Case Title: In Re: Trial Court Certification of Need for Additional Judges

Citation: 

Docket Number: SC21-1542

State: florida

Court: Florida Supreme Court

Date: 2021-11-24T00:00:00Z

Document:
Supreme Court of Florida 
 
______________ 
 
No. SC21-1542 
______________ 
 
IN RE:  TRIAL COURT CERTIFICATION OF NEED 
FOR ADDITIONAL JUDGES. 
 
November 24, 2021 
 
PER CURIAM. 
This opinion fulfills our constitutional obligation to determine 
the State’s need for additional judges in fiscal year 2022/2023 and 
to certify our “findings and recommendations concerning such 
need” to the Florida Legislature.1  Certification is “the sole 
 
1.  Article V, section 9 of the Florida Constitution provides in 
pertinent part: 
 
Determination of number of judges.—The 
supreme court shall establish by rule uniform criteria for 
the determination of the need for additional judges except 
supreme court justices, the necessity for decreasing the 
number of judges and for increasing, decreasing or 
redefining appellate districts and judicial circuits.  If the 
supreme court finds that a need exists for increasing or 
decreasing the number of judges or increasing, 
decreasing or redefining appellate districts and judicial 
circuits, it shall, prior to the next regular session of the 
 
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mechanism established by our constitution for a systematic and 
uniform assessment of this need.”  In re Certification of Need for 
Additional Judges, 889 So. 2d 734, 735 (Fla. 2004). 
In this opinion we certify the need for one additional county 
court judgeship in Lake County and no additional circuit court 
judgeships.  We decertify no county or circuit judgeships.  The 
Court addresses certification of need for additional appellate judges 
in a separate opinion.2 
To make this decision on trial court certification, the Court 
continues to use a verified objective weighted caseload methodology 
as a primary basis for assessing judicial need.3  The objective data 
are supplemented by judgeship requests submitted by the trial 
courts, including descriptions of the impact of various secondary 
 
legislature, certify to the legislature its findings and 
recommendations concerning such need. 
2.  See In re Redefinition of Appellate Districts and Certification 
of Need for Additional Appellate Judges, No. SC21-1543 (Fla. Nov. 
24, 2021). 
 
3.  Our certification methodology relies primarily on case 
weights and calculations of available judge time to determine the 
need for additional trial court judges.  See Fla. R. Gen. Prac. & Jud. 
Admin. 2.240. 
 
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factors.  These secondary factors reflect local differences identified 
by each chief judge in support of their requests for more judgeships 
or in support of their requests for this Court not to decertify 
judgeships in situations where the objective case weights alone 
would indicate excess judicial capacity.  Applying the criteria in this 
two-step methodology, we conclude that Lake County has a 
demonstrable need for an additional county court judgeship. 
Considered in isolation, the two-step analysis also suggested 
the decertification of two county court judgeships in Brevard 
County and one county court judgeship each in Alachua, Citrus, 
Collier, and Monroe counties.  However, similar to our certification 
opinion for fiscal year 2021/2022 and as further explained below, 
this Court has determined that the significant workload and 
operational challenges and the uncertainty facing the trial courts 
weigh against decertification of any trial court judgeships at this 
time. 
Specifically, the effect of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 
(COVID-19) pandemic on the circuit and county courts has been 
significant.  Over the course of the last year and a half, trial courts 
have adapted court operations in response to the COVID-19 
 
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pandemic to keep courts open and continue to provide for the 
resolution of disputes.  Despite the trial courts’ efforts to leverage 
remote appearance technology and employ innovative solutions to 
hear cases, an increase in pending workload is currently affecting 
the courts as they resume normal operations.  The additional 
caseload is attributed to: proceedings in cases that existed before 
the pandemic which necessarily were suspended or delayed to 
protect public health and safety, proceedings in cases filed during 
the pandemic that are pending, and cases that were anticipated to 
be filed but that were delayed in being filed due to the onset of the 
pandemic.  Upon recommendation of the Trial Court Budget 
Commission, the State Courts System’s fiscal year 2022/2023 
legislative budget request identifies the continued need for 
temporary adjudicatory and case support resources to address this 
workload, such as senior judges, magistrates, law clerks, and case 
managers.  The court system is committed to addressing this 
pandemic-generated workload expeditiously and is grateful to the 
Legislature for appropriating, and to the Governor for approving, 
significant temporary funding in fiscal year 2021/2022 for the first 
year of the trial courts’ multi-year pandemic recovery plan.  In the 
 
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face of this workload, all existing judicial resources will be needed 
to contribute to the pandemic-recovery effort. 
The monetary jurisdiction change in county court is an 
additional issue limiting this Court’s ability to accurately project 
judicial need.  Chapter 2019-58, section 9, Laws of Florida, 
increased the dollar amount threshold for the jurisdiction of the 
county court.  The Legislature took a phased approach to the 
implementation of this statutory revision.  Effective January 1, 
2020, county court monetary jurisdiction increased from an upper 
limit of $15,000 to $30,000, and it is scheduled for a second 
increase to $50,000 on January 1, 2023.  The initial jurisdictional 
increase in county court increased the workload in the county 
courts.  This initial jurisdictional change, however, largely coincided 
with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, and it is not yet possible 
to determine precisely how this statutory revision will affect 
workload among the tiers of court.  The impending county court 
jurisdictional increase to $50,000 is expected to significantly 
increase the number of cases heard in county court. 
An additional consideration is the long-term impact of chapter 
2020-61, sections 3 and 8, Laws of Florida, which transferred 
 
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circuit court authority to hear appeals from county court final 
orders and judgments in criminal misdemeanor cases and most 
civil cases to the district courts of appeal, effective January 1, 2021.  
The circuit courts continue to have limited appellate jurisdiction for 
certain administrative decisions and certain county court decisions 
entered in noncriminal infraction and other cases.  These changes 
have also affected the distribution of judicial workload between the 
circuit and appellate courts.  However, due to the uncertainty 
surrounding trial and appellate court filings as a result of the 
pandemic, it is difficult to determine the ultimate result of this 
legislative change, as well. 
Further, this Court is mindful of the need to update the 
current judicial workload assessment.  Since 1999, this Court has 
relied on the weighted caseload method to help determine the need 
for judges in each circuit and county court.  Over time, changes in 
statutory and case law, court rules, technology, and legal practice 
can affect the amount of judicial work associated with resolving 
various types of cases.  For this reason, the Florida Rules of General 
Practice and Judicial Administration call for the review of the 
weighted caseload model and the consideration of adjustments to 
 
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that model no less than every five years.  To have multi-year utility, 
however, such an assessment, which entails investment of 
considerable time by judges and staff as well as considerable 
expense, should not be conducted in a significantly anomalous 
environment affecting the number of filings or the typical time to 
dispose of a case.  Therefore, in light of the pandemic’s ongoing 
operational impacts and the uncertainty about the full effect of 
recent statutory changes, the court system delayed initiation of the 
judicial workload assessment.  This Court is considering initiating 
an update to the judicial workload assessment in the near future. 
 
Having conducted a quantitative assessment of trial court 
judicial workload and having also considered various qualitative 
factors, workload trends related to the COVID-19 pandemic, and 
jurisdictional changes, we certify the need for one additional county 
court judgeship in Florida, as set forth in the appendix to this 
opinion.  We also recommend no decertification of circuit court or 
county court judgeships. 
 
The current complement of trial court judgeships, along with 
other resources requested through a legislative budget request for 
fiscal year 2022/2023, will assist the judicial branch in meeting 
 
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demands associated with the pandemic-generated workload and 
court jurisdictional changes. 
It is so ordered. 
CANADY, C.J., and POLSTON, LABARGA, LAWSON, MUÑIZ, 
COURIEL, and GROSSHANS, JJ., concur. 
 
Original Proceeding – Trial Court Certification of Need for Additional 
Judges 
 
 
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APPENDIX 
Trial Court Need 
 
Circuit 
Circuit 
Court 
Certified 
Judges 
County 
County 
Court 
Certified 
Judges 
1 
0 
N/A 
0 
2 
0 
N/A 
0 
3 
0 
N/A 
0 
4 
0 
N/A 
0 
5 
0 
Lake 
1 
6 
0 
N/A 
0 
7 
0 
N/A 
0 
8 
0 
N/A 
0 
9 
0 
N/A 
0 
10 
0 
N/A 
0 
11 
0 
N/A 
0 
12 
0 
N/A 
0 
13 
0 
N/A 
0 
14 
0 
N/A 
0 
15 
0 
N/A 
0 
16 
0 
N/A 
0 
17 
0 
N/A 
0 
18 
0 
N/A 
0 
19 
0 
N/A 
0 
20 
0 
N/A 
0 
Total 
0 
Total 
1