Florida Senate - 2019                        COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
       Bill No. CS for CS for SB 328
       
       
       
       
       
       
                                Ì867520ÇÎ867520                         
       
                              LEGISLATIVE ACTION                        
                    Senate             .             House              
                   Comm: RS            .                                
                  04/16/2019           .                                
                                       .                                
                                       .                                
                                       .                                
       —————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————




       —————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————
       Appropriations Subcommittee on Criminal and Civil Justice
       (Brandes) recommended the following:
       
    1         Senate Amendment (with title amendment)
    2  
    3         Delete lines 73 - 245
    4  and insert:
    5  By March 1, 2021, the Office of the State Courts Administrator
    6  shall make recommendations regarding the adjustment of county
    7  court jurisdiction to the Governor, the President of the Senate,
    8  and the Speaker of the House of Representatives. The report must
    9  make recommendations regarding the adjustment of county court
   10  jurisdiction, including, but not limited to, consideration of
   11  the claim value of filings in county court and circuit court,
   12  case events, timeliness in processing cases, and any fiscal
   13  impact to the state as a result of adjusted jurisdictional
   14  limits. The clerks of the circuit court and county court shall
   15  provide claim value data and necessary case event data to the
   16  office to be used in development of the report. The report must
   17  also include a review of fees to ensure that the court system is
   18  adequately funded and a review of the appellate jurisdiction of
   19  the district courts and the circuit courts.
   20         Section 3. Paragraphs (a), (b), and (c) of subsection (1)
   21  of section 34.041, Florida Statutes, are amended, and paragraph
   22  (e) is added to that subsection, to read:
   23         34.041 Filing fees.—
   24         (1)(a) Filing fees are due at the time a party files a
   25  pleading to initiate a proceeding or files a pleading for
   26  relief. Reopen fees are due at the time a party files a pleading
   27  to reopen a proceeding if at least 90 days have elapsed since
   28  the filing of a final order or final judgment with the clerk. If
   29  a fee is not paid upon the filing of the pleading as required
   30  under this section, the clerk shall pursue collection of the fee
   31  pursuant to s. 28.246. Upon the institution of any civil action,
   32  suit, or proceeding in county court, the party shall pay the
   33  following filing fee, not to exceed:
   34         1. For all claims less than $100.....................$50.
   35         2. For all claims of $100 or more but not more than
   36  $500........................................................$75.
   37         3. For all claims of more than $500 but not more than
   38  $2,500.....................................................$170.
   39         4. For all claims of more than $2,500 but not more than
   40  $15,000....................................................$295.
   41         5. For all claims more than $15,000.................$395.
   42         6.5. In addition, for all proceedings of garnishment,
   43  attachment, replevin, and distress..........................$85.
   44         7.6. Notwithstanding subparagraphs 3. and 6. 5., for all
   45  claims of not more than $1,000 filed simultaneously with an
   46  action for replevin of property that is the subject of the
   47  claim......................................................$125.
   48         8.7. For removal of tenant action...................$180.
   49  
   50  The filing fee in subparagraph 7. 6. is the total fee due under
   51  this paragraph for that type of filing, and no other filing fee
   52  under this paragraph may be assessed against such a filing.
   53         (b) The first $15 of the filing fee collected under
   54  subparagraph (a)4. and the first $10 of the filing fee collected
   55  under subparagraph (a)8. subparagraph (a)7. shall be deposited
   56  in the State Courts Revenue Trust Fund. By the 10th day of each
   57  month, the clerk shall submit that portion of the fees collected
   58  in the previous month which is in excess of one-twelfth of the
   59  clerk’s total budget for the performance of court-related
   60  functions to the Department of Revenue for deposit into the
   61  Clerks of the Court Trust Fund. An additional filing fee of $4
   62  shall be paid to the clerk. The clerk shall transfer $3.50 to
   63  the Department of Revenue for deposit into the Court Education
   64  Trust Fund and shall transfer 50 cents to the Department of
   65  Revenue for deposit into the Administrative Trust Fund within
   66  the Department of Financial Services to fund clerk education
   67  provided by the Florida Clerks of Court Operations Corporation.
   68  Postal charges incurred by the clerk of the county court in
   69  making service by mail on defendants or other parties shall be
   70  paid by the party at whose instance service is made. Except as
   71  provided in this section, filing fees and service charges for
   72  performing duties of the clerk relating to the county court
   73  shall be as provided in ss. 28.24 and 28.241. Except as
   74  otherwise provided in this section, all filing fees shall be
   75  retained as fee income of the office of the clerk of the circuit
   76  court. Filing fees imposed by this section may not be added to
   77  any penalty imposed by chapter 316 or chapter 318.
   78         (c) A party in addition to a party described in paragraph
   79  (a) who files a pleading in an original civil action in the
   80  county court for affirmative relief by cross-claim,
   81  counterclaim, counterpetition, or third-party complaint, or who
   82  files a notice of cross-appeal or notice of joinder or motion to
   83  intervene as an appellant, cross-appellant, or petitioner, shall
   84  pay the clerk of court a fee of $295 if the relief sought by the
   85  party under this paragraph exceeds $2,500 but is not more than
   86  $15,000 and $395 if the relief sought by the party under this
   87  paragraph exceeds $15,000. The clerk shall remit the fee if the
   88  relief sought by the party under this paragraph exceeds $2,500
   89  but is not more than $15,000 to the Department of Revenue for
   90  deposit into the General Revenue Fund. This fee does not apply
   91  if the cross-claim, counterclaim, counterpetition, or third
   92  party complaint requires transfer of the case from county to
   93  circuit court. However, the party shall pay to the clerk the
   94  standard filing fee for the court to which the case is to be
   95  transferred.
   96         (e)Of the first $200 in filing fees payable under
   97  subparagraph (a)5., $195 must be remitted to the Department of
   98  Revenue for deposit into the State Courts Revenue Trust Fund, $4
   99  must be remitted to the Department of Revenue for deposit into
  100  the Administrative Trust Fund within the Department of Financial
  101  Services and used to fund the contract with the Florida Clerks
  102  of Court Operations Corporation created in s. 28.35, and $1 must
  103  be remitted to the Department of Revenue for deposit into the
  104  Administrative Trust Fund within the Department of Financial
  105  Services to fund audits of individual clerks’ court-related
  106  expenditures conducted by the Department of Financial Services.
  107  By the 10th day of each month, the clerk shall submit that
  108  portion of the filing fees collected pursuant to this subsection
  109  in the previous month which is in excess of one-twelfth of the
  110  clerk’s total budget to the Department of Revenue for deposit
  111  into the Clerks of the Court Trust Fund.
  112         Section 4. Section 44.108, Florida Statutes, is amended to
  113  read:
  114         44.108 Funding of mediation and arbitration.—
  115         (1) Mediation and arbitration should be accessible to all
  116  parties regardless of financial status. A filing fee of $1 is
  117  levied on all proceedings in the circuit or county courts to
  118  fund mediation and arbitration services which are the
  119  responsibility of the Supreme Court pursuant to the provisions
  120  of s. 44.106. However, the filing fee may not be levied upon an
  121  appeal from the county court to the circuit court for a claim
  122  that is greater than $15,000. The clerk of the court shall
  123  forward the moneys collected to the Department of Revenue for
  124  deposit in the State Courts Revenue Trust Fund.
  125         (2) When court-ordered mediation services are provided by a
  126  circuit court’s mediation program, the following fees, unless
  127  otherwise established in the General Appropriations Act, shall
  128  be collected by the clerk of court:
  129         (a) One-hundred twenty dollars per person per scheduled
  130  session in family mediation when the parties’ combined income is
  131  greater than $50,000, but less than $100,000 per year;
  132         (b) Sixty dollars per person per scheduled session in
  133  family mediation when the parties’ combined income is less than
  134  $50,000; or
  135         (c) Sixty dollars per person per scheduled session in
  136  county court cases involving an amount in controversy not
  137  exceeding $15,000.
  138  
  139  No mediation fees shall be assessed under this subsection in
  140  residential eviction cases, against a party found to be
  141  indigent, or for any small claims action. Fees collected by the
  142  clerk of court pursuant to this section shall be remitted to the
  143  Department of Revenue for deposit into the State Courts Revenue
  144  Trust Fund to fund court-ordered mediation. The clerk of court
  145  may deduct $1 per fee assessment for processing this fee. The
  146  clerk of the court shall submit to the chief judge of the
  147  circuit and to the Office of the State Courts Administrator, no
  148  later than 30 days after the end of each quarter of the fiscal
  149  year, a report specifying the amount of funds collected and
  150  remitted to the State Courts Revenue Trust Fund under this
  151  section and any other section during the previous quarter of the
  152  fiscal year. In addition to identifying the total aggregate
  153  collections and remissions from all statutory sources, the
  154  report must identify collections and remissions by each
  155  statutory source.
  156         Section 5. Section 45.21, Florida Statutes, is created to
  157  read:
  158         45.21Reasonableness of amount in controversy; procedures.—
  159         (1)In any civil action in which the court’s jurisdiction
  160  is dependent on the amount in controversy, the defendant may, as
  161  a matter of right, demand proof of the reasonableness of the
  162  amount in controversy within 30 days after the complaint is
  163  filed. The defendant need not offer any evidence or argument to
  164  support the demand.
  165         (2)A demand pursuant to subsection (1) is deemed a
  166  responsive pleading for purposes of the rules of procedure and
  167  the following procedures shall apply:
  168         (a)The court must promptly hold a hearing to determine
  169  whether the amount in controversy as alleged in the complaint is
  170  reasonable.
  171         (b)At the hearing, the plaintiff must demonstrate, by a
  172  preponderance of the evidence, a reasonable likelihood of
  173  recovering at least the amount alleged in the complaint.
  174         (c)If the court finds that the plaintiff has not made the
  175  showing as required in paragraph (b), the court must transfer
  176  the matter to the appropriate court.
  177         Section 6. The amendments to the jurisdiction of a court
  178  made by this act shall apply with respect to the date of filing
  179  the cause of action, regardless of when the cause of action
  180  accrued.
  181         Section 7. This act shall take effect January 1, 2020.
  182  
  183  ================= T I T L E  A M E N D M E N T ================
  184  And the title is amended as follows:
  185         Delete lines 6 - 9
  186  and insert:
  187         by county courts on specified dates; requiring the
  188         Office of the State Courts Administrator to make
  189         certain recommendations to the Governor and the
  190         Legislature; requiring the office to consider certain
  191         information in developing the recommendations;
  192         requiring the clerks of the circuit and county court
  193         to provide certain information to the office;