Supreme Court of Florida

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No. SC22-1040

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IN RE: AMENDMENTS TO THE FLORIDA EVIDENCE CODE.

September 8, 2022

PER CURIAM.

This matter is before the Court on consideration of a fast-track 

report submitted by The Florida Bar’s Code and Rules of Evidence 

Committee (Committee), recommending the adoption to the extent 

procedural of a recent amendment to the Florida Evidence Code. 

See Fla. R. Gen. Prac. & Jud. Admin. 2.140(e). We have 

jurisdiction. See art. V, § 2(a), Fla. Const.

Earlier this year, the Florida Legislature amended the Florida 

Evidence Code to include section 90.2035, Florida Statutes

(Judicial notice of information taken from web mapping services, 

global satellite imaging sites, or Internet mapping tools). See ch. 

2022-100, § 1, Laws of Fla. Under new section 90.2035, whenever 

a party intends to offer into evidence information obtained from web 
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mapping services, global satellite imaging sites, or Internet mapping 

tools, the party must file with the court a notice of intent that 

includes copies of any image, map, location, distance, or calculation 

the party intends to introduce. § 90.2035, Fla. Stat. (2022).

An opposing party may object to the court taking judicial 

notice of the information and entering it into evidence, though in 

civil cases there is a rebuttable presumption that such information 

should be judicially noticed. Id. The rebuttable presumption may 

be overcome if the court finds by the greater weight of the evidence 

that the information does not fairly and accurately portray what it 

is being offered to prove or that it otherwise should not be admitted 

under the Florida Evidence Code. Id. If the court overrules the 

objection (in either a civil or criminal case), it must take judicial 

notice of the information and admit it into evidence. Id. In criminal 

cases, the court must then instruct the jury that it may or may not 

accept the noticed facts as conclusive. Id.

The Committee recommends adopting section 90.2035, as 

enacted in chapter 2022-100, section 1, Laws of Florida, to the 
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extent it is procedural.1 The Florida Bar’s Board of Governors 

unanimously approved the proposal.

Having considered the Committee’s proposal and the relevant 

legislation, we hereby adopt section 90.2035, Florida Statutes, to 

the extent it is procedural. Our adoption of the amendment is 

effective retroactively to the date the amendment became law. 

Because the amendment was not previously published for 

comment, interested persons shall have seventy-five days from the 

date of this opinion to file comments with the Court.2

1. See DeLisle v. Crane Co., 258 So. 3d 1219, 1223-24 (Fla. 

2018) (recognizing that, with very few exceptions, this Court has 

traditionally adopted, to the extent procedural, provisions of the 

Florida Evidence Code as enacted or amended by the Legislature).

2. All comments must be filed with the Court on or before 

November 22, 2022, with a certificate of service verifying that a copy 

has been served on the Committee Chair, Eric A. Hernandez, Post 

Office Box 531029, Miami, FL 33153, eric@hlmlegal.com, and on 

the Bar Staff Liaison to the Committee, Heather Telfer, 

htelfer@floridabar.org, as well as a separate request for oral 

argument if the person filing the comment wishes to participate in 

oral argument, which may be scheduled in this case. The 

Committee Chair has until December 13, 2022, to file a response to 

any comments filed with the Court. If filed by an attorney in good 

standing with The Florida Bar, the comment must be electronically 

filed via the Florida Courts E-Filing Portal (Portal) in accordance 

with In re Electronic Filing in the Supreme Court of Florida via the 

Florida Courts E-Filing Portal, Fla. Admin. Order No. AOSC13-7 

(Feb. 18, 2013). If filed by a nonlawyer or a lawyer not licensed to 
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It is so ordered.

MUÑIZ, C.J., and CANADY, POLSTON, LABARGA, COURIEL, and 

GROSSHANS, JJ., concur.

FRANCIS, J., did not participate.

THE FILING OF A MOTION FOR REHEARING SHALL NOT ALTER 

THE EFFECTIVE DATE OF THESE AMENDMENTS.

Original Proceeding – Florida Bar Code and Rules of Evidence 

Committee

Eric A. Hernandez, Chair, Code and Rules of Evidence Committee, 

Miami, Florida, Joshua E. Doyle, Executive Director, The Florida 

Bar, and Heather Savage Telfer, Bar Liaison, The Florida Bar, 

Tallahassee, Florida,

for Petitioner

practice in Florida, the comment may be, but is not required to be, 

filed via the Portal. Any person unable to submit a comment 

electronically must mail or hand-deliver the originally signed 

comment to the Florida Supreme Court, Office of the Clerk, 500 

South Duval Street, Tallahassee, Florida 32399-1927; no additional 

copies are required or will be accepted.
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APPENDIX

Chapter 2022-100, Section 1, Laws of Florida:

90.2035 Judicial notice of information taken from web 

mapping services, global satellite imaging sites, or Internet 

mapping tools.

(1)(a) Upon request of a party, a court may take judicial

notice of an image, map, location, distance, calculation, or other

information taken from a widely accepted web mapping service,

global satellite imaging site, or Internet mapping tool, if such

image, map, location, distance, calculation, or other information 

indicates the date on which the information was created.

(b) A party intending to offer such information in evidence at

trial or at a hearing must file notice of such intent within a

reasonable time, or as defined by court order. The notice must

include a copy of the information and specify the Internet address

or pathway where such information may be accessed and

inspected.

(2)(a) A party may object to the court taking judicial notice of

the image, map, location, distance, calculation, or other

information taken from a widely accepted web mapping service,

global satellite imaging site, or Internet mapping tool within a

reasonable time or as defined by court order.

(b) In civil cases, there is a rebuttable presumption that

information sought to be judicially noticed under this section should

be judicially noticed. The rebuttable presumption may be

overcome if the court finds by the greater weight of the evidence

that the information does not fairly and accurately portray what

it is being offered to prove or that it otherwise should not be 

admitted into evidence under the Florida Evidence Code.

(c) If the court overrules the objection, the court must take

judicial notice of the information and admit the information into 

evidence.
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(3) In criminal cases, the court must instruct the jury that the 

jury may or may not accept the noticed facts as conclusive.

(4) This section does not affect, expand, or limit standards for 

any matter that may otherwise be judicially noticed.