Opinion ID: 1110277
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 8

Heading: Mandatory v. Jurisdictional

Text: While we conclude that the time provisions regarding the holding of a trial were meant to be mandatory, we do not believe that the thirty-day period was intended as a rigid jurisdictional bar to further proceedings. In addition to the provision for an adversarial probable cause determination, section 394.916(2) provides that [t]he trial may be continued upon the request of either party and a showing of good cause, or by the court on its own motion in the interests of justice, when the person will not be substantially prejudiced. By this language, the Legislature demonstrated that there will be instances when the trial court will retain jurisdiction beyond the thirty-day time period. In cases where the alleged sexually violent predator will not be substantially prejudiced, a trial court is given authority to grant a continuance when one of the parties shows good cause or the court determines that the interests of justice so dictate. While statutory language can be construed to be both mandatory and jurisdictional, it does not follow that mandatory language must always be construed as jurisdictional. Similarly, we conclude here that although the language requiring the trial to be held within thirty days is mandatory, the language is not necessarily jurisdictional because there are limited instances where the court would retain jurisdiction beyond the thirty-day time period, most notably where a continuance for good cause or in the interest of justice has been granted under section 394.916(2). The district courts in Kinder, Reese, and Osborne also made determinations that the language was not jurisdictional. Kinder, however, is the only decision that appears to recognize the analytical distinction between jurisdiction and whether the provision should be construed as mandatory or directory. See Kinder, 779 So.2d at 515 (holding that the thirty day time limit was mandatory, but not jurisdictional). [11] Furthermore, because these indefinite commitments are supposed to ordinarily take place while the person is still incarcerated, there will be situations where the trial court would make a probable cause determination, but the thirty-day time period runs while the respondent is still incarcerated. Under those circumstances, a mandatory trial would not have occurred, and the State may be entitled to a continuance, because the respondent would not be substantially prejudiced. A person already imprisoned would obviously carry a greater burden to demonstrate prejudice than one who would be free but for the Ryce Act detention. Thus, in such circumstances, the trial court would retain jurisdiction even though the mandated time period for trial had expired.