That option was set to no.

I enabled the option and tested and it was still funky. Deleted all "search" SEF urls, cleared all caches, and now everything seems to be working properly.

I think this fixed it. Thank you for your assistance.

FYI, I also tried it without using a designated menu item (217) and same thing. When the results come up, they automatically display 1-20. If I click on "2" or "next" in pagination it takes me to 21-40. If I click on "3" it still shows 21-40.

I don't know if you actually meant "search/keyword" because nothing comes up since the keyword "keyword" hasn't been searched. Here are all the URL's for the keyword legal; "search/legal".

index.php?option=com_search&searchword=legal&view=search&Itemid=217
index.php?option=com_search&limitstart=25&searchword=legal&view=search&Itemid=217
index.php?option=com_search&limit=25&ordering=newest&searchphrase=exact&searchword=legal&view=search&Itemid=217
index.php?option=com_search&limit=25&limitstart=25&ordering=newest&searchphrase=exact&searchword=legal&view=search&Itemid=217
index.php?option=com_search&limit=0&ordering=newest&searchphrase=exact&searchword=legal&view=search&Itemid=217
index.php?option=com_search&limit=0&ordering=newest&searchword=legal&view=search&Itemid=217
index.php?option=com_search&limit=20&limitstart=40&ordering=newest&searchword=legal&view=search&Itemid=217
index.php?option=com_search&limit=20&limitstart=20&ordering=newest&searchword=legal&view=search&Itemid=217
index.php?option=com_search&limit=20&ordering=newest&searchword=legal&view=search&Itemid=217

Thanks

I have searched high and low and cannot find a solution to resolve this issue. I have seen some people say you must hack JoomSEF files concerning the $limit and I have also seen "dajo" say that an upgrade will resolve issues similar to this one.

I have used the core Joomla Search module and placed it in the header on the site and setup a menu item for the SERP. On the SERP page with JoomSEF disabled pagination works fine. When JoomSEF is turned on the pagination breaks. When you click on "2", it will return the results from 20-40 (default 20 per page) however the URL will remain the same. Wen you click on "3" the results will remain the same as which page you were just viewing ("1" or "2") and the URL will remain the same as well and will not append anything tot he URL to select which page you are trying to view.

When JoomSEF on you get:
initial search - website.com/search/keyword (with results from 1-20)
"2" in pagination - website.com/search/keyword (with results from 20-40)
"3" in pagination - website.com/search/keyword (with results from 20-40)

With JoomSEF off you get:
initial search - website.com/site-search?searchword=keyword&searchphrase=all (with results from 1-20)
"2" in pagination - website.com/site-search?searchword=keywo...ase=all&start=20 (with results from 21-40)
"3" in pagination - website.com/site-search?searchword=keywo...ase=all&start=40 (with results from 41-50)

Will the upgrade to JoomSEF 4.4 resolve this issue?

Any help is greatly appreciated.