View Free Polk County Arrest Records (Florida Resource)

Access free Polk County arrest records today. The tools and guidance this resource offers can help you learn about whether someone was arrested, what type of crime they were charged with and where they are currently incarcerated. You can search for anyone you want, for any reason.

This right is granted to citizens via the Florida Sunshine Law, which mandates that certain government records — such as arrest information — are considered public and must be made accessible for inspection and copying.

While this law doesn’t dictate how a government agency must go about making arrest information available, this resource walks you through the process of seamlessly searching arrest records and more throughout Polk County, Florida.

This resource was written by Attorney Robert Bailey Jr, who holds a Juris Doctorate from Widener University School of Law.

How To Look Up Current Polk County Arrest Records & Mugshots for Free

Since arrest information is publicly available under the Florida Sunshine Law, you have a right to access this information. To do so, you will need to have some basic information to locate an arrest record. At a bare minimum, you will want to have the arrestee’s name.

In addition, knowing when and where an arrest occurred and the type of charges will also assist you in quickly locating a person’s record.

If you have the necessary information, you can search or make a request with the record custodian of the arrest information. If you want to conduct an online search, you can do so with the Polk County Sheriff’s Office Inmate Inquiry Tool.¹ You can use this tool to search for arrest records by a person’s name, alias or booking date.

You can also elect to search for all arrest records or only current inmates.

The results page will consist of the individual’s booking number, name, race, sex and entry date.

If you click on their booking number, you can view the complete inmate profile. Here, you can see the offender’s mugshot along with other identifying information (e.g., height, weight, aliases and date of birth).

The inmate profile also contains their inmate status, location if they are currently incarcerated and bond information. There is also a Charges section. Here, you can find a description of the offense, criminal statute, arresting agency and the current disposition of the case.

You can also submit a public records request with the Polk County Sheriff’s Office. To submit a request, you can send an email to [email protected] or call them at 863-298-6300. You can also visit any Polk County Sheriff’s Office substation or by going to the address below:

Polk County Sheriff’s Office
1891 Jim Keene Boulevard
Winter Haven, Florida 33880

You can also talk to someone at the Polk County Jail.² Below is the contact information for both jail locations:

Central County Jail
2390 Bob Phillips Rd. 
Bartow, Florida 33830

Phone: 863-534-6123

South County Jail
1103 US Hwy. 98 West
Frostproof, Florida 33823

While you now know how to access arrest information at the county level, there are situations where you may need to make a request with a local municipal police department.

For example, if the person was just arrested in the last twenty-four hours, that information may only be available to the local police department. Or, you may want to go to a municipal police department because they are the arresting agency and can provide you with a detailed police report.

Whatever your reason, the process for accessing arrest information may change from one city to the next in Polk County.

In Frostproof, a city in Polk County, you may be able to access arrest information by submitting a public records request. You can do so by sending a request via email to [email protected] or by sending a request to the address below:

Frostproof City Clerk
P.O. Box 308
Frostproof, Florida 33843

For additional inquiries about what you need to obtain any arrest information, you can call them at 863-635-7855.

You can also contact the Frostproof Sheriff’s Office.³ You can call them at 863-298-6200 or by going to the below address:

Frostproof Sheriff’s Office
111 W. First St.
Frostproof, Florida 33843

In addition to these county and city options, you can also use a third-party service to access arrest information. One option is to use the services provided by VINELink.

With these tools, you are fully equipped to access arrest information throughout the county. If you are looking for additional information on a person’s prior arrests, you will have to conduct a different type of search. In the next section, you will learn how to search for a defendant’s criminal records in Polk County.

How Do I Check Previous Arrests Made in Polk County Florida?

Criminal records provide you with a full picture of charges brought against a person and the result of the adjudication of the matter. In Polk County, you can access an individual’s criminal record online using the Clerk of Courts Online Case Tool.⁴

The Clerk’s Tool is used for various civil and estate cases, so you will have to select the appropriate options to search for criminal cases.

Start by selecting a “court type” at the top of the search tool that is related to the criminal case category you want to search. You can select either felony, misdemeanor or traffic cases. If you have the case or citation number, you can enter that.

Otherwise, you can conduct a name-based search. When you choose this option, you can also include a filing date range for the criminal matter if you want.

After you enter your search information, click on the “find case” button to go to the results page. For all matching criminal matters, a citizen can view the case number, party name, court division, filing date and judge.

When you find the case you are seeking you can click on the “details” button.

At the top of the online criminal case record, you can find a brief summary, including the disposition of the case. Below that are several tabs with different information. Here is a summary of what you can find in each of these sections of a defendant’s criminal case record:

Dockets: The first section contains a list of every document that was filed in a criminal case, from the complaint to the sentencing. The docket provides these documents in chronological order.

Parties: Here, you can find the defendant’s address as well as information on any attorneys who participated in the criminal case.

Hearings: If a case is ongoing, you can view details on any upcoming hearings.

Bonds: This section will provide details on any bonds, including the type and amount.

Citations: If there are any citations connected to the criminal case, you can find them here.

Financial: This section will provide you with financial information on any fees or other court costs. Here, you can see the total amount due and how much was paid.

Disposition: This section will let you know the results of the criminal case and when they were handed down. Here, you can view a description of the charges a defendant was convicted of, along with the criminal statute. In addition, you can view the level and degree of the charge and the current status.

If there was a plea involved, it would also be included in this section.

While online tools are handy, you may have a desire to search for a criminal record in person or through other means. Criminal cases in Polk County are adjudicated in two different courts. Misdemeanors (those with a prison sentence of less than one year) are handled by the Polk County Court.

Felonies (serious crimes with at least a one-year prison sentence) are handled by the Polk County District Court.

For records with either court, you can submit a Public Records Request with the Polk County Clerk of Court.⁵ One option is to submit a request online.⁶ You can also submit a request via email to [email protected] or by mail to the address below:

Records Custodian
Box 9000 Drawer CC-18
Bartow, Florida 33831-9000

For additional information on criminal records, you can reach out to one of the Polk County Clerk of Court locations. They are available Monday through Friday from 8:00 AM to 4:30 PM.

Unlike arrest records, there are no city-level options for accessing a criminal record. While some cities contain municipal courts that handle criminal matters, there are none in Polk County. While you cannot narrow your search, you can expand it by using certain online search tools.

One such option is the Offender Inquiry Tool provided by the Florida Department of Corrections (DOC).⁷ If you have either the person’s name (including their alias) or the Department of Corrections number, you can effectively use this search tool.

When you run a search with this tool, you will be asked to select one of the four following groups of offenders: incarcerated, released, fugitives or under supervision.

Once you run your inquiry, the results page will provide a list of all matching offenders in that particular database. The summary for each inmate will include their name, date of birth, sex, race and Department of Corrections number. For current inmates, you can view the facility they reside in.

If an inmate is no longer in custody, you can see when they were released.

When you click on a person’s name, you can view their complete online criminal record. At the top of the page, you can view a summary of the person, their sentence and most recent mugshot.

Below are sections that contain information on both the offender’s current and prior sentencing history. For each conviction, you can view a description of the charge, county date of offense and case number. You can also view the sentence imposed by the judge for each charge.

The last two sections contain detainer information and their incarceration history. For their incarceration history, it provides the start and end date for each time served.

For additional information, contact the Florida Department of Corrections by phone at 850-488-7052 or in person at the address below:⁸

Florida Department of Corrections
501 S. Calhoun St.
Tallahassee, Florida 32399

You now know how to search records to learn about an individual’s entire criminal history in Polk County and the state of Florida. In the next section, you will be provided guidance on the bail process and what option is best for you if you plan to assist someone who was arrested in Polk County.

How To Handle Polk County Bail & Utilize a Bail Bondsman

When a person is arrested for a crime, they are innocent until proven otherwise. However, the person will stay in jail unless they can post a bond for the amount of bail that was set by the judge.

The bail amount can vary widely depending on the type of crime the person is being charged with, their criminal history, and the likelihood of being a flight risk.

You may be in a situation where someone you know was arrested, and you want to help them by posting their bail. Before you take any action, consider which option you are most comfortable with.

Option 1: The first option is to use a bail bondsman. This is a popular option if the bail is high or you do not want to risk your own personal assets. When you hire a bail bondsman, they handle the process and bear any risk if the arrestee does not comply with the terms of their release.

In order to use the services of a bail bondsman, you will have to pay them 10% of the bail amount as a fee.

Option 2: The second option is to post the bail amount yourself. If you have enough money, you can do so by posting a cash bond. If not, you can utilize a property if it has enough equity.

To do so, you will be required to have a lien placed on your property. As long as the defendant complies, you will get 100% of the bond back. However, you take on all of the risks if the offender flees and does not show up for a required hearing.

Depending on your specific situation, one of these options may be more palatable than the other.

Use the tools and steps outlined in this article as guidance whenever you search for Polk County arrest records; arrest information can be a valuable tool that is yours for free if you know how and where to look.