Clerk of Court and Comptroller — Brevard County, Florida

The Brevard County Clerk of the Circuit Court and Comptroller keeps the court files and the Official Records, issues marriage licenses, accepts passport applications, serves as clerk to the Board of County Commissioners and acts as the county's chief financial officer (Brevard County Clerk).

The office's Duties and Responsibilities page describes three sets of customers: the judicial system, the Board of County Commissioners and the citizens of Brevard County. On the court side the Clerk maintains the case files for traffic, civil, family, probate, small claims and juvenile matters, among other case types, and issues jury summons and pays jurors. On the records side the Clerk is the official recorder and custodian of all documents placed in the Brevard County Official Records, a permanent repository that mainly holds real estate documents.

Most of that work is public. All records filed with the Clerk are open for public inspection during normal business hours, except records exempted by judicial order or by statute (Brevard County Clerk). Under that rule a deed recorded for a house in Palm Bay, or a civil judgment entered at the Moore Justice Center in Viera, is a public record open to inspection.

The job is set by the state constitution rather than by county choice. Article VIII, section 1(d) of the Florida Constitution requires each county to elect a clerk of the circuit court for a four-year term and makes the clerk, unless otherwise provided by special law approved by the voters or under Article V, section 16, ex officio clerk of the board of county commissioners, auditor, recorder and custodian of all county funds. In Brevard one elected officer, titled Clerk of the Circuit Court and Comptroller, holds both roles. Rachel Miller Sadoff was elected without opposition in 2020 and took office on January 5, 2021, the first woman to hold the Brevard post (Meet the Clerk).

The Brevard County Clerk lists seven public locations, from three in Titusville to courthouses in Viera and Melbourne and service offices in Merritt Island and Palm Bay, most open 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM on weekdays (Brevard County Clerk office list).

Two offices close at midday. The Palm Bay Office on Cogan Drive SE and the Merritt Island Office on North Courtenay Parkway both shut between 11:30 AM and 1:30 PM, while the Titusville, Viera and Melbourne locations stay open straight through; the schedule for every office excludes holidays (Brevard County Clerk). The Clerk's main line is (321) 637-5413.

Services are not identical at every counter. The Clerk's passport page offers passport photos for $16.05 at all branches except Palm Bay, and takes passport appointments only in Viera and Melbourne, although walk-in applications are accepted at any of its six branch offices.

Outside the courtroom, the Clerk's public services include recording and searching property documents, marriage licenses, passport applications and unclaimed money held by the office (Brevard County Clerk).

Recording is the records side of the office. The Clerk records and indexes, after payment of the statutory fees, deeds, mortgages, liens, contracts, affidavits, subdivision plats, surveys, declarations of condominium, bills of sale, judgments, certificates of military discharge and declarations of domicile, all in one general series of Official Records books (Official Records / Recording). The Clerk warns that its online Official Records Search is offered as a service and that those online copies are not official. Under Chapter 2021-215, Laws of Florida, a person may ask the Clerk, as county recorder, to remove certain exempt images such as a military discharge or death certificate from the public website; requests are notarized and mailed to P.O. Box 2767 in Titusville or delivered to a branch office.

Marriage licenses come from the same counters. The Clerk's marriage license page sets the fee at $86.00, or $61.00 with a registered premarital course certificate, and deputy clerks perform a civil ceremony for $30.00. On October 30, 2026 the Clerk is holding individual Halloween ceremonies at the Melbourne Branch Courthouse and the Moore Justice Center.

Money left behind is another Clerk function. The Unclaimed Funds page lists unclaimed refunds, tax deed surplus and Registry of the Court monies held by the office. Surplus from tax deed sales held on or after December 17, 2020 is tracked in the RealTDM system, questions go to (321) 637-2007, and completed claim forms with a W-9 and identification are mailed to Clerk's Finance, P.O. Box 999, Titusville.

As comptroller, the Brevard County Clerk checks that every county expenditure is authorized by law, keeps the minutes of the Board of County Commissioners and, since October 1, 2025, collects the tourist development tax (Brevard County Clerk).

The Clerk attends all Board meetings, records the proceedings and maintains the minutes, and the office's duties page names the Clerk the chief financial officer of the county (Duties and Responsibilities). That pairing comes from the constitutional language that makes the clerk auditor and custodian of all county funds (Florida Constitution, Article VIII). For a resident, the practical result is that the Brevard County Clerk website carries the Board's meeting minutes, its ordinances and resolutions, and the county's financial reports.

The newest duty is the bed tax. The Brevard County Tax Collector reports that on July 22, 2025 the county passed an ordinance authorizing the Clerk of Court to collect the Tourist Development Tax, and that the Tax Collector stopped collecting it effective October 1, 2025 (Brevard County Tax Collector). The Clerk's Tourist Development Tax page describes a 5% tax on the total rent for any living quarters or accommodations let for six months (181 days) or less, covering hotels, motels, condos, mobile home and RV parks, overnight boat rentals and vacation rentals. Owners and managers file monthly, with returns and payments due by the 20th of the following month.

Filing on time electronically pays. The Clerk allows a collection allowance of 2.5% of tax collected, up to $30, only for electronic, on-time payments; a late return draws a penalty of 10% of the tax owed, with a $50 minimum, plus daily interest, and the TDT office answers at (321) 637-6530 (Brevard County Clerk).

The Brevard County Clerk routes most mail by department through post office boxes in Titusville, with overnight packages for every department going to the Parkway Complex at 700 S Park Avenue, Bldg B (Mailing Addresses).

The Clerk's mailing address list sends court paperwork, pleadings and filing fees to P.O. Box 219, Titusville, FL 32781-0219, copy requests and Recording Department mail to P.O. Box 2767, administrative and human resources mail to P.O. Box 999, and County Finance Department mail to P.O. Box 1496. Traffic fines, court fines and restitution payments go to a separate P.O. Box 919026 in Orlando.

Paying in pieces carries a charge. Citing section 28.24(26)(b), Florida Statutes, the Brevard County Clerk assesses a $5.00 partial payment fee for receiving and disbursing partial payments, other than restitution, when no separate administrative processing charge applies (Brevard County Clerk). Traffic school certificates go to P.O. Box 219 or by fax to (321) 264-7702.

Not every Clerk transaction requires a trip to Titusville or Viera. The Brevard County Clerk website offers online case search, E-Filing for court documents and eRecording for the Official Records. Marriage license applicants who start at the Clerk's online kiosk can finish at any of the six branch offices (Marriage Licenses), and passport applicants can walk in at any of them (Passports).

Last verified: October 12, 2026, on the Brevard County Clerk of Court and Comptroller website.