House Bill 0163c1

    Florida House of Representatives - 2000              CS/HB 163

        By the Committee on Judiciary and Representatives Peaden
    and Byrd





  1                      A bill to be entitled

  2         An act relating to elder divisions; creating s.

  3         26.57, F.S.; authorizing the chief judge in the

  4         Tenth, Twelfth, and Thirteenth Judicial

  5         Circuits to create an elder division for

  6         certain purposes; establishing division duties;

  7         providing an appropriation to establish pilot

  8         programs in such circuits for such purposes;

  9         providing reporting requirements; requiring

10         divisions to conduct surveys for certain

11         purposes; providing an effective date.

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13  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:

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15         Section 1.  Section 26.57, Florida Statutes, is created

16  to read:

17         26.57  Elder division.--The chief judge of each

18  judicial circuit may create an elder division.  The elder

19  division shall be available for cases involving parties who

20  are at least 60 years of age and who require special

21  assistance or accommodation.  The elder division shall:

22         (1)  Work with the Americans with Disabilities Act

23  coordinator to assist elderly persons with disabilities.

24         (2)  Make recommendations to the court regarding the

25  need to expedite a case in which an elderly person is a party.

26         (3)  Coordinate access to agencies that provide

27  services to elderly persons.

28         (4)  Provide education to elderly persons concerning

29  the operation of the judicial system.

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CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.






    Florida House of Representatives - 2000              CS/HB 163

    687-123-00






  1         (5)  Gather information and provide documentation

  2  concerning the special needs of elderly persons in the

  3  judicial system.

  4         (6)  Evaluate the use of new technology, such as video

  5  conferencing, to assist elderly persons who are impaired in

  6  their ability to travel from their homes to the courthouse.

  7         (7)  Designate a person to act as liaison with the

  8  Statewide Public Guardianship Office.

  9         Section 2.  The sum of $1,050,000 is appropriated from

10  the General Revenue Fund, to be divided equally between the

11  Tenth, Twelfth, and Thirteenth Judicial Circuits to implement

12  pilot programs to test the efficacy of the elder division

13  program.  Judicial circuits implementing the pilot program

14  shall provide a report to the Governor, the President of the

15  Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and the

16  Chief Justice of the Supreme Court no later than December 31,

17  2001, describing the activities of the elder division, the

18  number of cases handled, the types of needs met, and the

19  overall effectiveness of the program.  The elder division

20  shall create a consumer survey which shall be provided to each

21  elderly person or the elderly person's family member and ask

22  for feedback on the elder division's performance and the

23  usefulness of services provided.

24         Section 3.  This act shall take effect upon becoming a

25  law.

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