Florida criminal investigation and pre-charge intake information

You can submit a request before anything is filed

Our intake accepts pre-charge and investigation situations. You do not need a charge, a case number, or paperwork of any kind. What matters for intake is that the matter is connected to Florida and that the request is complete enough to review. Describing a situation to an intake service is administrative — it is not a report, an admission, or a filing.

Information that helps

• Florida county or city connected to the situation. This is the single most useful field, because participating lawyers cover different areas.
• Approximate timing. Roughly when the contact happened or when you became aware of the situation.
• General subject area. Very broad phrasing is fine — for example "a property allegation," "an allegation involving a family member," "a workplace matter," or "a substance-related matter."
• Who contacted you, if anyone. A detective, an agency, an employer, or nobody at all. It is enough to say which.
• Whether you have been asked to speak with anyone or to come in for an interview. Note that the request exists; do not describe the substance.
• Whether you have heard a warrant may exist. Say that you were told this. We cannot verify it and will not try.
• Representation status — whether you already have a lawyer for this situation.
• Contact preference, including whether calls at certain times or to certain numbers are a problem for you.

Say less, not more

Pre-charge situations are exactly where over-sharing in a web form is a bad habit. Do not write out the conduct at issue, your explanation, a timeline of events, names of other people, or anything you would describe as your side of the story. An intake form is not a confidential legal consultation. Keep the request to routing facts and have the real conversation privately with a lawyer you choose to speak with.

Also leave out Social Security numbers, driver's license numbers, financial account numbers, passwords, employer file numbers, medical record numbers, and photographs of documents, screens, or messages.

What AnswerSignalApp does

We review non-legal intake factors: completeness, Florida geography, general matter type, representation status, contactability, and general timing context. Then compliance and eligibility checks are applied, and where a participating lawyer lawfully permitted to practice law in Florida is eligible and available for the matter type and region, the request may be introduced to that lawyer. That lawyer independently decides whether to contact you and discloses their location when a connection is made. The full factor list is on how intake works, and our safeguards are listed on compliance and consumer safety.

What AnswerSignalApp does not do

• We have no access to investigations. We do not contact law enforcement, agencies, prosecutors, or employers, and we cannot check whether a case, a warrant, or a record exists.
• We do not assess guilt or innocence, evaluate evidence or exposure, identify defenses, or predict whether charges will be filed.
• We do not advise you whether to speak with anyone, what to say, or what to do next. That is legal advice and it is not ours to give.
• We do not guarantee a lawyer will contact you or take the matter, and no attorney-client relationship arises from submitting a request.
• We claim no Florida Bar endorsement, and we publish no results, testimonials, rankings, or awards.

If someone is submitting on another person's behalf

A family member can submit a request describing the situation with their own contact details. That is common when a person is in custody or unreachable. We cannot contact a facility, pass a message, arrange release, or intervene in any way. The request is simply reviewed for possible connection to a participating Florida attorney.

If you are already represented

Tell us in the request. We do not route a matter a consumer says is already represented, including when a lawyer was appointed, and we will not contact your current lawyer for you. Questions about your representation belong with that lawyer.

After you submit

You will see a confirmation that the request was received. It then goes through intake review and compliance and eligibility review. Not every request results in a connection — a county or matter type may not be covered, a request may be incomplete, or a matter may already be represented. You are never obligated to speak with anyone who contacts you, and you can ask us to stop pursuing your request at any time.