Item L2 L2
BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
COUNTY of MONROE Mayor Craig Cates,District 1
The Florida Keys Mayor Pro Tern Holly Merrill Raschein,District 5
Michelle Lincoln,District 2
James K.Scholl,District 3
m' David Rice,District 4
Board of County Commissioners Meeting
September 20, 2023
Agenda Item Number: L2
2023-1419
BULK ITEM: No DEPARTMENT: District 1
TIME APPROXIMATE: STAFF CONTACT: Lisa Tennyson
Yes
AGENDA ITEM WORDING: MAYOR CATES: Resolution expressing opposition to
consolidation of the 16th and 1 lth Judicial Circuits.
ITEM BACKGROUND:
Upon the request of the Speaker of the House, Paul Renner, to analyze the need to increase, decrease or
redefine judicial circuits (see attached letter), the Judicial Circuit Assessment Committee (the
"Committee") was formed (see attached Administrative Order) and convened on July 14, 2023. The
Committee is charged with evaluating whether there is a need to consolidate Florida's judicial circuit
courts, within District Courts of Appeal(DCA)boundaries, considering the following criteria, in
accordance with Florida Rules of General Practice and Judicial Administration Rule 2.241(c):
effectiveness, efficiency, access to courts,professionalism,public trust and confidence, and additional
criteria.
The Committee will examine data and information, survey stakeholders, hold public hearings, consider
fiscal and operational impacts, and issue findings and recommendations to the Legislature with regard
to the consolidation of judicial circuits by December 1, 2023.
The Committee's meeting schedule is as follows: July 14th, August 4th, August 25th(Public Hearing
with public input both in person and via telecommunications), September 29th, October 20th(Public
Hearing with public input both in person and via telecommunications),November 3rd and November
17th.
There are 20 judicial circuits in the State, and each circuit is comprised of one or more counties, and
Monroe County is in its own circuit, the 16th Circuit. Consolidation will only be considered within
DCA boundaries and Monroe County (16th Circuit) is in the same DCA boundary with Miami Dade
(1 lth Circuit), the Third District Court of Appeal. The 16th and 1 lth Circuit are vastly different in size
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and operation of each circuit(see chart in the attached Resolution).
Consolidating the 16th and llth Circuit may have the following negative effect:
• Consolidation the State's smallest circuit into State's largest circuit will certainly diminish, if not
entirely curtail, the effectiveness, efficiency, and access of the circuit's services on behalf of
Monroe's constituents.
• Consolidation with the 1 lth Judicial Circuit would be detrimental to the current effectiveness and
efficiency of the 16th Judicial court operations and Monroe's Keys residents would be further
burdened to have meaningful access to court and court services consistent with due process
afforded under our current system.
• Monroe County as an Area of Critical State Concern in recognition of renowned and robust
natural resources may not receive the prioritized protection, attention and focus of local law
enforcement and the 16th Circuit's State Attorney and judiciary. Current local focus on natural
resource protection and coordination of efforts between local law enforcement and State Attorney
would likely not be prioritized in a circuit serving a large, urbanized county where law
enforcement,prosecutorial and judicial resources are focused on other criminal activity.
• Our local law enforcement and State Attorney's focus on our protected and vital resources in the
Florida Keys also fosters public trust and confidence within our unique geography and
demographic community which may be compromised by being consolidated into a larger urban
area of Miami-Dade and the 1 lth Judicial Circuit.
• Monroe County voters will no longer have a meaningful voice in electing their State Attorney,
Public Defender and Judiciary should the 2 circuits be consolidated. Monroe's 50,762 registered
voters comprise only 3.3% of a combined electorate of 1,532,614 for a consolidated Judicial
Circuit due to Miami-Dade's 1,481,852 registered voters. With such a low percentage, Monroe's
voters will be likely be overwhelmed by those of Miami-Dade's in holding local elected officials
accountable for ensuring appropriate prosecution of resource violations.
• A less robustly protected environment and diminished enforcement of resource violations will
inevitably translate into economic losses. Fewer lobster, stone crab, and fin fish will result in loss
in revenue and jobs for our local commercial fishing industry(Monroe's second largest economic
sector), will potentially impact local tourism drawn to the Keys for our natural resources affecting
local businesses, and ultimately generate less sales tax for the State.
The Resolution sets forth these concerns and addresses the negative effects within the criteria of
effectiveness, efficiency, access to courts,professionalism,public trust and confidence as set forth in
Rule 2.241 Fla. R. Gen. Prac. & Jud. Admin. which to be considered by the Committee.
A local working group has been formed to follow this matter and to combine and unite efforts where
appropriate. County staff will continue to follow this matter and will keep the Commission informed on
the recommendation of the Committee.
PREVIOUS RELEVANT BOCC ACTION:
N/A
CONTRACT/AGREEMENT CHANGES:
N/A
STAFF RECOMMENDATION: Approval.
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DOCUMENTATION:
Reso— Zenner Circuit—Consolidation—clean—version 9.4.23 final.pdf
Speakerr enner Letter 6.15.23.pdf
Administrative Order est. Jud. Cir. Assessment Committee AOSC23-35.pdf
FINANCIAL IMPACT:
N/A
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RESOLUTION NO. -2023
A RESOLUTION OF MONROE COUNTY BOARD OF
COUNTY COMMISSIONERS EXPRESSING OPPOSITION
TO CONSOLIDATION OF JUDICIAL CIRCUITS,
SPECIFICALLY THE CONSOLIDATION OF THE 16TH AND
11TH CIRCUITS.
WHEREAS, the Judicial Circuit Assessment Committee (the "Committee") convened on July 14,
2023 and is charged with evaluating whether there is a need to consolidate Florida's judicial circuit courts,
within District Courts of Appeal (DCA)boundaries, considering the following criteria, in accordance with
Florida Rules of General Practice and Judicial Administration Rule 2.241(c): effectiveness, efficiency,
access to courts,professionalism,public trust and confidence, and additional criteria; and
WHEREAS, the Committee will examine data and information, survey stakeholders, hold public
hearings, consider fiscal and operational impacts, and issue findings and recommendations to the
Legislature with regard to the consolidation of judicial circuits by December 1, 2023; and
WHEREAS,there are 20 judicial circuits in the State, and each circuit is comprised of one or more
counties, and Monroe County is in its own circuit, the 161h Circuit; and
WHEREAS, consolidation will only be considered within DCA boundaries and Monroe County
(161h Circuit) is in the same DCA boundary with Miami Dade (111h Circuit), the Third District Court of
Appeal; and
WHEREAS, the judicial circuit profiles in the chart below was provided in the Committee's
materials (below in the chart) and demonstrate the vastly different size and operation of each circuit; and
Circuit/County Filings Dispositions Number of Judges Population Square
Miles
Circuit County Total Circuit County Total Circuit County
circuit 11
(M lami-Dade) 75,503 728,029 803,532 83,226 757,476 840,702 80 43 2,757,592 1,900
Circuit 16 3,208 13,819 17,027 3,125 14,370 17,495 4 4 83,961 983
(Monroe)
WHEREAS,the County Commission believes consolidating the State's smallest circuit into State's
largest circuit will certainly diminish, if not entirely curtail, the effectiveness, efficiency, and access of the
circuit's services on behalf of Monroe's constituents; and
WHEREAS, Monroe County's unique geography presents a significant accessibility to courts
issue, as a long chain of islands exceeding 120 miles in length,which is why the 161h Judicial Circuit has a
Lower, Middle and Upper Keys Courthouse to address and improve accessibility and to ensure efficiency
in the adjudication of cases; and
WHEREAS, consolidation with the I11h Judicial Circuit would be detrimental to the current
effectiveness and efficiency of the 161h Judicial court operations and Monroe's Keys residents would be
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further burdened to have meaningful access to court and court services consistent with due process afforded
under our current system; and
WHEREAS, Monroe County is a state-designated Area of Critical State Concern in recognition
renowned and robust natural resources from the iconic Key Deer and other protected species on land to
the lobster, stone crab and finfish in our waters, all of which require and receive the prioritized protection,
attention and focus of local law enforcement and the 161h Circuit's State Attorney and judiciary; and
WHEREAS,current local focus on natural resource protection and coordination of efforts between
local law enforcement and State Attorney would likely not be prioritized in a circuit serving a large,
urbanized county where law enforcement, prosecutorial and judicial resources are focused on other
criminal activity; and
WHEREAS, our local law enforcement and State Attorney's focus on our protected and vital
resources in the Florida Keys also fosters public trust and confidence within our unique geography and
demographic community which may be compromised by being consolidated into a larger urban area of
Miami-Dade and the 1 lth Judicial Circuit; and
WHEREAS, voter registration numbers dispel any argument that Monroe voters will have a
meaningful voice in electing their State Attorney, Public Defender and Judiciary should the 2 circuits be
consolidated. Monroe's 50,762 registered voters comprise only 3.3% of a combined electorate of
1,532,614 for a consolidated Judicial Circuit due to Miami-Dade's 1,481,852 registered voters. With such
a low percentage, Monroe's voters will be likely be overwhelmed by those of Miami-Dade's in holding the
State Attorney accountable for ensuring appropriate prosecution of resource violations; and
WHEREAS, a less robustly protected environment and diminished enforcement of resource
violations will inevitably translate into economic losses. Fewer lobster, stone crab, and fin fish will result
in loss in revenue and jobs for our local commercial fishing industry (Monroe's second largest economic
sector), will potentially impact local tourism drawn to the Keys for our natural resources affecting local
businesses, and ultimately generate less sales tax for the State; and
WHEREAS, the Monroe County Commission has examined the criteria set out in Rule 2.241 Fla.
R. Gen. Prac. & Jud. Admin. to be considered by the Committee and believes that the laudable goals of
effectiveness, efficiency, access to courts, professionalism, public trust and confidence are protected only
by keeping in place our separate circuits, and urges the Committee and Legislature against consolidation
of the 1 lth and 161h circuits for the concerns expressed hereto; and
NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED BY THE BOARD OF COUNTY
COMMISSIONERS OF MONROE COUNTY, FLORIDA:
1. The above recitals are hereby incorporated into this resolution as restated herein constitute the
legislative findings of fact made by the Board of County Commissioners of Monroe County,
Florida.
2. The Clerk for this Board shall furnish copies of this resolution to:
• Judge Gerber and members of the Judicial Assessment Committee
• Representative Jim Mooney
• Senator Ana Marie Rodriquez
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PASSED AND ADOPTED by the Board of County Commissioners of Monroe County, Florida, at a
regular meeting of said Board held on the 20th day of September 2023.
Mayor Craig Cates
Mayor Pro Tem Holly Merrill Raschein
Commissioner Michelle Lincoln
Commissioner Jim Scholl
Commissioner David Rice
BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
OF MONROE COUNTY, FLORIDA
(Seal)
Attest: Kevin Madok, Clerk
By: By:
Deputy Clerk Mayor Craig Cates
Approved for form and legal sufficiency:
Robert B. Shillinger, Monroe County Attorney
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y
z
The Florida House of Representatives
Office of the Speaker
Paul Renner
Speaker
June 15, 2023
Via electronic nutil and hand deliver
Chief Justice Carlos G. Muniz
Florida Supreme Court
500 South Duval Street
Tallahassee, FL 32399-1925
outlawj@flcourts.org
Dear Chief Justice Muniz,
Eighteen months ago,the Court"determined that a sixth appellate district should be created
in Florida and that accompanying changes should be made to the existing boundaries of the First,
Second, and Fifth districts."In re: Redefinition of Appellate Districts and Certification of Need for
Additional Appellate Judges, 345 So. 3d 703 (Fla. 2021). The "primary rationale" for the creation
of the new district court and the concomitant geographic realignment of district lines was to
"promote public trust and confidence."Id. at 704. Pursuant to Rule 2.241 of the Rules of General
Practice and Judicial Administration, public trust and confidence are affected by judicial
workloads and geographic and demographic composition, among other factors. See Fla. R. Gen.
Prac. & Jud. Admin. 2.241(c)(5), (d)(5).
Although Florida's appellate districts have recently been realigned, the boundaries of
Florida's judicial circuits have been unchanged for decades despite significant population and
demographic changes during that timeframe. The size of our judicial circuits varies widely,ranging
from approximately 2.7 million people (in the Eleventh Circuit) to less than 100,000 people (in
the Sixteenth Circuit). I believe that the consolidation of circuits might lead to greater efficiencies
and uniformity in the judicial process,thereby increasing public trust and confidence. I also believe
that the consolidation of circuits would result in improved economies of scale in the judiciary's
back-office operations, leading to substantial cost savings for Florida's taxpayers.
420 The Capitol,402 South Monroe Street,Tallahassee,Florida 32399-1300 3157
Accordingly, as part of its annual analysis of the need to increase, decrease, or redefine
judicial circuits, I ask the Court to consider these factors and any others that it deems relevant. See
Fla. R. Gen. Prac. & Jud. Admin. 2.241 (Court's commentary to 2013 amendment) (explaining
that Rule 2.241 was amended in 2013 "so the supreme court's annual certification process will
include an analysis of the need to increase, decrease, or redefine judicial circuits."); In re
Amendments to Fla. R. Jud. Admin. 2.240 and 2.241, 129 So. 3d 358 (Fla. 2013) ("the certification
process for the appellate districts and the judicial circuits must be completed in conjunction with
the Court's annual determination regarding the need for judges under rule 2.240(d)."). I appreciate
the Court's consideration of this request.
Respectfull
Paul Renner, Speaker of the House
420 The Capitol,402 South Monroe Street,Tallahassee,Florida 32399-1300
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*upreme Court of ftoriba
No. AOSC23-35
IN RE: JUDICIAL CIRCUIT ASSESSMENT COMMITTEE
ADMINISTRATIVE ORDER
Under article V, section 9 of the Florida Constitution, when
the Court determines that there is a need to increase, decrease, or
redefine judicial circuits, it must certify its findings and
recommendations to the Legislature. The constitution requires the
Court to have adopted uniform criteria to guide its determination.
Consistent with these constitutional mandates, Florida Rule of
General Practice and Judicial Administration 2.241 sets out
detailed factors for the Court's consideration. The rule also gives
the Court an overarching instruction to "balance the potential
impact and disruption caused by changes in judicial circuits ...
against the need to address circumstances that limit the quality
and efficiency of, and public confidence in, the judicial process."
Under the rule, before recommending a change in "judicial
structure," the Court must consider "less disruptive adjustments"
to judicial branch operations.
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By letter dated June 15, 2023, Speaker Paul Renner of the
Florida House of Representatives has asked the Court to consider
whether a consolidation of our state's existing judicial circuits is
warranted. As the letter notes, the current boundaries of our
judicial circuits have been in place since 1969, notwithstanding the
significant population and demographic changes of the past 50
years. Speaker Renner suggests that consolidation of judicial
circuits might generate substantial cost savings and increase public
trust and confidence in the judiciary through greater efficiency and
uniformity in the judicial process.
Without expressing any view on the merits at this time, the
Court agrees that the question of whether there is a need to
consolidate Florida's judicial circuits deserves thoughtful
consideration and careful study. To that end, and to aid the Court
in making its ultimate determination, the Court believes it would be
beneficial to appoint an assessment committee as contemplated by
rule 2.241. The Court's specific instructions and charges to the
Judicial Circuit Assessment Committee are as follows:
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1 . the Committee must limit its findings and
recommendations to whether there is a need to
consolidate (i.e., reduce the number of) Florida's
judicial circuits;
2. in making its findings and recommendations,
the Committee must assume that district court
of appeal boundaries will remain unchanged;
3. the Committee's findings and recommendations
must be governed by the criteria set out in rule
2.241; and
4. before making its findings and
recommendations, the Committee must confer
with the chief judges and other representatives
of the courts, court budget commissions, The
Florida Bar, and the public, as required by rule
2.241, as well as with other justice system
entities it deems appropriate.
The Court asks that the Committee report its findings and
recommendations to the chief justice, through the state courts
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administrator, by December 1 , 2023. If, despite its best efforts, the
Committee is unable to settle on findings and recommendations by
that date, the Committee should so inform the Court.
The following individuals are appointed to the Judicial Circuit
Assessment Committee for a term to expire on March 29, 2024:
The Honorable Stacy M. Butterfield
Clerk of the Circuit Court and Comptroller, Polk County
The Honorable Keith A. Carsten
Circuit Court Judge, Ninth Judicial Circuit
The Honorable Shawn Crane
Chief Judge-Elect, Sixth Judicial Circuit
The Honorable Jonathan D. Gerber
Appellate Judge, Fourth District Court of Appeal
Mr. W. Braxton Gillam, IV
Attorney at Law, Jacksonville
The Honorable Glenn Kelley
Chief Judge, Fifteenth Judicial Circuit
The Honorable Christopher Kelly
Circuit Court Judge, Seventh Judicial Circuit
The Honorable Robert W. Lee
County Court Judge, Broward County
Mr. Laird A. Lile
Attorney at Law, Naples
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The Honorable Carlos J. Martinez
Public Defender, Eleventh Judicial Circuit
The Honorable Diana L. Moreland
Chief Judge-Elect, Twelfth Judicial Circuit
The Honorable Melissa W. Nelson
State Attorney, Fourth Judicial Circuit
The Honorable Linda L. Nobles
Circuit Court Judge, First Judicial Circuit
The Honorable Margaret O. Steinbeck
Circuit Court Judge, Twentieth Judicial Circuit
The Honorable Jonathan D. Gerber will serve as Chair of the
Committee. The Office of the State Courts Administrator will
provide staff support.
DONE AND ORDERED at Tallahassee, Florida, on June 30,
2023.
A
Chief Justice Carlos G. M z
ATTEST: 61�117?2
oq n 0 ,
Joh omasino, Clerk of Court �' a
OF •
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