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AO 2.01 (v3, Appellate Procedure, eff. January 13, 2026) is the circuit's appellate-division order: certificates of service on every notice/brief/motion/appendix (Fla. R. App. P. 9.420(d)), related-case notification, and argument/hearing mechanics. Companions: AO 2.02 (record transmittal) and AO 2.03 (transfer of pending appeals to the DCA).
Circuit-court appellate division (appeals from county court and administrative agencies), all six counties.
Verbatim from the operative section of this order, re-extracted 2026-07-26; whitespace normalised only. • The Clerks of the Circuit Court in and for Alachua, Baker, Bradford, Gilchrist, Levy, and Union Counties are responsible for receiving the original notices of appeal, receiving the proper appellate filing fees, and preparing the records on appeal. Immediately upon the filing of a notice of appeal, the lower tribunal Clerk shall transmit to the Appeals Division of that county’s Circuit Court, a certified copy of the notice of appeal, together with a certified copy of the order being appealed. Fla. R. App. P. 9.040(g). Upon receipt of the notice, that county’s Clerk shall establish an appellate case file and notify the appellate staff attorney that an appeal has been filed. All AO 2.01 (v3) Appellate Procedure Page 2 Effective: January 13, 2026 subsequently filed briefs, motions, or other items improperly filed in the lower Court’s file shall be filed in the appellate (AP) case. • All docketing information shall be placed on the case management section of the Court's computer system. The appellate Clerk shall maintain case management data for each pending appeal, to include calendaring dates and notes on recent activity, which shall be transmitted to the appellate staff attorney bi-weekly. • Upon timely completion of the record on appeal, the lower tribunal Clerk shall file the record on appeal in the appellate (AP) case and notify the appellate staff attorney. See Fla. R. App. P. 9.200(d). It is the policy of the Eighth Judicial Circuit not to require that original documents be included in the record; a certified copy of the record is sufficient and preferred. Fla. R App. P. 9.200(d)(3). DUTIES OF THE PARTIES • All briefs shall be filed electronically, unless there is an applicable exception. See Fla. R. Jud. Admin. 2.520, 2.525(c). The briefs that may be filed are the initial brief (filed by the appellant), the answer brief (filed by the appellee), the reply brief (filed by the appellant), and, if there has been a cross-appeal, a cross-reply brief. Fla. R. App. P. 9.210. Briefs shall comply, both as to form and content, with Florida Rule of Appellate Procedure 9.210. • The parties are responsible for calculating their own brief deadlines in accordance with the Florida Rule of Appellate Procedure applicable to the type of appeal that has been filed. See Fla. R. App. P. 9.210(g) (and Rules cited therein). The Court shall require strict compliance with all deadlines. • It is the duty of the appellant to ensure that a complete record is prepared and transmitted to the Circuit Court. Fla. R. App. P. 9.200(e). If the Circuit Court determines that a record is incomplete, one opportunity will be afforded to the appellant to supply the omitted portions of the record. Fla. R. App. P. 9.200(f)(2). Before seeking to include tangible evidence in the record, parties should seek permission from the Court. AO 2.01 (v3) Appellate Procedure Page 3 Effective: January 13, 2026 • Every notice of appeal, brief, motion, or appendix shall contain a certificate of service. See Fla. R. App. P. 9.420(d). • In the event that there are other cases pending before the Court involving related issues, the parties shall have a duty to inform the Court, in writing, as soon as possible. MOTIONS • Unless a party elects to invoke the limited concurrent jurisdiction of the lower tribunal under Florida Rule of Appellate Procedure 9.600, any motion filed subsequent to the filing of the notice of appeal shall be filed with the appropriate Clerk’s Office’s appellate division. The Clerk shall promptly notify the appellate staff attorney. The appellate staff attorney shall review the motion and forward the same to the judge assigned to the appellate division. When any file comes to the appellate staff attorney’s attention, the appellate staff attorney shall promptly check for any outstanding motions that may need to be resolved. • Motions for extension of time must be filed in strict conformance with Florida Rule of Appellate Procedure 9.300(a). These motions shall be acted upon as soon as possible, as service of a motion may toll the time for future acts related to the event for which the extension is sought. Fla. R. App. P. 9.300(b). Each such motion, except those for which the practice is clearly inappropriate, shall contain an express representation that either opposing counsel has been contacted and has no objection to the relief requested, or that opposing counsel will promptly file an objection. Fla. R. App. P. 9.300(a). • Practitioners should note that excessive motion practice is discouraged. Unnecessary or duplicative motion practice may result in the imposition of sanctions pursuant to Florida Rule of Appellate Procedure 9.410. ORAL ARGUMENT • Oral argument may be permitted in any proceeding. A party’s request for oral argument must comply with Fla. R. App. P. 9.320. If oral argument is granted, the judicial assistant for the judge assigned to the appellate division shall coordinate the time and place of the argument with the parties and an appropriate order will be issued. It is important that requests for oral argument are timely considered so as to afford counsel sufficient time to prepare in the event that oral argument is granted. The Court may also require oral argument on its own motion. Fla. R. App. P. 9.320. AO 2.01 (v3) Appellate Procedure Page 4 Effective: January 13, 2026 POST-MANDATE MOTIONS; RETURN OF CASE FILE AND EVIDENCE TO LOWER TRIBUNAL • If there are no motions pending after mandate is rendered, then 30 days after rendition of the mandate or, if the case file contains a post-mandate motion which has been disposed of by order of the Court, then on the 31st day following rendition of the order, the appellate case file, exhibits, and evidence shall be returned to the lower tribunal Clerk. If the appellate case file contains no post-mandate motions, then on the 31st day following the rendition of the mandate the Clerk shall transmit the appellate case file, together with all briefs, exhibits, and evidence, back to the lower tribunal Clerk. Any appellate file containing a post- mandate motion which has not been disposed of by Court order shall remain in the custody and control of the appellate Clerk until such time as a disposition occurs. PRO SE PARTIES
The Clerks of the Circuit Court in and for Alachua, Baker, Bradford, Gilchrist, Levy, and Union Counties are responsible for receiving the original notices of appeal, receiving the proper appellate filing fees, and preparing the records on appeal. Immediately upon the filing of a notice of appeal, the lower tribunal Clerk shall transmit to the Appeals Division of that county’s Circuit Court, a certified copy of the notice of appeal, together with a certified copy of the order being appealed. Fla. R. App. P. 9.040(g). Upon receipt of the notice, that county’s Clerk shall establish an appellate case file and notify the appellate staff attorney that an appeal has been filed. All AO 2.01 (v3) Appellate Procedure Page 2 Effective: January 13, 2026 subsequently filed briefs, motions, or other items improperly filed in the lower Court’s file shall be filed in the appellate (AP) case.
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. 1 further paragraph(s) were left out because their OCR is too corrupt to quote.
2 verbatim requirements from 4th Circuit Administrative Order 1986-33A.
1 verbatim requirement from 4th Circuit Administrative Order 1987-09.