HB 113

1	A bill to be entitled
2	An act relating to judges; amending s. 26.031, F.S.;
3	revising the number of circuit court judges in certain
4	circuits; amending s. 34.022, F.S.; revising the number of
5	county court judges in certain counties; providing for the
6	election of new circuit and county court judges created by
7	the act in the 2006 general election; providing qualifying
8	dates for these positions; providing legislative findings;
9	providing that the circuit and county court judicial
10	offices created by the act constitute vacancies in office
11	for purposes of qualifying for the 2006 general election;
12	providing appropriations and authorizing positions;
13	providing an effective date.
14
15	Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
16
17	Section 1.  Section 26.031, Florida Statutes, as amended by
18	section 2 of chapter 2005-150, Laws of Florida, and section 1 of
19	chapter 2005-356, Laws of Florida, is amended to read:
20	26.031  Judicial circuits; number of judges.--The number of
21	circuit judges in each circuit shall be as follows:
22
23	JUDICIAL CIRCUIT      TOTAL
24	(1)  First     24 22
25	(2)  Second     16
26	(3)  Third     7
27	(4)  Fourth     35 32
28	(5)  Fifth     31 28
29	(6)  Sixth     45 44
30	(7)  Seventh     27 26
31	(8)  Eighth     13
32	(9)  Ninth     43 40
33	(10)  Tenth     28 26
34	(11)  Eleventh     80 77
35	(12)  Twelfth     21 19
36	(13)  Thirteenth     45 41
37	(14)  Fourteenth     11 10
38	(15)  Fifteenth     35
39	(16)  Sixteenth     4
40	(17)  Seventeenth     58 56
41	(18)  Eighteenth     26 25
42	(19)  Nineteenth     19 18
43	(20)  Twentieth     31 25
44	Section 2.  Section 34.022, Florida Statutes, as amended by
45	section 4 of chapter 2005-150, Laws of Florida, and section 2 of
46	chapter 2005-356, Laws of Florida, is amended to read:
47	34.022  Number of county court judges for each county.--The
48	number of county court judges in each county shall be as
49	follows:
50
51	COUNTY      TOTAL
52	(1)  Alachua     5
53	(2)  Baker     1
54	(3)  Bay     4
55	(4)  Bradford     1
56	(5)  Brevard     11 9
57	(6)  Broward     32 28
58	(7)  Calhoun     1
59	(8)  Charlotte     3 2
60	(9)  Citrus     1
61	(10)  Clay     2
62	(11)  Collier     6 5
63	(12)  Columbia     1
64	(13)  DeSoto     1
65	(14)  Dixie     1
66	(15)  Duval     17 16
67	(16)  Escambia     5
68	(17)  Flagler     1
69	(18)  Franklin     1
70	(19)  Gadsden     1
71	(20)  Gilchrist     1
72	(21)  Glades     1
73	(22)  Gulf     1
74	(23)  Hamilton     1
75	(24)  Hardee     1
76	(25)  Hendry     1
77	(26)  Hernando     2
78	(27)  Highlands     1
79	(28)  Hillsborough     17
80	(29)  Holmes     1
81	(30)  Indian River     2
82	(31)  Jackson     1
83	(32)  Jefferson     1
84	(33)  Lafayette     1
85	(34)  Lake     3
86	(35)  Lee     8 7
87	(36)  Leon     5
88	(37)  Levy     1
89	(38)  Liberty     1
90	(39)  Madison     1
91	(40)  Manatee     4
92	(41)  Marion     4
93	(42)  Martin     3
94	(43)  Miami-Dade     43 42
95	(44)  Monroe     4
96	(45)  Nassau     1
97	(46)  Okaloosa     3
98	(47)  Okeechobee     1
99	(48)  Orange     18 16
100	(49)  Osceola     4 3
101	(50)  Palm Beach     19 18
102	(51)  Pasco     7 5
103	(52)  Pinellas     17 15
104	(53)  Polk     10 9
105	(54)  Putnam     2
106	(55)  St. Johns     2
107	(56)  St. Lucie     4
108	(57)  Santa Rosa     2
109	(58)  Sarasota     5
110	(59)  Seminole     6
111	(60)  Sumter     1
112	(61)  Suwannee     1
113	(62)  Taylor     1
114	(63)  Union     1
115	(64)  Volusia     10
116	(65)  Wakulla     1
117	(66)  Walton     1
118	(67)  Washington     1
119	Section 3.  (1)  The Governor may not fill the circuit and
120	county court judicial offices created in sections 1 and 2 of
121	this act by appointment, but those offices shall be filled by
122	election in the 2006 general election pursuant to chapter 105,
123	Florida Statutes. Candidates for the circuit and county court
124	judicial offices created in sections 1 and 2 of this act shall
125	qualify as provided in chapter 105, Florida Statutes, except
126	that candidates qualifying under this act shall qualify no
127	earlier than noon of the 50th day, and no later than noon of the
128	46th day, before the primary election.
129	(2)  The Legislature finds that an emergency does not exist
130	and the public business does not require immediate appointment
131	of the circuit and county court judicial offices created in
132	sections 1 and 2 of this act.
133	(3)  The circuit and county court judicial offices created
134	in sections 1 and 2 of this act constitute vacancies in office
135	for purposes of qualifying for the 2006 general election.
136	(4)  The terms of the circuit and county court judicial
137	offices created in sections 1 and 2 of this act shall begin on
138	January 2, 2007.
139	Section 4.  The sums of $7,029,955 in recurring funds and
140	$268,402 in nonrecurring funds are appropriated from the General
141	Revenue Fund to the circuit and county courts for the 2006-2007
142	fiscal year and 122 full-time positions and associated rate of
143	10,250,751 are authorized. The sum of $2,926,000 in recurring
144	funds is appropriated from the General Revenue Fund to the
145	Justice Administrative Commission for the state attorneys and 55
146	full-time positions and associated rate of 2,107,490 are
147	authorized. From the 55 full-time positions, up to two full-time
148	positions, associated funding, and rate shall be distributed to
149	the state attorney for each judicial office created by this act
150	when assigned to criminal court. The sum of $1,463,000 in
151	recurring funds is appropriated from the General Revenue Fund to
152	the Justice Administrative Commission for the public defenders
153	and 27.5 full-time positions and associated rate of 1,053,745
154	are authorized. From the 27.5 full-time positions, up to one
155	full-time position, associated funding, and rate shall be
156	distributed to the public defender for each judicial office
157	created by this act when assigned to criminal court.
158	Section 5.  This act shall take effect July 1, 2006.

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