Melissa D. Souto
Circuit Judge · Eighteenth Judicial Circuit Court
High confidence· verified August 3, 2026
Circuit Judge · Eighteenth Judicial Circuit Court
What applies in this courtroom
834 verified requirements and 6 rule deadlines govern practice before Judge Melissa D. Souto across the judge, division, county, circuit, and statewide layers.
The tabs below show the judge-and-division layer only. The Full Premium Report assembles the complete stack — every requirement, deadline table, ruling intelligence, live case-type scan, and source appendix in one cited document.
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Circuit Criminal — Seminole County
Education: Florida State University College of Law, 2001; University of Central Florida, BA 1998; Double Major Political Science and Liberal Studies; Judicial History; Administrative Judge Criminal Division 2024-2025; Public Safety Council 2023-present; Adult Drug Court Judge 2023-present; Administrative Judge Juvenile Division 2023-2024; Conflict Counsel Fee Review Administrative Judge 2020-2022; Administrative Jury Management Judge 2018-2020; Elected to the Circuit bench 2018; Administrative Judge for Probate, Guardianship and Mental Health 2017-2018; Administrative Judge for Juvenile Delinquency and Dependency 2017-2018; Appointed to the Circuit bench in 2015
Published by the Eighteenth 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 →
Seminiole Criminal Justice Center, Sanford, Seminole, Scheduling Hearings
Published forms & procedures: Attorney Scheduling Instructions; Judge Souto's Policies and Procedures; Felony Plea Agreement (English); Felony Plea Agreement (Espanol)
Verified against Judge Melissa D. Souto's own court profile page, 2026-08-02.
Division E — Criminal (controlling: AO 26-28-S eff. 2026-07-01)
Seminole Juvenile Justice Center, Sanford
Captured verbatim from the court's own published pages and orders during circuit verification. Chambers practices change without notice — confirm anything time-critical with the judicial assistant. Procedural information only; not legal advice.
Appeals from this courtroom go to the Fifth District Court of Appeal (Daytona Beach).
● LiveThat court's published bench (11): Adrian G. Soud, Brian D. Lambert, Eric J. Eisnaugle, F. Rand Wallis, Harvey L. Jay, James A. Edwards, Joe Boatwright, John M. Harris, John MacIver, Paige Kilbane, Scott Makar
Jurisdiction per § 35.043, Fla. Stat. (six-district alignment eff. Jan. 1, 2023).
Profile upgraded 2026-08-02: bio_url now points to this judge's own page (https://flcourts18.org/melissa-d-souto-biography/), confirmed to name them before extraction. Biography captured verbatim from the court's page. 4 linked form/procedure document(s) fetched and hashed.
2 verified rules specific to this judge's division, grouped by requirement category. 834 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 133 opinions in BenchPath’s corpus (December 19, 2016–August 6, 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. Showing the 50 most recent; all 133 are counted in the outcome census above.
last checked September 4, 2026
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Monitor: content changed at Judge biography — David C. Koenig (18th Circuit). Review before republishing dependent rules.
via Judge biography — David C. Koenig (18th Circuit)
Monitor: content changed at Judge biography — David C. Koenig (18th Circuit). Review before republishing dependent rules.
via Judge biography — David C. Koenig (18th Circuit)
Monitor: content changed at Judge biography — David C. Koenig (18th Circuit). Review before republishing dependent rules.
via Judge biography — David C. Koenig (18th Circuit)
JARRED RASHAD BURGESS VS STATE OF FLORIDA
Fifth District Court of Appeal · Seminole County
Disposition (court’s label): Appeal - Authored Opinion
Charlie Franklin Ford, III v. State of Florida
Fifth District Court of Appeal · Seminole County
Disposition (court’s label): Appeal - Per Curiam Affirmed
JEREL DENEE KENT VS STATE OF FLORIDA
Fifth District Court of Appeal · Seminole County
Disposition (court’s label): Appeal - Per Curiam Affirmed
ANGELLICA GRANT VS STATE OF FLORIDA
Fifth District Court of Appeal · Seminole County
Disposition (court’s label): Appeal - Per Curiam Opinion
SAFIR S. KAZI VS STATE OF FLORIDA
Fifth District Court of Appeal · Seminole County
Disposition (court’s label): Appeal - Per Curiam Affirmed
Bob Joe Dukes v. State of Florida
Fifth District Court of Appeal · Seminole County
Disposition (court’s label): Appeal - Per Curiam Affirmed
TERRY JERMAINE OWENS VS STATE OF FLORIDA
Fifth District Court of Appeal · Seminole County
Disposition (court’s label): Appeal - Per Curiam Affirmed
MATTHEW MANUEL BROWN VS STATE OF FLORIDA
Fifth District Court of Appeal · Seminole County
Disposition (court’s label): Appeal - Per Curiam Affirmed
Michael Anthony McGolrick v. State of Florida
Fifth District Court of Appeal · Seminole County
Disposition (court’s label): Appeal - Per Curiam Affirmed
JARRED RASHAD BURGESS VS STATE OF FLORIDA
Fifth District Court of Appeal · Seminole County
Disposition (court’s label): Appeal - Authored Opinion
ERRIC JOSEPH PIPKIN VS STATE OF FLORIDA
Fifth District Court of Appeal · Seminole County
Disposition (court’s label): Appeal - Per Curiam Affirmed
JARRED RASHAD BURGESS VS STATE OF FLORIDA
Fifth District Court of Appeal · Seminole County
Disposition (court’s label): Appeal - Authored Opinion
RIDGH GENESIS ACHILLE VS STATE OF FLORIDA
Fifth District Court of Appeal · Seminole County
Disposition (court’s label): Appeal - Per Curiam Affirmed
JARRED RASHAD BURGESS VS STATE OF FLORIDA
Fifth District Court of Appeal · Seminole County
Disposition (court’s label): Appeal - Authored Opinion
RICHARD BARNES VS STATE OF FLORIDA
Fifth District Court of Appeal · Seminole County
Disposition (court’s label): Appeal - Per Curiam Affirmed
Trae Jean Mitchell St. Ange v. State of Florida
Fifth District Court of Appeal · Seminole County
Disposition (court’s label): Appeal - Per Curiam Affirmed
DUANE THOMAS MCCRAY vs STATE OF FLORIDA
Fifth District Court of Appeal · Seminole County
Disposition (court’s label): Affirmed
JARRED RASHAD BURGESS VS STATE OF FLORIDA
Fifth District Court of Appeal · Seminole County
Disposition (court’s label): Appeal - Authored Opinion
Antward A. Barnes v. State of Florida
Fifth District Court of Appeal · Seminole County
Disposition (court’s label): Appeal - Per Curiam Affirmed
SAFIR S. KAZI VS STATE OF FLORIDA
Fifth District Court of Appeal · Seminole County
Disposition (court’s label): Appeal - Per Curiam Opinion
Xichen Yang v. State of Florida
Fifth District Court of Appeal · Seminole County
Disposition (court’s label): Appeal - Per Curiam Affirmed
DEVANTE XAVIER REED VS STATE OF FLORIDA
Fifth District Court of Appeal · Seminole County
Disposition (court’s label): Appeal - Citation
STEPHANIE A. FLANNIGAN vs ESTATE OF JOHN R. FLANNIGAN
Fifth District Court of Appeal · Seminole County
Disposition (court’s label): Affirmed
WALTER SCHWEICKERT vs SUSAN MARIE JOHNSON F/K/A SUSAN SCHWEICKERT
Fifth District Court of Appeal · Seminole County
Disposition (court’s label): Affirmed
DIEU MARC JULES, JR. vs STATE OF FLORIDA
Fifth District Court of Appeal · Seminole County
Disposition (court’s label): Affirmed
ERIC WRIGHT VS STATE OF FLORIDA
Fifth District Court of Appeal · Seminole County
Disposition (court’s label): Appeal - Per Curiam Affirmed
JORDAN BLAKE MORRISON VS STATE OF FLORIDA
Fifth District Court of Appeal · Seminole County
Disposition (court’s label): Appeal - Per Curiam Affirmed
JARRED RASHAD BURGESS VS STATE OF FLORIDA
Fifth District Court of Appeal · Seminole County
Disposition (court’s label): Appeal - Authored Opinion
Dorian T. Calloway v. State of Florida
Fifth District Court of Appeal · Seminole County
Disposition (court’s label): Appeal - Per Curiam Affirmed
HOWARD LIUTENANT MARSHALL VS STATE OF FLORIDA
Fifth District Court of Appeal · Seminole County
Disposition (court’s label): Appeal - Authored Opinion
Lilburtie Jay Willis v. State of Florida
Fifth District Court of Appeal · Seminole County
Disposition (court’s label): Appeal - Per Curiam Affirmed
RANDAL ROWSEY vs REBECCA ROWSEY DEBNIAK
Fifth District Court of Appeal · Seminole County
Disposition (court’s label): Affirmed
Johnny B. Williams v. State of Florida
Fifth District Court of Appeal · Seminole County
Disposition (court’s label): Appeal - Per Curiam Affirmed
Willie J. Sanders v. State of Florida
Fifth District Court of Appeal · Seminole County
Disposition (court’s label): Appeal - Per Curiam Affirmed
ADE FOSTER VS STATE OF FLORIDA
Fifth District Court of Appeal · Seminole County
Disposition (court’s label): Appeal - Per Curiam Affirmed
TOMMIE JEROME THOMPSON vs STATE OF FLORIDA
Fifth District Court of Appeal · Seminole County
Disposition (court’s label): Affirmed
EDDIE J. HARRIS vs STATE OF FLORIDA
Fifth District Court of Appeal · Seminole County
Disposition (court’s label): Affirmed
MICHAEL COLEMAN vs STATE OF FLORIDA
Fifth District Court of Appeal · Seminole County
Disposition (court’s label): Affirmed
HIPOLITO FRANKLYN CEPEDA FELIX vs STATE OF FLORIDA
Fifth District Court of Appeal · Seminole County
Disposition (court’s label): Affirmed
DONALD ANDERSON vs STATE OF FLORIDA
Fifth District Court of Appeal · Seminole County
Disposition (court’s label): Affirmed
JOSE ROBERTO HERNANDEZ RUELAS vs STATE OF FLORIDA
Fifth District Court of Appeal · Seminole County
Disposition (court’s label): Affirmed
JULIO HERNANDEZ-RODRIGUEZ vs STATE OF FLORIDA
Fifth District Court of Appeal · Seminole County
Disposition (court’s label): Affirmed
ADAM PAUL BLUMHOF vs STATE OF FLORIDA
Fifth District Court of Appeal · Seminole County
Disposition (court’s label): Affirmed
ROBERT D. ABRAMS vs STATE OF FLORIDA
Fifth District Court of Appeal · Seminole County
Disposition (court’s label): Affirmed
DENNIS CHARLES HARTLEY vs STATE OF FLORIDA
Fifth District Court of Appeal · Seminole County
Disposition (court’s label): Affirmed
JACKSON ALEXANDER vs STATE OF FLORIDA
Fifth District Court of Appeal · Seminole County
Disposition (court’s label): Affirmed
JACKSON ALEXANDER vs STATE OF FLORIDA
Fifth District Court of Appeal · Seminole County
Disposition (court’s label): Non-dispositive
RICHARD JERALD MOBLEY vs STATE OF FLORIDA
Fifth District Court of Appeal · Seminole County
Disposition (court’s label): Affirmed
ARNALDO MARTINEZ vs STATE OF FLORIDA
Fifth District Court of Appeal · Seminole County
Disposition (court’s label): Affirmed
WILLIE BROWN, II vs STATE OF FLORIDA
Fifth District Court of Appeal · Seminole County
Disposition (court’s label): Affirmed
Answer three quick questions. The platform pulls Melissa D. Souto's full public case-law record from the source, newest first — your matter never narrows the pull; it directs the relevance ranking and the dual-AI analysis. Every hit comes back Bluebook-cited with the opinion's own words quoted verbatim. The scan takes the time precision takes.
Case-law search
CourtListener · free connector · liveCoverage note: CourtListener is strongest for federal courts and state appellate courts. Florida circuit-court opinions are sparsely represented — an absence of results is a coverage gap, not evidence about this judge.
Monitor: content changed at Judge biography — David C. Koenig (18th Circuit). Review before republishing dependent rules.
via Judge biography — David C. Koenig (18th Circuit)
Monitor: content changed at Judge biography — David C. Koenig (18th Circuit). Review before republishing dependent rules.
via Judge biography — David C. Koenig (18th Circuit)
Monitor: content changed at Judge biography — David C. Koenig (18th Circuit). Review before republishing dependent rules.
via Judge biography — David C. Koenig (18th Circuit)