Counter service is still available, and public terminals have been added to offices to augment traditional public access at cost of duplication. The general public normally requests access to small amounts of information, such as tax records on property about to be purchased. But some businesses, such as title companies, want large numbers of records as part of their products. Convenience has a cost. CivicLink, which is being implemented gradually and has several types of records from various local agencies, can cost less for a subscriber than using the public counter.
Charges differ depending on the type of information being queried.
There are about 2,000 subscribers now, including law firms, title companies and other commercial enterprises. But CivicLink creates a tiered public access system, with more monied individuals or companies gaining better access to public records than others, said W. Russell Sipes, an attorney representing the plaintiffs suing Indianapolis. He also argued that governments should not rush into arrangements at this stage of online use by the public. The state has reached a compromise that is eluding some other parts of the country in this nationwide debate. There doesn't seem to be a magic formula that enabled Florida to reach a balance between governments and public records advocates.