Bonnie J. Helms
Circuit Judge · Sixteenth Judicial Circuit Court
High confidence· verified August 6, 2026
Circuit Judge · Sixteenth Judicial Circuit Court
What applies in this courtroom
305 verified requirements and 6 rule deadlines govern practice before Judge Bonnie J. Helms across the judge, division, county, circuit, and statewide layers.
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Circuit — Lower/Middle Keys domestic relations; Family Treatment + Juvenile Drug Courts; MH/guardianship/probate splits
On this assignment since July 1, 2026
Brandy.Wilson@keyscourts.net (305) 292-3480 (305) 292-3434 Circuit Judge Bonnie J. Helms was elected by her colleagues as Chief Judge in July 2021. Her term ends July 1, 2025. She has served as a Circuit Judge since 2015 and presides over the Family, Dependency and Juvenile Courts at the Key West and Marathon courthouses. Judge Helms also leads the Family Treatment Court and Juvenile Drug Court. In 2022, she was appointed by Chief Justice Muniz to sit on the Trial Court’s Professionalism and Responsibility Commission. Prior to her service on the bench, Judge Helms practiced law and mediated in the Florida Keys after obtaining her Juris Doctorate at the University of Miami School of Law, Coral Gables, Florida, 1990. In January 2022, she was presented with the Florida Supreme Court Chief Justice’s Distinguished Judicial Service Award for her support of pro bono legal services.
Published by the Sixteenth Judicial Circuit Court on this judge's own profile page and reproduced verbatim — BenchPath does not write or paraphrase judicial biographies. Read it on the court's site →
Appeals from this courtroom go to the Third District Court of Appeal (Miami).
● LiveThat court's published bench (10): Alexander S. Bokor, Bronwyn C. Miller, Edwin A. Scales, III, Fleur J. Lobree, Ivan F. Fernandez, Kansas R. Gooden, Kevin Emas, Monica Gordo, Norma S. Lindsey, Thomas Logue
Jurisdiction per § 35.043, Fla. Stat. (six-district alignment eff. Jan. 1, 2023).
30-day recheck scheduled with the source monitor.
7 verified rules specific to this judge's division, grouped by requirement category. 305 total requirements apply in this courtroom across all layers — the Full Premium Report assembles the complete stack.
No judge-level deadline on record runs shorter than a statewide deadline with the same trigger. The sentinel compares quoted timing across every published rule scoped to this judge on each visit — a clean result today is re-earned tomorrow.
No judge-scoped deadlines on this tab. Deadlines are extracted only when the source rule text states them — we never infer or calculate dates the rule does not explicitly contain. 6 rule deadlines apply in this courtroom across all layers — assembled with citations in the Full Premium Report.
Timing shown here is quoted from the rule text. Compute your actual date against the court's calendar and the rule itself — not legal advice.
No verified ruling summary yet. BenchPath generates ruling summaries from opinion and docket corpora (CourtListener where covered) and publishes them only after human review — fabricated judicial analytics are exactly what this platform refuses to ship.
Use the live case-law search below to see what exists for this judge today.
How Florida’s appellate courts disposed of the 48 opinions in BenchPath’s corpus (June 24, 2015–March 4, 2026) that name this judge as the lower-tribunal judge — the courts’ own disposition labels, counted verbatim. This is a census of the appellate record we hold, not a complete case history, an affirmance rate, or a performance rating.
Florida appellate and Supreme Court opinions naming this judge as the lower-tribunal judge, taken verbatim from each court’s official slip opinion (source-hashed). Descriptive record, not a rating.
RUTH P. LAW vs BENJAMIN F. LAW
Third District Court of Appeal · Monroe County
last checked September 3, 2026
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Circuit — Lower/Middle Keys domestic relations; Family Treatment + Juvenile Drug Courts; MH/guardianship/probate splitscurrent
July 1, 2026 — present
assignment source →Monitor: content changed at 16th Circuit — Judges. Review before republishing dependent rules.
via 16th Circuit — Judges
Monitor: content changed at 16th Circuit — Judges. Review before republishing dependent rules.
via 16th Circuit — Judges
Monitor: content changed at 16th Circuit — Judges. Review before republishing dependent rules.
via 16th Circuit — Judges
Disposition (court’s label): Reversed
Tracey Oppenheimer, et al. v. Citizens Property Insurance Corporation
Third District Court of Appeal · Monroe County
Disposition (court’s label): Appeal - Per Curiam Affirmed
Jean Max Mathieu v. Department of Revenue, etc., et al.
Third District Court of Appeal · Monroe County
Disposition (court’s label): Appeal - Authored Opinion
Christopher Omar Marshall v. Keisha Beswick Marshall
Third District Court of Appeal · Monroe County
Disposition (court’s label): Appeal - Citation
Steven Dobkins v. Julianne Manring
Third District Court of Appeal · Monroe County
Disposition (court’s label): Appeal - Per Curiam Affirmed
OLIVER CORNELL BOKSA, JR., VS VICKI LYNN HOGAN,
Third District Court of Appeal · Monroe County
Disposition (court’s label): Appeal - Authored Opinion
Loring E. Justice v. Linn Marie Guerrero-Justice
Third District Court of Appeal · Monroe County
Disposition (court’s label): Appeal - Authored Opinion
BRAD MORTON, VS ALEXIS FABY,
Third District Court of Appeal · Monroe County
Disposition (court’s label): Appeal - Per Curiam Opinion
C.H., THE FATHER, VS DEPARTMENT OF CHILDREN AND FAMILIES, et al.,
Third District Court of Appeal · Monroe County
Disposition (court’s label): Appeal - Citation
Eric Omar Herrera v. Lada Havlova Herrera
Third District Court of Appeal · Monroe County
Disposition (court’s label): Appeal - Citation
Tina Sieberg-Shabbick v. Michael Shabbick
Third District Court of Appeal · Monroe County
Disposition (court’s label): Appeal - Authored Opinion
JOHN KASTIGAR, et al., VS COHERENT RESEARCH GROUP, LLC, et al.,
Third District Court of Appeal · Monroe County
Disposition (court’s label): Appeal - Per Curiam Affirmed
Ramon Motley v. Divya M. Nanjappa
Third District Court of Appeal · Monroe County
Disposition (court’s label): Appeal - Citation
CASH W. PAWLEY, SR. vs JANICE MARIE
Third District Court of Appeal · Monroe County
Disposition (court’s label): Non-dispositive
LINDA SWIFT, vs CITIZENS PROPERTY INSURANCE CORPORATION,
Third District Court of Appeal · Monroe County
Disposition (court’s label): Affirmed
KEVIN CHRISTOPHER CORRIDON, vs GRACE-ELIZABETH CAROLYN CORRIDON,
Third District Court of Appeal · Monroe County
Disposition (court’s label): Affirmed in Part/Reversed in Part
Victoria Rodriguez v. Angel Rodriguez, Jr.
Third District Court of Appeal · Monroe County
Disposition (court’s label): Appeal - Authored Opinion
Tammy R. Ward v. Joshua K. Waters
Third District Court of Appeal · Monroe County
Disposition (court’s label): Appeal - Authored Opinion
Chad Walker v. Julie Walker
Third District Court of Appeal · Monroe County
Disposition (court’s label): Appeal - Citation
Chad Walker v. Julie Walker
Third District Court of Appeal · Monroe County
Disposition (court’s label): Appeal - Citation
KIRKSTEN C. IRICK, vs U.S. BANK NATIONAL ASSOCIATION, etc.,
Third District Court of Appeal · Monroe County
Disposition (court’s label): Affirmed
COREY MCINTOSH, VS U.S. BANK NATIONAL ASSOCIATION, etc.,
Third District Court of Appeal · Monroe County
Disposition (court’s label): Appeal - Authored Opinion
R.M., THE FATHER, vs DEPARTMENT OF CHILDREN AND FAMILIES, et al.,
Third District Court of Appeal · Monroe County
Disposition (court’s label): Affirmed in Part/Reversed in Part
D.M., A JUVENILE, vs DEPARTMENT OF CHILDREN AND FAMILIES, et al.,
Third District Court of Appeal · Monroe County
Disposition (court’s label): Non-dispositive
D.M., A JUVENILE, vs DEPARTMENT OF CHILDREN AND FAMILIES, et al.,
Third District Court of Appeal · Monroe County
Disposition (court’s label): Affirmed in Part/Reversed in Part
H.J., THE MOTHER, VS DEPARTMENT OF CHILDREN AND FAMILIES, et al.,
Third District Court of Appeal
Disposition (court’s label): Appeal - Authored Opinion
CASH W. PAWLEY, SR. vs JANICE MARIE
Third District Court of Appeal · Monroe County
Disposition (court’s label): Affirmed
R.M., THE FATHER, vs DEPARTMENT OF CHILDREN AND FAMILIES, et al.,
Third District Court of Appeal · Monroe County
Disposition (court’s label): Non-dispositive
ERIN MURPHY, vs JESWYN COLLINS,
Third District Court of Appeal · Monroe County
Disposition (court’s label): Reversed
CORBIN KITCHEN, vs MELISSA CERULLO,
Third District Court of Appeal · Monroe County
Disposition (court’s label): Reversed
WILLIAM HACKETT, vs SAMUEL J. KAUFMAN, etc.,
Third District Court of Appeal · Monroe County
Disposition (court’s label): Affirmed
CORBIN KITCHEN, vs MELISSA CERULLO,
Third District Court of Appeal · Monroe County
Disposition (court’s label): Reversed
CORBIN KITCHEN vs MELISSA CERULLO
Third District Court of Appeal · Monroe County
Disposition (court’s label): Reversed
F.J.J., THE FATHER, vs DEPARTMENT OF CHILDREN AND FAMILIES, et al.,
Third District Court of Appeal · Monroe County
Disposition (court’s label): Affirmed
PETER HALMOS, et al., vs LONGSTOCK II, LLC, etc.,
Third District Court of Appeal · Monroe County
Disposition (court’s label): Affirmed
BARNETT V. HOUSEHOLDER, ET AL.
Third District Court of Appeal · Monroe County
Disposition (court’s label): Affirmed
ARDOLINO V. DEPT. OF REVENUE
Third District Court of Appeal · Monroe County
Disposition (court’s label): Affirmed
BANK OF NEW YORK V. OBERMEYER
Third District Court of Appeal · Monroe County
BARNETT V. HOUSEHOLDER, ET AL.
Third District Court of Appeal · Monroe County
Disposition (court’s label): Affirmed
STANLEY V. BRAFF
Third District Court of Appeal · Monroe County
Disposition (court’s label): Affirmed
K.A. V. DEPT. OF CHILDREN AND FAMILIES, ET AL.
Third District Court of Appeal · Monroe County
KIDWELL V. KIDWELL
Third District Court of Appeal · Monroe County
Disposition (court’s label): Affirmed
PIKE V. PIKE
Third District Court of Appeal · Monroe County
Disposition (court’s label): Affirmed
THOMAS V. EWALD
Third District Court of Appeal · Monroe County
Disposition (court’s label): Affirmed
P.N. V. DEPT. OF CHILDREN AND FAMILIES, ET AL.
Third District Court of Appeal · Monroe County
Disposition (court’s label): Affirmed
L.R. V. DEPT. OF CHILDREN AND FAMILIES, ET AL.
Third District Court of Appeal · Monroe County
Disposition (court’s label): Affirmed
THOMAS V. EWALD
Third District Court of Appeal · Monroe County
Disposition (court’s label): Affirmed
T.C. V. DEPT. OF CHILDREN & FAMILIES
Third District Court of Appeal · Monroe County
Disposition (court’s label): Affirmed
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Case-law search
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Monitor: content changed at 16th Circuit — Judges. Review before republishing dependent rules.
via 16th Circuit — Judges
Monitor: content changed at 16th Circuit — Judges. Review before republishing dependent rules.
via 16th Circuit — Judges
Monitor: content changed at 16th Circuit — Judges. Review before republishing dependent rules.
via 16th Circuit — Judges