Opinion ID: 1597754
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: use of senior judges and sustained net need

Text: Florida has used a weighted caseload methodology to evaluate judicial workload since 1999. Over the last nine years we have conducted a continual evaluation of the certification process in an ongoing effort to enhance and refine it. This year we have incorporated a new feature into our methodology: the use of sustained judicial need. In last year's certification of need opinion [6] we directed the Commission on Trial Court Performance and Accountability to study the use of senior judges and the implications for including senior judge availability when evaluating judicial workload. The Commission, through its Court Statistics and Workload Committee, surveyed the chief judges and analyzed how senior judges are being used in the trial courts. In its final report on this subject, [7] the Commission concluded that the current judicial certification framework does not assess all workload. Temporary spikes in filings and workload due to extended absences of sitting judges have historically not been included in the calculation of judicial need. And, based on the information provided by the chief judges, it appears that senior judge resources are used primarily to address workload beyond the certification model. The Commission made the following four primary recommendations to the supreme court: 1. The supreme court should not include the utilization of senior judges in its certification methodology. 2. Senior judge resources should be requested during the legislative budget process and allocated to the circuits based on all need above sustained need, including filing spikes, unanticipated vacancies, extended leave, and backlog need. 3. The supreme court should extend the judicial weighted workload model to define and calculate sustained need. 4. The Court Statistics and Workload Committee should endeavor to improve circuit level reporting on senior judge usage to achieve accountability and transparency. This enhanced reporting is a critical component of the allocation process. The Court adopts the recommendations of the Commission and will direct the Commission to refine those areas identified in the report necessary to accomplish full implementation. In regard to recommendation 3, above, the Court concludes that the most appropriate and valid measure of sustained judicial need in Florida is a minimum of the calculated net need over a three-year period. This three-year period will be recalculated each year to encompass the current year's net need and the previous two years' net need in the sustained judicial need calculation. This new methodology has been applied to this year's certification of trial court judges. In addition, this Court has examined case filing and disposition data, analyzed various judicial workload indicators, and considered judgeship requests submitted by the lower courts. Our analysis follows.