Volusia County Launches Florida's First Online Database of Convicted Domestic Abusers

Volusia County has put online what officials call Florida's first public database of people convicted of domestic violence. The searchable list, which went live this week, shows names, booking photos and court case details for anyone convicted of a domestic or dating violence offense in a Volusia County courtroom over the past 10 years, WKMG News 6 reported on Oct. 22.

The database is a county project, not a state program, and it covers only convictions in Volusia's courts. Its backers hope it becomes a model for Florida. Councilman Matt Reinhart, who proposed the idea, said state leaders want to see it expanded statewide within the next year, according to News 6.

What the database shows

The listings are available through the Volusia County government website at publicprotectionlistings.vcgov.org/domestic-abuse. When the County Council approved the project in July, the plan called for each entry to include the following, according to WFTV:

• Full legal name and date of birth
• The most recent qualifying booking photo
• Applicable court case numbers and offense dates
• References to the Florida statutes involved

The database contains no information about victims. Reinhart stressed that it reflects convictions only, not arrests, and he said a single qualifying conviction is enough for someone to be listed. The county describes the tool as another way to reach records that are already public, not a guarantee of anyone's current behavior, News 6 reported.

The information comes from the Volusia County Clerk of the Circuit Court, where the underlying case records were already public but scattered across individual files. The database is connected to the court system so that people convicted of qualifying offenses in a Volusia courthouse are added as their cases are resolved. Reinhart said the list will draw only on Volusia County convictions, meaning someone convicted elsewhere in Florida will not appear.

How the council created it

Reinhart, a District 2 council member and former corrections officer, first raised the idea in January, asking for an ordinance to create an online registry of people convicted of domestic violence. He told News 6 at the time that the issue was personal: violence had existed in the relationship of a member of his family. Central Florida Public Media later reported that his daughter was a victim in 2017. Reinhart also sits on the board of the Domestic Abuse Council of Volusia County.

The council voted in January to send the idea to county staff for research. Volusia Sheriff Mike Chitwood backed it as a tool to go along with his deputies' work.

On July 21, the Volusia County Council voted 6-1 to create the database. Central Florida Public Media described the measure as a resolution. The original proposal, modeled on Tennessee's Savanna's Law, would have listed only people with two or more qualifying convictions. Council members amended it to include people with one conviction and to reach back 10 years, applying the list retroactively to cases already closed.

District 1 council member Don Dempsey cast the lone vote against it. He argued that the database would clog the courts because defendants would reject plea deals and go to trial to avoid a conviction that would put them on the list. Reinhart countered that defendants' criminal histories already follow them.

Staff said the project would not require significant money or employee time because the data already exists. Edgewater, Daytona Beach, Daytona Beach Shores, Holly Hill, Ponce Inlet and Ormond Beach all endorsed the proposal before the vote.

Why Volusia pushed for it

Volusia has one of the highest domestic violence rates in Florida. Citing Florida Department of Law Enforcement data, Central Florida Public Media reported that the county ranks fourth among Florida counties, behind Okeechobee, Bay and Madison, with a rate nearly double the statewide average. Buck James, CEO of the Domestic Abuse Council of Volusia County, has said the county sees about 4,000 domestic violence incidents a year.

Reinhart has said the tool is meant to help people check out a new dating partner, a caregiver for a child or an aging parent, or someone they are thinking of letting into their home. He said it could be especially useful to elderly residents. "Wouldn't you want to know if those individuals had a propensity to violence?" he asked in an interview with News 6.

Emma Sanders, a domestic violence survivor advocate, told the station the database will not solve every problem but could help even one person. "It's not the answer to everyone's problem, but an answer to someone's problem," she said.

The debate over registries

Not everyone has been convinced. Besides Dempsey's concern about plea bargaining, some residents told News 6 in January that a conviction record does not always tell the full story of an abusive relationship. Before the July vote, James said that two convictions would show a pattern of behavior, the reasoning behind the original two-conviction threshold that the council ultimately dropped.

Because the list relies only on convictions, it will not include people whose cases were dropped or who were never prosecuted, and it does not reflect protective injunctions issued in civil court. It also will not capture convictions from other Florida counties or other states.

The Tennessee model and Florida's history

Volusia's original proposal was patterned on Savanna's Law, a Tennessee measure signed by Gov. Bill Lee in 2025. It created a statewide registry of domestic violence offenders run by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and is named for Robertson County Sheriff's Deputy Savanna Puckett, who was killed in 2022. Tennessee's law was aimed mainly at repeat offenders, which is why Volusia's first draft required two convictions.

Florida has no statewide equivalent. A Florida senator tried to create a statewide domestic violence registry in 2022, but the bill died in committee, News 6 reported. Florida does maintain a public sexual offender and predator registry through FDLE, and Reinhart initially described his proposal as similar to that system.

What's next

The database will grow automatically as new qualifying convictions are entered in Volusia County courts. Reinhart has said he hopes the county's effort persuades Florida lawmakers to create a statewide registry, and he told News 6 that state leaders want to see the concept expanded across Florida within a year. Any statewide version would require action by the Legislature, which begins its 2027 regular session in March.

In the meantime, county officials are encouraging residents to treat the list as one source of public information among many. Anyone in danger can reach the Domestic Abuse Council of Volusia County or the Florida Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-500-1119 for confidential help.