Volusia Becomes First Florida County to Approve a Public Domestic Violence Database

Volusia County is set to become the first county in Florida to create a searchable, public database of convicted domestic violence offenders. The County Council approved the measure in a 6-1 vote on July 21, moving forward with a tool supporters say could help residents protect themselves and their families.

How it will work

The database will list anyone convicted of one or more qualifying domestic or dating violence offenses in Volusia County within the past 10 years, whether misdemeanor or felony. Each entry will include the person's most recent jail booking photo, name, birthdate, case numbers, the specific laws they violated and the dates of the offenses. Information about victims will not be included anywhere in the database.

The system will pull data nightly from the Volusia County Clerk of Court's case management system, meaning it will update automatically as new qualifying convictions are entered. If someone believes they were listed in error, they can submit written notice to the county's Division of Corrections, and the county says corrections will be processed within 14 business days.

The database will be hosted on the county's website, volusia.org, though officials have not yet announced a specific launch date. County staff are working with the Clerk of Court's office to build out the online resource.

Why it started

The idea came from District 2 Councilman and Vice Chairman Matt Reinhart, a former corrections officer who said the issue is personal for him. Reinhart has said his daughter was a victim of domestic violence, and that the experience made him want to give other residents an easier way to check someone's history before entering a relationship or trusting them with a child or elderly family member.

Reinhart modeled the proposal after Savanna's Law in Tennessee, which created a similar statewide registry. His original proposal would have required two or more qualifying convictions before someone was listed, but the council ultimately lowered that threshold to a single conviction.

The scope of the problem locally

Supporters of the database point to Volusia County's domestic violence numbers as justification for the tool. According to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, Volusia has the fourth-highest rate of domestic violence among Florida counties, behind only Okeechobee, Bay and Madison counties, and its rate runs nearly double the statewide average. Buck James, CEO of the Volusia Domestic Abuse Council, has said the county sees roughly 4,000 domestic violence reports annually.

Domestic violence survivors and advocates testified in support of the measure at the council meeting, arguing that while the underlying case information is technically already public through court records, consolidating it into a single searchable database makes it far more accessible to everyday residents who wouldn't otherwise know where to look.

The proposal drew formal letters of support from elected officials in several Volusia cities, including Daytona Beach, Daytona Beach Shores, Ormond Beach, Edgewater, Holly Hill and Ponce Inlet.

What's next

County staff are now working to build the database and integrate it with the Clerk of Court's records system. The Volusia Voice will report on the database's official launch date once the county announces it, along with details on how residents can use it.