number is in hand.
- Type a last name, a first name or middle initial, or a business name. The form needs at least last name or business name.
- Set a filing-date range and tick one or more court-type boxes such as CF for felony or DR for family.
- Clear the Turnstile robot check and press Search to load the docket list.
The full Marion County case docket opens when a result is clicked. Each line on that Marion County docket is a docket entry. The line shows a date, an event code, a short text label, and sometimes a document image link. If the Marion County filing is sealed, public access ends at the docket line and the image link does not load.
Which Marion County Courts Publish Dockets
The Marion County Judicial Center at 110 NW First Avenue in Ocala is the trial-court hub for the Fifth Judicial Circuit. Two trial courts sit there. The Marion County Circuit Court is the court of general jurisdiction, and the Marion County Court is the court of limited jurisdiction. Both feed dockets into OCRS. Appellate dockets live elsewhere.
- Circuit Court: felony, family and divorce, probate and guardianship, larger civil, and county-court appeals.
- County Court: misdemeanor, criminal traffic, traffic infraction, small claims, county/municipal ordinance, and lower-value civil.
- Florida Fifth District Court of Appeal: appellate dockets do not appear in Marion OCRS; the appellate clerk holds those.
- U.S. District Court, Middle District of Florida: federal trial dockets sit in CM/ECF and PACER, not OCRS.
- U.S. Court of Appeals, Eleventh Circuit: federal appeals run on a separate PACER docket.
The judiciary list on the Fifth Circuit Marion County judiciary page shows which judges sit in which division. A docket reads better when the searcher already knows the judge and the division.
Sample Marion County Court Docket Entry
One Marion County docket entry holds a lot of data once it is broken out. The hearing-side entry on a Marion County daily docket lists the date, the time, the case number, the parties, the hearing type, the assigned judge, and a current status. The case-side entry on a running Marion County case docket adds the event code and a short narrative. The Marion County Clerk uses the same back-end fields for both views. The table below shows the fields a Marion County searcher will see on the hearing-side docket entry.
| Field | What It Shows |
|---|---|
| Hearing Date | Calendar date the judge is set to hear the case. |
| Time | Scheduled call time, often a docket block such as 9:00 a.m. |
| Case Number | Year, court-type code, sequence, and division marker, for example 2024-CF-001234. |
| Style or Parties | State of Florida v. Defendant, or Plaintiff v. Defendant, or estate caption. |
| Hearing Type | Arraignment, pretrial, plea, sentencing, motion, status, or trial. |
| Division | CF for felony, MM for misdemeanor, DR for family, CP for probate, and so on. |
| Judge | Judge of record, such as Steven Rogers or Robert W. Hodges. |
| Status | Set, continued, canceled, reset, held, or struck. |
A Marion County case docket line looks more like a log. It pairs a date with an event code such as MOT or ORD, a label such as Motion to Continue or Order Granting Motion, and a document link when public. Marion County does not promise that every filing has a viewable image; some Marion County entries are docketed text-only.
Reading Marion County Docket Codes and Abbreviations
Marion County docket lines use short codes to save space. Most codes are common across Florida clerks because the Florida Courts E-Filing Portal pushes filings into the same code set. Marion County OCRS uses a court-type prefix on the case number and an event-type code on each Marion County docket line. The court-type set is the same one shown as the OCRS checkbox group on every Marion County docket search.
- MOT
- Motion. A written request by a party asking the court to take action.
- ORD
- Order. A written ruling signed by the judge.
- JT
- Jury Trial. A jury trial setting or a trial event on the docket.
- NT
- Notice. Any filed notice, such as a notice of appearance or a notice of hearing.
- OSC
- Order to Show Cause. A judge's order requiring a party to explain something on the record.
- FAS
- Failure to Appear or Strike. Used when a party fails to appear and a hearing is struck or a capias issues.
- CONT
- Continuance. A docket entry showing a hearing was reset.
- DISP
- Disposition. The outcome line on a criminal or traffic charge.
- CF / MM / CT / TR
- Court-type codes for felony, misdemeanor, criminal traffic, and traffic infraction.
- DR / CP / GA
- Court-type codes for family, probate, and guardianship cases.
Some Marion County codes are local. A docket reader who is not sure should call the Marion County Clerk at 352-671-5604 and ask. The Marion County Clerk staff will read the entry over the phone. They will not give legal advice, but they will explain what a Marion County docket entry means in plain terms.
Daily Docket vs Case Docket
Both forms of Marion County docket use the same data fields, but they sort that data in different ways. The Marion County daily docket sorts by hearing date and judge. The Marion County case docket sorts by event date and case number. A user who wants to know what is happening tomorrow in Marion County courtroom 5 looks at the daily docket. A user who wants to know what was filed in Marion County case 2024-CA-000456 last week looks at the case docket.
| Daily Docket | Case Docket | |
|---|---|---|
| Sort key | Hearing date and judge | Event date inside one case |
| What it shows | All cases set for hearing that day | Every filing, order, and event in one case |
| Where to look | Judge or division calendar tied to OCRS | Case detail screen inside OCRS |
| Best for | Tracking hearings, attendance, and continuances | Tracking case progress and filings |
The two Marion County views overlap. A hearing line on the Marion County daily docket is also a future event line on the case docket. Once the Marion County hearing happens, the case docket adds a result line: held, continued, plea entered, motion granted, or motion denied.
Marion County Judiciary and Who Hears What
The Fifth Judicial Circuit posts the full Marion County judge list online. The roster mixes circuit judges, county judges, and senior judges. Each judge keeps a docket. Steven Rogers serves as Marion County Administrative Judge under a Fifth Circuit administrative order. Robert W. Hodges sits as a Circuit Judge with a published office line and a named judicial assistant. Timothy McCourt holds evidentiary hearings and trials in person at 110 NW 1st Avenue. The other judges all sit at the Marion County Judicial Center.
| Judge | Role |
|---|---|
| Steven Rogers | Marion County Administrative Judge |
| Robert W. Hodges | Circuit Judge |
| Timothy McCourt | Judge, in-person hearings and trials |
| Jennifer Bass | Judge |
| Peter M. Brigham | Judge |
| Ann Melinda Craggs | Judge |
| Lisa Herndon | Judge |
| R. Gregg Jerald | Judge |
| Brad King | Judge |
| Barbara Kissner-Kwatkosky | Judge |
| Shanae L. Pickens | Judge |
| Stacy M. Youmans | Judge |
| Lori Cotton | Judge |
| Robert E. Landt | Judge |
| LeAnn Mackey-Barnes | Judge |
| Thomas P. Thompson III | Judge |
The Marion County roster changes when judges retire, rotate divisions, or are appointed. Confirm the current Marion County judge on the Fifth Circuit Marion County judiciary page before filing or before reading a Marion County docket assignment.
How to Get a Certified Docket Sheet in Marion County
An OCRS print is fine for daily use, but it is not a certified record. Courts, schools, and other agencies often want a certified docket sheet signed and sealed by the Clerk of the Circuit Court and Comptroller. The Clerk sells certified electronic court records through a separate link on the Search Records page. Paper certifications can be ordered in person at the Judicial Center.
The Marion County fee structure follows the Clerk's Schedule of Service Charges. The Marion County schedule itself controls the live amount. Common Marion County docket-related fees include per-page copy charges and per-document certification charges, set by Florida Statute § 28.24. Ask the Marion County Clerk to quote the current price before paying.
- Call the Clerk at 352-671-5604 with the case number in hand.
- Ask for a certified copy of the docket or a specific docket entry.
- Pay the per-page copy fee plus the per-document certification fee.
- Pick up in person at 110 NW 1st Avenue, or ask the Clerk to mail it.
Lawyers often pull a docket sheet right before a hearing to confirm what was filed in the past 24 hours. Pro se filers should do the same. A late motion or a notice that is not yet on the docket can change how a hearing runs.
Federal Court Dockets for Marion County Cases
Federal cases tied to Marion County do not appear in OCRS. The Clerk only holds state court records. Federal trial dockets for Marion County parties live in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida. Federal appeals go to the Eleventh Circuit in Atlanta. PACER is the single public gateway to both. CM/ECF is the filing system used by attorneys.
The Middle District of Florida hears federal cases for Marion County and many other counties across central Florida. The court sits in Jacksonville, Orlando, Tampa, Ocala, and Fort Myers. The Ocala Division courtroom can hear federal trials that involve Marion County parties or events.
PACER charges per page subject to current federal fee policies. The system gives a free fee waiver each quarter up to a set dollar amount. Public users register, search by party name or case number, and pull a docket report. Some criminal docket entries are restricted.
Attorneys file through Middle District CM/ECF using court-issued credentials. The public reads dockets through PACER, not CM/ECF, but the page link routes both groups to the right tool. Federal appeals from a Marion County federal case go to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. A free research mirror, CourtListener, posts many federal dockets without a fee.
Public Access to Court Dockets in Florida
Florida law treats court dockets as public records by default. The base policy is in Article I, section 24 of the Florida Constitution and in Chapter 119 of the Florida Statutes. Court branch access rules add a second layer. The main court rule is Florida Rule of General Practice and Judicial Administration 2.420. The rule sets which entries are open, which are confidential, and how a filer must mark a confidential filing on the docket.
Some dockets are restricted. Juvenile, dependency, adoption, and mental-health dockets are closed in whole or in part. Sealed and expunged cases drop off the public docket under Florida Statutes § 943.0585 and § 943.059. A user who searches OCRS and finds nothing for a known case should not assume the case never existed. The case may be sealed, expunged, juvenile, or held only in paper form at the Clerk's archive. More on this is on the public records page and the FAQ.
Common Issues Searching Marion County Dockets
Most docket searches work on the first try. Some do not. A few causes show up over and over. The list below covers the issues the Clerk staff field most often by phone.
- The hearing was canceled or continued after the docket was printed; the daily docket online may be ahead of a paper copy.
- The name on file is different from the name searched, due to marriage, divorce, or a name change order.
- The case is too old for OCRS and lives only in the Clerk's microfilm or paper archive.
- The case is sealed, expunged, juvenile, or otherwise blocked from public view.
- The user did not check enough court-type boxes; a felony search with only MM ticked will miss the CF file.
When a search fails, call the Clerk at 352-671-5604 or visit the Records Center at 870 NW 4th Avenue in Ocala. Staff can look up cases that public OCRS will not show. They cannot release sealed content, but they can confirm a case exists.