House Bill 4825
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Florida House of Representatives - 1998 HB 4825
By the Committee on Civil Justice & Claims and
Representatives Warner, Thrasher, Ritter, Clemons, Cosgrove,
Byrd and Bradley
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to the judiciary; amending s.
3 26.031, F.S.; increasing the number of judges
4 in specified judicial circuits; amending s.
5 34.022, F.S.; increasing the number of judges
6 in specified county courts; amending s. 318.32,
7 F.S.; revising duties of traffic infraction
8 hearing officers; amending s. 318.37, F.S.;
9 providing for annual funding of the Civil
10 Traffic Infraction Hearing Officer Program in
11 specified counties; providing appropriations;
12 providing for the development of a caseload
13 weighting system; providing for a report;
14 providing effective dates.
15
16 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
17
18 Section 1. Section 26.031, Florida Statutes, as
19 amended by chapter 97-257, Laws of Florida, is amended to
20 read:
21 26.031 Judicial circuits; number of judges.--The
22 number of circuit judges in each circuit shall be as follows:
23
24 JUDICIAL CIRCUIT TOTAL
25 (1) First...........................................19
26 (2) Second..........................................12
27 (3) Third...........................................65
28 (4) Fourth........................................3029
29 (5) Fifth...........................................20
30 (6) Sixth.........................................3937
31 (7) Seventh.........................................21
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Florida House of Representatives - 1998 HB 4825
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1 (8) Eighth..........................................10
2 (9) Ninth.........................................3433
3 (10) Tenth........................................1918
4 (11) Eleventh.......................................70
5 (12) Twelfth......................................1817
6 (13) Thirteenth...................................3433
7 (14) Fourteenth..................................... 9
8 (15) Fifteenth......................................31
9 (16) Sixteenth.......................................4
10 (17) Seventeenth..................................4746
11 (18) Eighteenth...................................2221
12 (19) Nineteenth...................................1413
13 (20) Twentieth....................................2120
14 Section 2. Section 34.022, Florida Statutes, as
15 amended by chapter 97-257, Laws of Florida, is amended to
16 read:
17 34.022 Number of county court judges for each
18 county.--The number of county court judges in each county
19 shall be as follows:
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21 COUNTY TOTAL
22 (1) Alachua..........................................5
23 (2) Baker............................................1
24 (3) Bay..............................................3
25 (4) Bradford.........................................1
26 (5) Brevard..........................................7
27 (6) Broward.......................................2625
28 (7) Calhoun..........................................1
29 (8) Charlotte........................................2
30 (9) Citrus...........................................1
31 (10) Clay............................................2
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Florida House of Representatives - 1998 HB 4825
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1 (11) Collier.........................................3
2 (12) Columbia........................................1
3 (13) Dade...........................................41
4 (14) DeSoto..........................................1
5 (15) Dixie...........................................1
6 (16) Duval........................................1413
7 (17) Escambia........................................5
8 (18) Flagler.........................................1
9 (19) Franklin........................................1
10 (20) Gadsden.........................................1
11 (21) Gilchrist.......................................1
12 (22) Glades..........................................1
13 (23) Gulf............................................1
14 (24) Hamilton........................................1
15 (25) Hardee..........................................1
16 (26) Hendry..........................................1
17 (27) Hernando........................................1
18 (28) Highlands.......................................1
19 (29) Hillsborough.................................1413
20 (30) Holmes..........................................1
21 (31) Indian River....................................2
22 (32) Jackson.........................................1
23 (33) Jefferson.......................................1
24 (34) Lafayette.......................................1
25 (35) Lake............................................2
26 (36) Lee.............................................6
27 (37) Leon............................................4
28 (38) Levy............................................1
29 (39) Liberty.........................................1
30 (40) Madison.........................................1
31 (41) Manatee.........................................3
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Florida House of Representatives - 1998 HB 4825
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1 (42) Marion..........................................3
2 (43) Martin..........................................2
3 (44) Monroe..........................................4
4 (45) Nassau..........................................1
5 (46) Okaloosa........................................2
6 (47) Okeechobee......................................1
7 (48) Orange.........................................14
8 (49) Osceola.........................................3
9 (50) Palm Beach.....................................17
10 (51) Pasco...........................................3
11 (52) Pinellas.......................................13
12 (53) Polk...........................................76
13 (54) Putnam..........................................1
14 (55) St. Johns.......................................2
15 (56) St. Lucie.......................................3
16 (57) Santa Rosa......................................2
17 (58) Sarasota........................................4
18 (59) Seminole........................................5
19 (60) Sumter..........................................1
20 (61) Suwannee........................................1
21 (62) Taylor..........................................1
22 (63) Union...........................................1
23 (64) Volusia.........................................9
24 (65) Wakulla.........................................1
25 (66) Walton..........................................1
26 (67) Washington......................................1
27 Section 3. The judges filling new offices created by
28 this act shall be appointed and shall take office on April 1,
29 1999.
30 Section 4. Section 318.32, Florida Statutes, is
31 amended to read:
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1 318.32 Jurisdiction; limitations.--
2 (1) Hearing officers shall be empowered to accept
3 pleas from and decide the guilt or innocence of any person,
4 adult or juvenile, charged with any civil traffic infraction
5 and shall be empowered to adjudicate or withhold adjudication
6 of guilt in the same manner as a county court judge under the
7 statutes, rules, and procedures presently existing or as
8 subsequently amended, except that hearing officers shall not:
9 (a) Have the power to hold a defendant in contempt of
10 court, but shall be permitted to file a motion for order of
11 contempt with the appropriate state trial court judge;
12 (b) Hear a case involving an accident resulting in
13 injury or death; or
14 (c) Hear a criminal traffic offense case or a case
15 involving a civil traffic infraction issued in conjunction
16 with a criminal traffic offense.
17 (2) This section does not prohibit a county court
18 judge from exercising concurrent jurisdiction with a civil
19 traffic hearing officer.
20 (3) Upon the request of the defendant contained in a
21 Notice of Appearance or a written plea, the case shall be
22 assigned to a county court judge regularly assigned to hear
23 traffic matters.
24 Section 5. Section 318.37, Florida Statutes, is
25 amended to read:
26 318.37 Funding.--In any county electing to establish a
27 Civil Traffic Infraction Hearing Officer Program under ss.
28 318.30-318.38 the court shall develop a plan for its
29 implementation and shall submit the plan to the Office of the
30 State Courts Administrator. The state shall provide annual
31 funds on a 50-50 matching basis to establish the Civil Traffic
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1 Infraction Hearing Officer Program in any county with three or
2 more county judges. The maximum annual matching grant for any
3 county participating in the program shall be determined by
4 dividing the number of county judges in the county by five and
5 multiplying the result by $25,000. Funds for the program are
6 to be used for hearing officer salaries, which may not exceed
7 $50 per hour, and other necessary expenses such as hearing
8 officer training, office rental, furniture, and administrative
9 staff salaries. The state matching funds shall be paid to the
10 county as a grant-in-aid in accordance with policies necessary
11 to implement this section established by the Office of the
12 State Courts Administrator. Any county electing to establish
13 such a program shall provide such other the funds as are
14 necessary to operate the program.
15 Section 6. A total of $725,000 in recurring funds and
16 one FTE is hereby appropriated in lump sum in the administered
17 funds budget of the judicial branch to implement the
18 provisions of section 5 of this act.
19 Section 7. A total of $75,000 in recurring funds is
20 hereby appropriated in lump sum in the administered funds
21 budget of the judicial branch to contract for the development
22 of a Delphi-based caseload weighting system to determine the
23 optimum caseloads for circuit and county court judges and, in
24 conjunction with other factors, to determine the need for
25 additional circuit and county court judges. The judicial
26 branch shall consult with the Office of Program Policy
27 Analysis and Government Accountability on defining the scope
28 of work, selecting a consultant, and choosing a methodology
29 for developing caseload weights and determining available
30 judge time. The Office of Program Policy Analysis and
31 Government Accountability shall issue a report not later than
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1 February 1, 1999, on the development of caseload weights and
2 their use in the judicial certification process.
3 Section 8. This act shall take effect January 15,
4 1999, except that this section and sections 4, 5, 6, and 7 of
5 this act shall take effect upon becoming a law.
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8 HOUSE SUMMARY
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Increases the number of circuit court judges in the
10 Third, Fourth, Sixth, Ninth, Tenth, Twelfth, Thirteenth,
Seventeenth, Eighteenth, Nineteenth, and Twentieth
11 Judicial Circuits and increases the number of county
court judges in Broward, Duval, Hillsborough, and Polk
12 Counties. Provides that such judges shall be appointed
and take office on April 1, 1999.
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14 Revises duties of traffic infraction hearing officers to
provide that such hearing officers shall hear cases
15 involving accidents which result in injury. Provides for
annual funding of the Civil Traffic Infraction Hearing
16 Officer Program in specified counties, and provides an
appropriation to implement such programs. Provides an
17 appropriation for the development of a caseload weighting
system to determine optimum caseloads for circuit and
18 county court judges and to determine the need for
additional judges.
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