Supreme Court of Florida

____________

No. SC19-1665

____________

IN RE: AMENDMENTS TO THE FLORIDA RULES OF TRAFFIC 

COURT–RULE 6.040.

November 14, 2019

PER CURIAM.

The Court has for consideration amendments to Florida Rule of Traffic 

Court 6.040 (Definitions) proposed by The Florida Bar’s Traffic Court Rules 

Committee1 and approved by the Board of Governors of The Florida Bar. The 

Court has jurisdiction2 and adopts the amendments as proposed.

The amendments to rule 6.040 reorganize the existing subdivisions of the 

rule, amend the definition of “courts” in subdivision (d) of the rule, and add several 

additional subdivisions to the rule to provide new definitions. New subdivision 

(w) of the rule contains the definition of “victim” found in article I, section 16(e) 

 

1. See Fla. R. Jud. Admin. 2.140(e)(1).

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

of the Florida Constitution. The other new subdivisions contain various statutory 

definitions found in section 322.01, Florida Statutes (2019), including a definition 

recently added by chapter 2019-167, section 8, Laws of Florida, which became 

effective October 1, 2019. See ch. 2019-167, § 156, Laws of Fla. Finally, a new

committee note is added explaining the amendments.

Accordingly, the Florida Rules of Traffic Court are amended as reflected in 

the appendix to this opinion. New language is indicated by underscoring; deletions 

are indicated by struck-through type. The committee note is offered for 

explanation only and is not adopted as an official part of the rules. The 

amendments shall take effect immediately upon the release of this opinion. 

Because the amendments were not published for comment prior to their adoption, 

interested persons shall have seventy-five days from the date of this opinion in 

which to file comments with the Court.

3

 

3. All comments must be filed with the Court on or before January 28, 

2020, with a certificate of service verifying that a copy has been served on the 

Committee Chair, Ira D. Karmelin, 3897 N. Haverhill Road, Suite 127, West Palm 

Beach, Florida 33417-8337, dui-help@comcast.net, and on the Bar Staff Liaison to 

the Committee, Heather Savage Telfer, 651 E. Jefferson Street, Tallahassee, 

Florida 32399-2300, 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 February 18, 

2020, 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 
- 3 -

It is so ordered.

CANADY, C.J., and POLSTON, LABARGA, LAWSON, LAGOA, LUCK, and 

MUÑIZ, JJ., concur.

THE FILING OF A MOTION FOR REHEARING SHALL NOT ALTER THE 

EFFECTIVE DATE OF THESE AMENDMENTS.

Original Proceeding – Florida Rules of Traffic Court

Ira D. Karmelin, Chair, Traffic Court Rules Committee, West Palm Beach, Florida; 

and Joshua E. Doyle, Executive Director, and Heather Savage Telfer, Staff 

Liaison, The Florida Bar, Tallahassee, Florida,

for Petitioner

 

filed by a nonlawyer or a lawyer not licensed to practice in Florida, the comment 

may be, but is not required to be, filed via the Portal. Comments filed via the 

Portal must be submitted in Microsoft Word 97 or higher. See In re Electronic 

Filing in the Florida Supreme Court, Fla. Admin. Order No. AOSC17-27 (May 9, 

2017). Any person unable to submit a comment electronically must mail or handdeliver 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.
- 4 -

APPENDIX

RULE 6.040. DEFINITIONS

The following definitions apply:

(a) “Cancellation” means the act of declaring a driver license void and 

terminated.

(b) “Clerk” means clerk of the initiating court or trial court.

(c) “Counsel” means any attorney who represents a defendant.

(d) “Court” means any circuit or county court to which these rules apply 

and the judge thereof or any civil traffic hearing officer program and the traffic 

hearing officer thereof.

(be) “Charging document” means any information, uniform traffic citation, 

complaint affidavit, or any other manner of charging a criminal traffic offense 

under law.

(c) “Judge” means any judicial officer elected or appointed by the 

governor authorized by law to preside over a court to which these rules apply.

(d) “Law” includes the constitutions of the United States and the State of 

Florida, statutes, ordinances, judicial decisions, and these rules.

(e) “Oath” includes affirmations.

(f) “Clerk” means clerk of the initiating court or trial court.“Criminal 

traffic offense” means a violation that may subject a defendant upon conviction to 

incarceration, within the jurisdiction of a court to which these rules apply.

(g) “Open court” means in a courtroom as provided or judge’s or traffic 

hearing officer’s chambers of suitable judicial decorum.“Department” means the 

Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, defined in section 20.24, 

Florida Statutes, or the appropriate division thereof.

(h) “Prosecutor” means any attorney who represents a state, county, city, 

town, or village in the prosecution of a defendant for the violation of a statute or 
- 5 -

ordinance.“Disqualification” means a prohibition, other than an out-of-service 

order, that precludes a person from driving a commercial motor vehicle.

(i) “Criminal traffic offense” means a violation that may subject a 

defendant upon conviction to incarceration, within the jurisdiction of a court to 

which these rules apply.“Infraction” means a noncriminal traffic violation that is 

not punishable by incarceration and for which there is no right to a trial by jury or a 

right to court-appointed counsel.

(j) “Warrant” includes capias.“Infraction requiring a mandatory hearing” 

refers to an infraction listed in section 318.19, Florida Statutes, which requires an 

appearance before a designated official at the time and location of the scheduled 

hearing.

(k) “Infraction” means a noncriminal traffic violation that is not 

punishable by incarceration and for which there is no right to a trial by jury or a 

right to court-appointed counsel.“Judge” means any judicial officer elected or 

appointed by the governor authorized by law to preside over a court to which these 

rules apply.

(l) “Official” means any state judge or traffic hearing officer authorized 

by law to preside over a court or at a hearing adjudicating traffic infractions.“Law” 

includes the constitutions of the United States and the State of Florida, statutes, 

ordinances, judicial decisions, and these rules.

(m) “Department” means the Department of Highway Safety and Motor 

Vehicles, defined in section 20.24, Florida Statutes, or the appropriate division 

thereof.“Oath” includes affirmations.

(n) “Officer” means any enforcement officer charged with and acting 

under authority to arrest or cite persons suspected or known to be violating the 

statutes or ordinances regulating the operation of equipment or vehicles or the 

regulation of traffic.

(o) “Infraction requiring a mandatory hearing” refers to an infraction 

listed in section 318.19, Florida Statutes, which requires an appearance before a 

designated official at the time and location of the scheduled hearing.“Official” 

means any state judge or traffic hearing officer authorized by law to preside over a 

court or at a hearing adjudicating traffic infractions.
- 6 -

(p) “Traffic hearing officer” means an official appointed under the civil 

traffic infraction hearing officer program who shall have the power to adjudicate 

civil traffic infractions subject to certain exceptions.“Open court” means in a 

courtroom as provided or judge’s or traffic hearing officer’s chambers of suitable 

judicial decorum.

(q) “Counsel” means any attorney who represents a defendant.“Out-ofservice order” means a prohibition issued by an authorized local, state, or Federal 

Government official that precludes a person from driving a commercial motor 

vehicle.

(r) “Prosecutor” means any state attorney or any attorney who represents 

a state, state or local agency, county, city, town, or village in the prosecution of a 

defendant for the violation of a statute or ordinance.

(s) “Revocation” means the termination of a licensee’s privilege to drive.

(t) “Suspension” means the temporary withdrawal of a licensee’s 

privilege to drive a motor vehicle.

(u) “Suspension or revocation equivalent status” is a designation for a 

person who does not have a driver license or driving privilege but would qualify 

for suspension or revocation of his or her driver license or driving privilege if 

licensed. The department may designate a person as having suspension or 

revocation equivalent status in the same manner as it is authorized to suspend or 

revoke a driver license or driving privilege by law.

(v) “Traffic hearing officer” means an official appointed under the civil 

traffic infraction hearing officer program who shall have the power to adjudicate 

civil traffic infractions subject to certain exceptions.

(w) “Victim” is any person who suffers direct or threatened physical, 

psychological, or financial harm as a result of the commission or attempted 

commission of a crime or delinquent act or against whom the crime or delinquent 

act is committed. The term “victim” includes the victim’s lawful representative, the 

parent or guardian of a minor, or the next of kin of a homicide victim, except upon 

a showing that the interest of such individual would be in actual or potential 

conflict with the interests of the victim.

(x) “Warrant” includes capias.
- 7 -

Committee Notes

1990 Amendment - 1996 Amendment. [No Change]

2019 Amendment. The Committee amended the definitions to effectuate the 

amendment to article I, section 16 of the Florida Constitution and chapter 2019-

167, Laws of Florida. Further amendments place the definitions in alphabetical 

order.