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Seminole Circuit — Controlling Division Assignment Order AO 26-28-S (eff. 2026-07-01)
Verbatim from the operative section of this order, re-extracted 2026-07-26; whitespace normalised only. • The Criminal Division judges will be assigned secondarily to cases assigned to other judges in the division for the purpose of backing up other judges by taking pleas, ruling on motions, scheduling matters, conducting trials, and sentencing defendants in cases over which the backup judge tried. All judges in the Criminal Division may act in the absence of the judge who is assigned to a case. B. Assignment of Original Informations/Indictments: Original charging documents (except for capital and Jimmy Ryce cases) will be randomly assigned so that the four (4) criminal divisions are each assigned to 25% of the cases. Information filed directly (before the defendant is taken into custody) will initially be assigned to Division N. These cases will be reassigned by the Clerk in accordance with this paragraph when the defendant is taken 2 into custody. However, if there is an active pending case with the same defendant, reassignment will be in accordance with paragraph I below. C. Assignment of Multiple Defendant Cases: Informations naming multiple defendants will be assigned to the first judge assigned to the case. The Clerk will not reassign cases in accordance with paragraph I below in cases naming multiple defendants. D. Assignment of Murder Cases and Jimmy Ryce Cases: • The Clerk is responsible, upon the defendant’s arrest, for the assignment of a judge to any murder case, excluding Murder by the Unlawful Distribution of a Controlled Substance under section 782.04(1)(a)3., Florida Statutes. The following murder cases will be assigned on a rotating basis among the four criminal divisions, beginning with Division J, followed by Divisions M, A, and E. Cases naming multiple defendants will be assigned to the first judge assigned to the case. The Clerk will not reassign cases in accordance with paragraph I below in cases naming multiple defendants. a. First Degree Premeditated Murder, § 782.04(1)(a)1., Fla. Stat. b. First Degree Felony Murder, § 782.04(1)(a)2., Fla. Stat. c. Second Degree Murder, § 782.04(2), Fla. Stat. d. Second Degree Felony Murder, § 782.04(3), Fla. Stat. e. Third Degree Felony Murder, § 782.04(4), Fla. Stat. • The Clerk, upon the filing of any new probate case, will assign the probate case to the division of any pending guardianship case involving the same decedent/ward. If there is no pending guardianship case, then it will be assigned according to paragraph III.B. above. • If a guardianship matter was previously filed involving the decedent in any court of any state, and a probate action is thereafter opened in Seminole County, the attorney in the probate action will be required to file a Notice of Related Cases in both the probate action and the guardianship case indicating the guardianship case number(s), the guardianship case name, the jurisdiction where the guardianship case was filed, and the status of the guardianship.
The Criminal Division judges will be assigned secondarily to cases assigned to other judges in the division for the purpose of backing up other judges by taking pleas, ruling on motions, scheduling matters, conducting trials, and sentencing defendants in cases over which the backup judge tried. All judges in the Criminal Division may act in the absence of the judge who is assigned to a case. B. Assignment of Original Informations/Indictments: Original charging documents (except for capital and Jimmy Ryce cases) will be randomly assigned so that the four (4) criminal divisions are each assigned to 25% of the cases. Information filed directly (before the defendant is taken into custody) will initially be assigned to Division N. These cases will be reassigned by the Clerk in accordance with this paragraph when the defendant is taken 2 into custody. However, if there is an active pending cas
Reviewer note: | Set to in_review 2026-07-26: the order's subject looks practitioner-facing but the extracted text captured only recitals or an effective date, not the operative ORDERED section. This is an extraction defect, not a judgement that the order is unimportant — it needs re-extraction before it goes back on the published surface. | Re-extracted 2026-07-26 from the numbered paragraphs following the order's ORDERED clause, replacing a first pass that had captured recitals and the effective date.
2 verbatim requirements from 4th Circuit Administrative Order 1986-33A.
1 verbatim requirement from 4th Circuit Administrative Order 1987-09.