Search Pasco County Circuit Court Records

Pasco County Circuit Court Overview

The Circuit Court is the higher of Florida's two trial-court levels. It is the court of general jurisdiction, which means it can hear almost any kind of case the state allows. In Pasco County, that includes felony crimes, divorce and other family cases, probate, guardianship, juvenile matters, and large civil disputes. It also hears requests for injunctions and certain appeals that come up from the county court. The County Court, by contrast, is the court of limited jurisdiction and handles the smaller and lower matters.

Pasco County does not have its own single-county circuit. It shares one. The county sits in the Sixth Judicial Circuit, which also covers Pinellas County to the south. The circuit judges who hear Pasco cases are part of a larger bench that serves both counties. That regional model shapes how judges, programs, and court staff are assigned across the two counties.

The Sixth Judicial Circuit publishes court information, judge listings, forms, and program details on its main website. The homepage describes the circuit as serving Pasco and Pinellas and links to the parts of the system most people need.

The Sixth Judicial Circuit homepage is the official entry point for circuit-wide court information that touches Pasco County Circuit Court cases. The screenshot below shows that landing page.

From that page a visitor can reach judge rosters, court programs, and self-help forms used in both Pasco and Pinellas. Case lookups themselves run through the clerk's online portal, covered on the court records page.

The Sixth Judicial Circuit and Pasco County

The Sixth Judicial Circuit is a two-county circuit. It serves Pasco and Pinellas. The full bench is large because it covers a populous slice of the Tampa Bay region. The circuit's own count puts the number at sixty-nine judges across both counties, made up of 45 circuit judges and 24 county-court judges. That total is split between the two counties based on caseload and need.

Pasco's share of that bench is sizable. The circuit states that fifteen circuit judges and seven county-court judges preside over cases in Pasco's two judicial facilities, one in Dade City and one in New Port Richey. Circuit judges have authority across both counties in the circuit, while county-court judges hear cases only in their home county. That is one practical difference between the two judge types.

The circuit office is also the place to reach court programs, mediation desks, and ADA help. The contact page lists Pasco-specific desks for both judicial centers.

The Sixth Circuit contact page lists addresses and program contacts for the Pasco County Circuit Court facilities in Dade City and New Port Richey. The screenshot below shows that contact layout.

Anyone who needs an interpreter, a hearing device, or another accommodation should call ahead through that desk. The same page routes drug-court and mediation questions for both Pasco sites.

Pasco County Circuit Court Facilities

Pasco runs court operations from two main judicial centers. The Robert D. Sumner Judicial Center in Dade City serves East Pasco. The West Pasco Judicial Center in New Port Richey serves West Pasco. Both hold circuit and county hearings, jury duty, trials, and fine and restitution payments. Stored case files live at separate records-retention buildings, and recording and official-records work happens at the government centers. So "Pasco court" can mean more than one address, and a visitor should confirm the right building before driving.

The table below lists the Circuit Court facilities and the related court-record buildings used by the Pasco system, drawn from the clerk's published locations.

Court business hours run 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday. For docket access tied to these buildings, see the court dockets page.

Circuit Court Case Types in Pasco County

The Circuit Court hears the larger and more serious matters in Pasco County. Each case type maps to a court-type code used by the clerk's online search. Knowing the code helps when a person filters a result list or reads a case number. Felony cases use CF. Family and divorce cases use DR. Probate uses CP, and guardianship uses GA. Big civil disputes use the circuit civil code CA, and county-court appeals use AP. Injunctions, including domestic violence matters, are also filed at the circuit level.

The list below sums up the main Circuit Court case types and their codes.

• Felony (CF): serious crimes prosecuted by the State Attorney.
• Family / Domestic Relations (DR): divorce, custody, support, and paternity.
• Probate (CP): wills, estates, and the handling of a person's affairs after death.
• Guardianship (GA): court authority over a minor or an adult ward.
• Circuit Civil (CA): larger civil disputes, foreclosures, and money judgments above the county-court limit.
• Appeal from County Court (AP): review of some county-court rulings.

For arrest and felony charging detail, see the arrest records page. For divorce and probate filings, the court records portal reaches all of them through one search.

Circuit Court vs County Court in Pasco County

The clearest split in the Pasco system is between the Circuit Court and the County Court. The Circuit Court has general jurisdiction. The County Court has limited jurisdiction. In plain terms, the Circuit Court takes the bigger cases and the County Court takes the smaller ones. A felony goes to the Circuit Court. A misdemeanor goes to the County Court. A divorce goes to the Circuit Court. A traffic ticket goes to the County Court. The comparison block below lays out how the two levels divide the work.

Both courts sit in the same two judicial centers and share the same clerk. The Pasco County Court page covers the lower-tier side in full.

How a Case Moves Through the Pasco County System

A Pasco case does not stay at one level for life. It can start at the county court, move to the circuit court, and then climb the appellate ladder. The path depends on the case type and on whether a party appeals. Trial-court work happens in Pasco. Appeals leave the county and go to the regional appellate court and, in some matters, on to the top state court.

The numbered flow below shows the basic path for a case that is appealed all the way up.

1. Pasco County Court: hears misdemeanors, small claims, county civil, traffic, and ordinance cases.
2. Circuit Court (Sixth Judicial Circuit): hears felonies, family, probate, guardianship, and large civil cases, and reviews some county-court rulings.
3. District Court of Appeal: the intermediate appellate court that reviews circuit-court decisions.
4. Florida Supreme Court: the highest state court, which takes discretionary and mandatory state-law review.

The flow in one line reads: Pasco County Court › Circuit Court › District Court of Appeal › Florida Supreme Court. Most cases never travel the full path; they end at trial or by plea or settlement.

Note: An appeal does not retry the case; the appellate court reviews the record for legal error rather than hearing new evidence or witnesses.

Civil, Family, and Criminal Divisions

The Circuit Court splits its work into divisions so that judges can focus on one body of law. The criminal division handles felony cases that the State Attorney brings. The family division handles divorce, custody, support, and paternity under the DR code. The probate division handles estates and guardianships under the CP and GA codes. The circuit civil division handles the larger money and property disputes. Each division has its own judges, hearing schedules, and filing rules, even though they share the same buildings.

Pasco holds these divisions across both judicial centers. East Pasco cases are heard in Dade City. West Pasco cases are heard in New Port Richey. The clerk routes a filing to the right center based on where the case belongs and assigns it a case number that carries the court-type code. That code is what a searcher sees first when reading a Pasco docket.

Specialty and Drug Court in Pasco County

The Sixth Judicial Circuit runs problem-solving court tracks for eligible defendants who would otherwise stay in the regular criminal docket. The main Pasco track is Adult Drug Court, which the circuit lists at both the Robert D. Sumner Judicial Center in Dade City and the West Pasco Judicial Center in New Port Richey. Drug court routes substance-use cases through treatment, drug testing, and judge-led review hearings instead of a standard trial path. The shared Pasco intake line is 727-847-2411 ext. 8489.

Florida recognizes a broader set of problem-solving courts at the state level, including veterans, mental health, and DUI treatment tracks. The state framework explains how these courts work and who qualifies.

The Florida Courts problem-solving courts page gives the statewide context for the specialty tracks that touch the Pasco County Circuit Court. The screenshot below shows that resource.

Pasco-specific eligibility rules and program length are handled by the circuit's drug-court staff, who can be reached through the contact desk listed above. Family mediation and other dispute-resolution programs run from the same circuit office.

Who Prosecutes and Defends Circuit Court Cases

Florida uses the title State Attorney rather than district attorney. Pasco felony cases are prosecuted by the Office of the State Attorney for the Sixth Judicial Circuit, which serves Pasco and Pinellas. The office reviews investigations and files charges where the evidence supports them. State Attorney Bruce Bartlett leads the office, and Pasco contacts include both the East Pasco and West Pasco judicial centers.

Defendants who cannot afford a lawyer are represented by the Public Defender for the Sixth Judicial Circuit. Eligibility is set through the court and clerk at first appearance or arraignment, based on a financial screening under Florida law.

The Office of the State Attorney, Sixth Judicial Circuit publishes office locations, victim services, and public-records contacts for the Pasco County Circuit Court area. The screenshot below shows that office homepage.

The Public Defender, Sixth Judicial Circuit handles indigent defense for the same two-county area. Together these two offices staff most of the criminal docket in the Pasco County Circuit Court.

Lower Courts and Hearing Officers

Below the Circuit Court, the Pasco system uses the County Court and a few narrower paths. The County Court hears misdemeanors, county civil, small claims, traffic, and ordinance cases. Some civil traffic infractions can be handled by traffic hearing officers rather than a county judge. Municipal code and ordinance matters may be heard locally where a city keeps such a process. There is no separate justice-of-the-peace court in Florida; the County Court fills that limited-jurisdiction role.

Most people who think they have a Pasco court matter are actually headed to the County Court, not the Circuit Court. A speeding ticket, a small-claims dispute, or a first-degree misdemeanor all land at the county level. The Pasco County Court page breaks down those lower-tier case types.

A Short History of Pasco County Courts

Pasco County was carved out of the southern part of Hernando County in 1887. Dade City was picked as the county seat. County government first ran from rented space, then put up a frame courthouse in 1889. The old Pasco County Courthouse and bandstand built in 1909 still stand in downtown Dade City as a local historic landmark, separate from the modern court buildings used today.

The growth of West Pasco along the Gulf corridor led to the second judicial center in New Port Richey. That dual-center model is the most striking local feature of the Pasco court system, and it still shapes how filings, hearings, and records storage are split. The Sixth Judicial Circuit places Pasco litigants in a regional, two-county circuit rather than a single-county one, which connects Pasco's history to the wider Tampa Bay court structure.

Related Pasco County Circuit Court Resources

Case lookup, dockets, and clerk services all tie back into the Circuit Court. For the online portal and search walkthrough, see court records. For hearing schedules and docket detail, see court dockets. For felony and arrest detail, see arrest records. For copies, fees, and contact desks, see the Clerk of the Circuit Court and Comptroller.