Supreme Court committee seeks input on District Courts of Appeal
Chief Justice Charles Canady appointed the District Court of Appeal Workload and Jurisdiction Assessment Committee (AOSC21-13) to evaluate and make recommendations on the necessity for increasing, decreasing, or redefining appellate districts.
The Supreme Court will consider recommendations from the committee as part of the assessment provided for in Rule 2.241, Florida Rules of General Practice and Judicial Administration. As directed by the rule, the committee’s recommendation will be based on five criteria:
- Effectiveness, Efficiency,
- Access to Appellate Review,
- Professionalism,
- Public Trust and
- Confidence.
The rule requires the committee to confer with the chief judges and other representatives of appellate districts and judicial circuits, trial and appellate court budget commissions, The Florida Bar, and the public to gather information related to its charges. To address its charges, the committee has created a series of surveys to gather input related to the five criteria. An email has gone out to the entire membership of The Florida Bar requesting their feedback on the survey. In addition to members of the Bar, other directed surveys will seek input from district court judges, litigants, non-appellate judges, and members of the public. Statistical and geographical background information about the appellate courts is available through a link embedded in the survey to help provide context.
Responses to the surveys are requested by June 30. A virtual public hearing is scheduled for July 15 to provide an opportunity for additional comment. More information on the public hearing, including the videoconference link, will be available later this month.
