BenchRecon Data Study · Florida
The financial cost of a Florida conviction, across 4,273,369 charges.
We measured the court costs, fines, and restitution recorded on 4,273,369 Florida charges in the state's public FDLE Criminal Justice Data Transparency (CJDT) Clerk-of-Court data, and report the median and the 25th-to-75th percentile dollar range, statewide, within each high-volume charge category, and across the highest-volume counties. Statewide, the median recorded court cost was $327, with the middle half of charges between $220 and $524.
Read these as descriptive, not causal, and not predictive. These dollar figures are not adjusted for charge severity, ability to pay, plea terms, or the statutory fee and fine schedules that set most amounts, they do not measure any court, clerk, or judge, and they are not a prediction of what any defendant will owe. Counties and charge categories differ systematically in offense mix and charging practice, so the differences below largely reflect what and who is in each group, not how expensive a county is. This is not a ranking of counties or courts by cost.
Each cell shows the median dollar amount with the 25th-to-75th percentile range beneath it, computed over positive recorded amounts only (blanks and zeros excluded). Restitution tracks a victim's loss, not a fee schedule, so it appears on far fewer charges and is reported separately. The figures pool dispositions from 1951-12-22 to 2026-06-20 (96.9% from 2000 or later; median disposition year 2022); they are not time-normalized.
Aggregate analysis. Reproducible from public records. No individual defendant, charge, or case is identified.
4,273,369charges analyzed
$327median recorded court cost (statewide)
10charge categories broken down by county
12counties broken out
Statewide sanction amounts
The recorded median (with the 25th-to-75th percentile range) of court costs, fines, and restitution across all Florida charges. As the caveat above explains, these statewide figures pool decades of records across very different charges and counties; the same caution applies to every table on this page.
| Scope | Court costs | Fine | Restitution |
|---|---|---|---|
| All Florida charges | $327$220 – $524 | $250$116 – $500 | $549$150 – $2,040 |
Methodology & limitations
Source & method
- Source: public Florida FDLE Criminal Justice Data Transparency (CJDT) Clerk-of-Court case data. Snapshot analyzed: 2026-06-21.
- Population: all 4,273,369 charges in the extract. The grain is one charge, not one case or one defendant.
- Sanctions measured: the recorded court cost, fine, and restitution amounts. Each is reported as the 25th, 50th (median), and 75th percentile of the positive recorded amounts only; blank, zero, and non-numeric entries are excluded.
- Cuts: statewide; by the 10 highest-volume charge categories (statute-chapter groupings) and, within each, by county; and by the 12 highest-volume counties.
- Small cells suppressed: any sanction with fewer than 30 positive observations in a cell is suppressed (shown as not available), because a percentile over a handful of values is not reliable.
- Reproducible: every figure is regenerated by a verification script run against the public FDLE CJDT source data, and the aggregate is published as a downloadable CSV.
What the data does NOT show
- Not causal. Not predictive. Not a ranking. These figures are not adjusted for charge severity, ability to pay, plea terms, or statutory fee/fine schedules. They do not measure any court, clerk, or judge, and they are not a prediction of what any defendant will owe.
- Case mix differs by group. Counties and charge categories differ in the offenses charged and in local fee practice. A higher or lower median reflects what and who is in that group, not what a court did.
- Statutory amounts dominate. Most court costs and fines are set by statute and the plea, not by discretion, so cross-group differences mostly track which statutory charges are in each group.
- Restitution is victim-loss, not a penalty. Restitution compensates an actual loss and appears mostly on property and fraud offenses, so it is reported as a separate distribution and never mixed with fees or fines.
- Not time-normalized. The figures pool every charge in the extract regardless of year (1951-12-22 to 2026-06-20), and fee and fine schedules changed over that span.
- No individual defendant, charge, or case is identified. This study reports aggregates only.
By charge category and county
For each of Florida's highest-volume charge categories, the recorded sanction amounts statewide and within the counties with the most data, the breakdown behind “what court costs, fines, and restitution were recorded on {charge} charges in {county}.” Looking within a charge category narrows, but does not eliminate, the case-mix problem: a statute-chapter grouping still mixes offenses of very different severity, and most amounts are set by statute and the plea. Read these as descriptive within-category figures, not as a county-cost ranking.
Drug Abuse Prevention and Control (752,630 charges statewide, median court cost $418)
| County | Court costs | Fine | Restitution |
|---|---|---|---|
| Statewide (this charge) | $418$230 – $632 | $273$132 – $513 | $200$100 – $460 |
| Miami-Dade | $180$155 – $330 | $448$248 – $493 | $200$100 – $1,130 |
| Pinellas | $223$100 – $518 | $132$132 – $137 | $450$62 – $1,757 |
| Hillsborough | $508$317 – $512 | $45,000$45,000 – $90,000 | $1,200$500 – $4,379 |
| Volusia | $418$223 – $418 | $5,000$177 – $52,500 | $507$128 – $2,450 |
| Bay | $573$315 – $689 | $435$244 – $628 | $130$75 – $256 |
| Duval | $415$303 – $713 | $100$100 – $50,000 | $820$206 – $3,465 |
| Escambia | $518$273 – $518 | $518$273 – $518 | n/a |
| Palm Beach | $233$99 – $414 | $50,000$50,000 – $50,000 | n/a |
| Polk | $233$219 – $415 | $149$74 – $250 | n/a |
| Orange | $768$685 – $900 | $25,000$315 – $52,500 | $200$44 – $464 |
| Lee | $915$763 – $1,204 | n/a | $500$145 – $1,120 |
| Citrus | $563$195 – $2,873 | $263$105 – $1,263 | $243$95 – $9,729 |
Driver Licenses (688,906 charges statewide, median court cost $243)
| County | Court costs | Fine | Restitution |
|---|---|---|---|
| Statewide (this charge) | $243$219 – $333 | $150$68 – $263 | $200$50 – $942 |
| Hillsborough | $220$216 – $225 | $90$90 – $225 | $1,600$660 – $5,000 |
| Palm Beach | $219$219 – $219 | $250$100 – $500 | n/a |
| Duval | $300$300 – $303 | $100$100 – $100 | $2,000$1,000 – $6,535 |
| Pinellas | $225$220 – $231 | $225$125 – $225 | $2,494$951 – $6,901 |
| Bay | $292$117 – $370 | $300$117 – $350 | $75$50 – $186 |
| Volusia | $223$223 – $223 | $100$50 – $140 | n/a |
| Polk | $221$217 – $224 | $50$50 – $100 | n/a |
| Lee | $558$533 – $795 | n/a | n/a |
| Escambia | $323$273 – $423 | $323$273 – $403 | n/a |
| Manatee | $248$219 – $280 | $25$25 – $100 | n/a |
| Orange | $301$301 – $306 | $158$105 – $158 | n/a |
| Marion | $375$279 – $457 | $50$50 – $51 | n/a |
Theft, Robbery, and Related Crimes (450,205 charges statewide, median court cost $355)
| County | Court costs | Fine | Restitution |
|---|---|---|---|
| Statewide (this charge) | $355$221 – $515 | $268$132 – $448 | $555$148 – $1,897 |
| Miami-Dade | $155$123 – $240 | $448$203 – $448 | $1,000$371 – $2,790 |
| Hillsborough | $406$266 – $512 | $180$90 – $225 | $820$300 – $2,419 |
| Escambia | $373$273 – $518 | $350$273 – $518 | $120$40 – $512 |
| Duval | $306$303 – $413 | $100$100 – $100 | $964$250 – $3,500 |
| Palm Beach | $219$85 – $414 | $50$50 – $50 | $970$289 – $2,065 |
| Bay | $500$295 – $725 | $362$300 – $627 | $270$60 – $1,150 |
| Pinellas | $250$223 – $418 | $132$132 – $137 | $355$53 – $1,500 |
| Orange | $529$323 – $718 | $158$105 – $263 | $581$180 – $1,623 |
| Volusia | $223$223 – $418 | $105$32 – $223 | $667$200 – $2,000 |
| Seminole | $213$213 – $368 | $200$100 – $250 | n/a |
| Marion | $691$402 – $836 | $100$50 – $150 | $414$86 – $1,013 |
| Pasco | $54$50 – $576 | $126$126 – $126 | $496$123 – $1,500 |
State Uniform Traffic Control (340,438 charges statewide, median court cost $431)
| County | Court costs | Fine | Restitution |
|---|---|---|---|
| Statewide (this charge) | $431$300 – $660 | $525$363 – $1,004 | $1,100$435 – $4,100 |
| Hillsborough | $300$268 – $432 | $450$65 – $674 | $2,500$869 – $7,500 |
| Pinellas | $408$328 – $414 | $575$311 – $1,060 | $1,910$566 – $5,474 |
| Palm Beach | $301$236 – $418 | $500$250 – $1,000 | $1,325$524 – $3,896 |
| Duval | $526$398 – $556 | $500$500 – $1,000 | $2,100$854 – $6,535 |
| Bay | $963$450 – $1,150 | $1,000$500 – $1,153 | $443$90 – $2,238 |
| Volusia | $406$356 – $456 | $605$525 – $1,050 | $1,748$699 – $4,784 |
| Escambia | $956$518 – $1,456 | $956$518 – $1,456 | $1,578$557 – $3,279 |
| Lee | $1,759$1,120 – $2,188 | n/a | $1,000$500 – $3,333 |
| Sarasota | $660$525 – $1,185 | $660$413 – $1,025 | $1,056$500 – $4,136 |
| St. Johns | $1,203$604 – $1,233 | $1,208$708 – $1,552 | n/a |
| Polk | $444$256 – $528 | $500$115 – $1,000 | n/a |
| Collier | $406$264 – $431 | $1,000$500 – $1,000 | n/a |
Assault; Battery; Culpable Negligence (317,965 charges statewide, median court cost $625)
| County | Court costs | Fine | Restitution |
|---|---|---|---|
| Statewide (this charge) | $625$437 – $777 | $268$137 – $500 | $700$200 – $2,251 |
| Hillsborough | $532$476 – $772 | $225$125 – $450 | $1,000$381 – $2,500 |
| Duval | $655$655 – $755 | $100$100 – $100 | $1,000$300 – $2,578 |
| Miami-Dade | $507$398 – $642 | $448$218 – $513 | $1,250$500 – $4,200 |
| Volusia | $575$575 – $770 | $201$70 – $500 | $1,063$333 – $3,500 |
| Bay | $500$348 – $685 | $398$303 – $627 | $210$75 – $883 |
| Pinellas | $575$570 – $770 | $150$132 – $200 | $1,181$400 – $3,000 |
| Escambia | $625$555 – $870 | $625$625 – $870 | $1,085$600 – $3,334 |
| Palm Beach | $569$435 – $569 | n/a | $1,269$319 – $2,313 |
| Polk | $574$352 – $759 | $158$100 – $269 | n/a |
| Orange | $669$474 – $819 | $263$159 – $500 | $1,059$400 – $3,000 |
| Pasco | $488$50 – $853 | $126$126 – $126 | $1,011$500 – $2,622 |
| Marion | $990$760 – $1,195 | $100$50 – $250 | n/a |
Burglary and Trespass (286,404 charges statewide, median court cost $273)
| County | Court costs | Fine | Restitution |
|---|---|---|---|
| Statewide (this charge) | $273$221 – $420 | $227$127 – $448 | $846$287 – $2,500 |
| Miami-Dade | $180$140 – $330 | $448$203 – $493 | $1,400$500 – $4,000 |
| Hillsborough | $267$266 – $412 | $225$167 – $450 | $894$300 – $2,537 |
| Pinellas | $223$223 – $223 | $227$132 – $227 | $750$241 – $2,237 |
| Palm Beach | $219$219 – $219 | n/a | $1,000$253 – $2,975 |
| Volusia | $223$223 – $418 | $50$40 – $223 | $701$300 – $2,000 |
| Duval | $303$303 – $378 | $100$100 – $100 | $1,317$500 – $4,575 |
| Orange | $323$273 – $618 | $263$158 – $500 | $683$275 – $1,558 |
| Escambia | $273$273 – $518 | $273$273 – $518 | $500$218 – $1,750 |
| Bay | $460$350 – $711 | $350$300 – $627 | $498$125 – $1,599 |
| Polk | $221$221 – $414 | $100$50 – $179 | n/a |
| Pasco | $50$50 – $628 | $126$126 – $126 | $713$212 – $2,060 |
| Marion | $403$386 – $836 | $50$50 – $150 | n/a |
Obstructing Justice (202,216 charges statewide, median court cost $262)
| County | Court costs | Fine | Restitution |
|---|---|---|---|
| Statewide (this charge) | $262$215 – $386 | $220$121 – $273 | $300$75 – $1,111 |
| Pinellas | $223$218 – $223 | $132$127 – $227 | $394$38 – $1,610 |
| Palm Beach | $85$85 – $219 | n/a | n/a |
| Hillsborough | $267$216 – $267 | $225$216 – $450 | $817$355 – $2,271 |
| Miami-Dade | $150$100 – $190 | $268$203 – $448 | $610$253 – $1,900 |
| Duval | $303$303 – $350 | $100$100 – $100 | $1,080$378 – $3,072 |
| Volusia | $223$223 – $223 | $273$100 – $273 | $500$210 – $1,500 |
| Polk | $221$221 – $224 | $100$50 – $179 | n/a |
| Bay | $350$200 – $500 | $335$252 – $400 | $95$50 – $242 |
| Escambia | $273$273 – $373 | $273$273 – $350 | n/a |
| Orange | $323$273 – $453 | $263$163 – $525 | n/a |
| Lee | $670$463 – $1,000 | n/a | n/a |
| Pasco | $50$50 – $443 | $126$126 – $216 | n/a |
Motor Vehicle Licenses (91,040 charges statewide, median court cost $225)
| County | Court costs | Fine | Restitution |
|---|---|---|---|
| Statewide (this charge) | $225$215 – $301 | $105$50 – $225 | $150$50 – $512 |
| Hillsborough | $216$216 – $221 | $1$1 – $225 | n/a |
| Palm Beach | $85$85 – $219 | n/a | n/a |
| Pinellas | $225$220 – $231 | $180$130 – $230 | n/a |
| Polk | $222$217 – $224 | $50$50 – $100 | n/a |
| Orange | $301$301 – $306 | $105$105 – $158 | n/a |
| Duval | $300$300 – $300 | $100$50 – $100 | n/a |
| Bay | $192$111 – $300 | $231$100 – $350 | n/a |
| Citrus | $178$88 – $373 | $105$30 – $158 | n/a |
| Lee | $558$419 – $735 | n/a | n/a |
| Escambia | $273$249 – $323 | $273$273 – $323 | n/a |
| Manatee | $255$223 – $293 | $25$25 – $25 | n/a |
| Sarasota | $213$180 – $274 | $105$53 – $120 | n/a |
Weapons and Firearms (83,415 charges statewide, median court cost $418)
| County | Court costs | Fine | Restitution |
|---|---|---|---|
| Statewide (this charge) | $418$235 – $568 | $448$150 – $513 | $522$200 – $1,700 |
| Miami-Dade | $155$140 – $240 | $448$448 – $513 | $525$256 – $1,478 |
| Hillsborough | $507$408 – $512 | $225$225 – $450 | $1,136$500 – $3,600 |
| Palm Beach | $219$85 – $414 | n/a | n/a |
| Duval | $515$415 – $515 | $100$100 – $150 | $1,895$692 – $7,500 |
| Orange | $618$518 – $818 | $263$200 – $525 | $638$425 – $1,976 |
| Escambia | $518$518 – $518 | $518$518 – $518 | n/a |
| Pinellas | $418$218 – $418 | $132$132 – $137 | $1,000$425 – $3,022 |
| Volusia | $418$223 – $418 | n/a | $950$419 – $1,733 |
| Bay | $627$350 – $702 | $627$350 – $628 | $177$75 – $427 |
| Polk | $412$221 – $439 | $190$74 – $481 | n/a |
| Lee | $866$665 – $1,170 | n/a | $1,000$680 – $2,500 |
| Leon | $418$418 – $420 | n/a | n/a |
Arson and Criminal Mischief (74,767 charges statewide, median court cost $303)
| County | Court costs | Fine | Restitution |
|---|---|---|---|
| Statewide (this charge) | $303$219 – $500 | $232$127 – $350 | $676$281 – $1,708 |
| Palm Beach | $85$85 – $219 | n/a | $1,059$375 – $2,285 |
| Duval | $303$303 – $353 | $100$100 – $100 | $900$400 – $2,000 |
| Miami-Dade | $155$105 – $240 | $448$203 – $448 | $1,480$600 – $3,127 |
| Hillsborough | $267$261 – $412 | n/a | $840$382 – $2,000 |
| Bay | $450$272 – $650 | $350$250 – $500 | $280$109 – $910 |
| Pinellas | $223$218 – $288 | $132$127 – $177 | $607$250 – $1,500 |
| Escambia | $273$273 – $518 | $273$273 – $518 | $300$120 – $500 |
| Volusia | $223$223 – $398 | n/a | $635$273 – $2,100 |
| Orange | $416$323 – $618 | n/a | $869$386 – $1,767 |
| Lee | $829$615 – $1,115 | n/a | $1,275$500 – $2,934 |
| Pasco | $54$50 – $438 | $126$126 – $143 | $600$260 – $1,325 |
| Polk | $221$221 – $414 | $100$50 – $237 | n/a |
By county (all charges)
Recorded sanction amounts for all charges in each of the 12 highest-volume Florida counties. The across-county range reflects differences in the charges filed and local fee practice as much as anything else. It is not a measure of how expensive or how tough a county is.
| County | Court costs | Fine | Restitution |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miami-Dade | $190$140 – $340 | $448$203 – $513 | $1,200$450 – $3,723 |
| Hillsborough | $267$220 – $506 | $450$65 – $675 | $1,000$350 – $3,045 |
| Volusia | $238$223 – $418 | $116$116 – $273 | $750$250 – $2,500 |
| Palm Beach | $219$85 – $309 | $250$50 – $1,000 | $1,048$351 – $2,504 |
| Escambia | $424$273 – $551 | $518$273 – $518 | $184$46 – $700 |
| Bay | $398$222 – $628 | $350$250 – $627 | $136$59 – $475 |
| Pinellas | $223$89 – $414 | $132$125 – $227 | $765$160 – $2,990 |
| Duval | $325$300 – $515 | $100$100 – $500 | $1,100$350 – $4,028 |
| Orange | $356$301 – $668 | $158$114 – $525 | $760$250 – $2,200 |
| Sarasota | $320$212 – $525 | $525$158 – $775 | $500$130 – $1,609 |
| Polk | $223$219 – $414 | $100$50 – $211 | $351$100 – $1,801 |
| Pasco | $305$50 – $676 | $126$126 – $216 | $700$213 – $1,988 |
Cite this analysis
Journalists and researchers, please link to this page as the source, and please preserve the descriptive, not-causal framing when you cite the figures.
BenchRecon, “The financial cost of a Florida criminal conviction: court costs, fines, and restitution by charge and county” (descriptive, uncontrolled aggregates; FDLE CJDT Clerk-of-Court data, 2026-06-21). https://benchrecon.com/florida/cost-of-conviction-data
Download the full aggregate as a CSV file to reproduce or re-analyze any figure. See also the Florida sentencing outcomes by county and charge study, the case disposition outcomes by charge and circuit study, and the Florida criminal statutes reference.
Get the comparables for your charge and county
BenchRecon's Sentencing Comparables work from this same public data, returning the outcome distribution for a specific charge in a specific Florida county, with every figure cited to the underlying record.
Common questions
- What is this data and where does it come from?
- It is a descriptive, uncontrolled aggregate analysis of the court costs, fines, and restitution recorded on 4,273,369 Florida charges in the public FDLE Criminal Justice Data Transparency (CJDT) statewide Clerk-of-Court data, reported as the median and the 25th and 75th percentile dollar amounts. It is reproducible from the public source data and identifies no individual.
- How much are court costs and fines on a Florida charge?
- Across the full extract, the median recorded court cost was $327, with the middle half of charges between $220 and $524. Among charges that carried a fine, the median fine was $250. Those are statewide medians pooled over decades and across very different offenses; the amount varies widely by charge category and county. They are descriptive figures over past records and cannot predict what any specific defendant will owe, which depends on the charge, the plea, statutory schedules, and the judge's order.
- Does this show that one county or court is more expensive to be charged in?
- No. These are descriptive, uncontrolled distributions. They are not adjusted for charge severity, ability to pay, plea terms, or the statutory fee and fine schedules that set most amounts. Counties differ in the mix of offenses charged and in local fee practice, so a higher or lower median reflects what and who is in each group at least as much as anything a court did. Nothing here ranks counties by expense or measures the conduct of any court, clerk, or judge.
- Why are restitution figures so different from court costs and fines?
- Because restitution is not a penalty rate. It is set to compensate a victim's actual loss, so it appears on far fewer charges (mostly theft, fraud, and property offenses) and its amount tracks the size of that loss rather than any fee schedule. We report it as a separate distribution, and only where at least 30 charges in a cell carried a positive restitution amount, so it is never confused with court costs or fines.
- Are the dollar amounts exact, and why are some cells blank?
- Each figure is the exact 25th, 50th (median), or 75th percentile of the positive recorded amounts for that sanction in that cell, rounded to whole dollars. Blank, zero, and non-numeric entries are excluded. Any sanction with fewer than 30 positive observations in a cell is suppressed (shown as not available) for statistical reliability and privacy, which is why a thin sanction can be blank for a charge or county that has plenty of court-cost data.
- Can I use these figures for a specific case?
- No. These are unadjusted statewide, charge-category, and county aggregates and cannot predict what any specific defendant will owe, which depends on the charge, the plea, statutory schedules, and the court's order. For comparables tailored to a specific charge and county, see the Sentencing Comparables tool, which works from the same public data and cites every figure.