F R O M T H E C L E R K O F C O U R T & C O M P T R O L L E R V i c t o r D. C r i s t –
H i l l s b o r o u g h C o u n t y C l e r k o f C o u r t & C o m p t r o l l e r
25Millionrecordsandcounting
preservinghillsboroughcounty’ spublicrecordsandmakingthem moreaccessible.
For Hillsborough County attorneys, access to public records is an ordinary part of practicing law. A deed, mortgage, lien, judgment, plat or other recorded document may be only a few keystrokes away. What is less visible is the work required to keep nearly two centuries of records intact, accurate, and increasingly accessible online.
Approximately 25 million documents have been recorded in Hillsborough County’ s Official Records since 1846. Presently, the Clerk’ s Office adds approximately 2,000 new documents each day while simultaneously working to preserve older records digitally. In fiscal year 2025 alone, the office recorded more than 555,000 new documents. As custodian of public records,
the Clerk’ s office plays the dual role of managing today’ s enormous volume and bringing yesterday’ s archive online.
Some of these records date to the community’ s pioneering years, when it was developed from historical Fort Brooke. Recorded deeds, mortgages, tax records, marriage licenses, property descriptions, and plat maps chronicle the county’ s transformation over time. The collection includes hand-drawn maps from the 1800s and early maps of Ybor City, East Tampa, and Hyde Park neighborhoods of Tampa. continuedonpage15
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