County Civil
The County Civil Division of the Clerk’s Office handles civil actions in which the damages being sought or the matter in controversy are valued between $8,001.00 and $30,000.00.
Once the case is filed, the plaintiff must ensure that the defendant is properly served with a notice of service by the Sheriff’s Office or a private process server.
Due to the complex legal nature of these cases, the County Civil Division does not offer any forms or advice on how to proceed with these actions, and we cannot refer an attorney or a process server to you.
Frequently Asked Questions
Some types of cases that are filed in the County Civil Division are:
- Evictions
- Replevin
- Declaratory Judgments
- All other civil actions that do not fall within the jurisdiction of the Circuit Court or Small Claims Court
The Florida Bar is able to provide legal referrals. You can contact the Florida Bar by phone at (850) 561-5600 or online at floridabar.org. Click on the “Find a Lawyer” button, then click on the “Lawyer Referral Service Site” link.
You can have your summons (issued to you by the Clerk’s Office) served by the Sheriff’s Office or a private process server.
You cannot have a court hearing until the person or business you are suing is served. You must know the correct name of the person, business, or corporation you are suing as well as their address and phone number, if possible. If the defendant is not served, you may attempt service again when you have located a new address.
If you are suing a business, you should contact the Secretary of State Website at sunbiz.org to retrieve the information needed to have your summons served on the Registered Agent of the corporation or business.
- Sheriff’s Service Fee: The Sheriff’s service fee is $40.00 per defendant for Florida residents. Out-of-state Sheriff’s departments may charge a different fee. You are required to have a money order or business check made payable to the Sheriff of the County where the resident resides. For more information, please visit the Glades County Sheriff’s website at gladessheriff.org.
- Private Process Server: You will need to contact the process server of your choice to determine the cost of service. The Clerk’s Office cannot refer a process server to you. You can get a referral from the Florida Association of Professional Process Servers at fapps.org, which provides a “Find A Process Server” link on their website.
When your judgment lien was recorded in the Official Records of your county, it remained on the record for a period of 7 years. At the end of those 7 years, a certified copy of your judgment needed to be re-recorded, along with an affidavit containing your current address.
Each time you recorded your judgment, it was for a period of 7 years, and could have been re-recorded every 7 years up to 20 years. The re-recording would have to be done within the 90-day period immediately preceding the expiration of the lien.
If your lien was still current and a title search was done on the property prior to the sale, the title company would locate the lien information, verify that the lien was valid, and notify the seller. The sale could not have taken place until your lien was satisfied. Because your lien was not re-recorded, your lien was not considered to be valid. As a result, you were not notified and sent the money due you.
Beginning July 1, 2001, the effective time period was extended from 7 to 10 years before a judgment must be re-recorded. The total effective period will still be no longer than 20 years. Any judgment recorded prior to July 1, 1987, will not be affected by this change.