Opinion ID: 1875038
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: requests for judgeships

Text: Over the last several years, the chief judges of this state have repeatedly emphasized the need for judicial help in their circuits. We, in turn, have critically reviewed these requests and certified the appropriate number of judgeships to the Legislature. We have been especially concerned with providing an adequate number of judges to hear our family law cases, including juvenile delinquency cases, which demand individual attention at an early stage but which also have the highest cases per judge ratio. Despite a well-documented process for assessing workload, ever increasing caseloads, and repeated certification requests, the Legislature has failed to fund an adequate number of judges for this state. Each day the circuit and county judges of this state work to dispense justice. In many instances, their workload is well beyond capacity. This workload demand, left unaddressed, affects the timeliness and quality of judges' work. Faced with increasing caseloads, judges are forced to devote less time to each case, resulting in the potential for a diminished quality of justice and a detrimental effect on the rule of law. At the trial court level, this Court and the chief judges of this state know which divisions are in dire need of judicial services. We expressly noted in 2003: In previous certification opinions, this Court has emphasized the need for the adequate allocation of judicial time and resources for juvenile delinquency and dependency cases. We commend the trial courts for their diligent efforts in responding to that need. Considerable progress has been made, yet more remains to be done. Children are Florida's most precious resource. Children who are involved in the judicial system have special needs, and it is critical that all three branches of government work collaboratively to ensure that cases involving children who are abused, neglected, or delinquent are given sufficient and appropriate judicial attention. Accordingly, we encourage the trial courts to continue their efforts to ensure that adequate judicial resources are devoted to those divisions of the court serving children and families. In re Certification of Need for Additional Judges, 842 So.2d 100, 103 (Fla.2003) (footnote omitted). We also have every expectation that, if funded, new judgeships will be allocated to those court divisions with the greatest need, and specifically to those divisions comprising the family court (i.e., dissolution of marriage, domestic violence, dependency and delinquency). After reviewing the requests of the trial courts, and in light of the foregoing considerations, we certify the need for sixty-seven new circuit court judges for fiscal year 2005-2006 as follows: 1. Seven additional circuit judges each for the Fifth, Tenth, and Eleventh Circuits; 2. Six additional circuit judges each for the Thirteenth and Seventeenth Circuits; 3. Five additional circuit judges each for the Sixth and Ninth Circuits; 4. Four additional circuit judges each for the Seventh and Nineteenth Circuits; 5. Three additional circuit judges each for the First and Twentieth Circuits; 6. Two additional circuit judges each for the Second, Fourth, and Eighteenth Circuits; and 7. One additional circuit judge each for the Third, Eighth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Circuits. Further, after reviewing the requests of the trial courts and in light of the above considerations, we certify the need for forty-one new county court judges for fiscal year 2005-2006 as follows: 1. Six additional county judges for Broward County; 2. Four additional county judges each for Pinellas, Hillsborough, and Brevard Counties; 3. Three additional county judges for Orange County; 4. Two additional county judges each for Marion, Pasco, Miami-Dade, Palm Beach, and Collier Counties; and 5. One additional county judge each for Duval, Hernando, Lake, Volusia, Manatee, Bay, Seminole, Martin, Saint Lucie, and Lee Counties. We have specifically reviewed the requests for two circuit court judges in the Twelfth Circuit, one county judge in Osceola County, one county judge in Columbia County, and one additional county judge in Miami-Dade County. However, we have determined that absent special circumstances we must uniformly deny requests where the net need is less than 0.5. [10] We emphasize that in addition to mathematical calculations, our staff performs extensive analysis of each circuit's request to analyze availability of supplemental resources and any special circumstances justifying an exception. In accordance with these uniform procedures, we decline to certify the remaining requests. The certification of need for new judges is entirely consistent with the methods used in previous years. More importantly, we would be disregarding our constitutional obligation to certify any fewer than those shown to be justified by the objective method that we employ.