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17 verbatim requirements from Tenth Circuit administrative order AO_1-57.4.
Tenth Judicial Circuit (Polk, Highlands, Hardee). Procedural information only; not legal advice.
• Jury Proceedings and Jury Trials: a. Non-statewide grand jury selection and proceedings, civil jury selection and trial proceedings, and criminal jury selection and trial proceedings are no longer suspended and must be conducted in a manner that is consistent with this Administrative Order and the Tenth Circuit Phase 2 Operational Plan (COVID- 19), as amended. b. Remote civil and criminal jury trials may be conducted as provided for in the Thirteenth Amended AOSC20-23. “Within 30 days after the remote conduct of a jury trial for the first time in a judicial circuit, the circuit shall present the results of the trial and report its findings and recommendations to the Chief Justice through the state courts administrator.” Thirteenth Amended AOSC20-23 at • Inmate Competency Evaluations: Inmate competency evaluations by Expert Witnesses shall occur pursuant to existing AO 1-50.2 (or as subsequently amended), except that Expert Witnesses may conduct evaluations remotely in the event that the Expert Witness has arranged for the remote video connection between the Expert Witness’s office and the Hardee, Highlands, or Polk County jail. Expert witnesses who wish to conduct their inmate evaluation by remote means should contact the Office of the Court Administrator for the Tenth Judicial Circuit Court at (863) 534-4686 so a video link and instructions can be provided. The Expert Witness shall schedule the evaluation based on the jail’s availability and shall then notice the State Attorney’s Office and defense counsel of the date and time of the remote evaluation. Either party or the Expert Witness may submit a request to the presiding judge to allow an evaluation to be conducted in-person. • Face masks have been and will continue to be provided at no cost to visitors who do not have one. Id. Face masks must completely cover the nose and mouth and fit snugly around the nose, chin, and sides of the face during in-person court proceedings. Id. In the event that a witness testifying in a court proceeding is not wearing a clear face mask or a cloth face mask that has a clear plastic panel (hereinafter “clear face mask”), and a clear face mask has been deemed necessary to afford due process, the witness may be permitted by the presiding judge to replace the opaque face mask with a clear face mask when in the witness chair for use during their testimony. c. “Any person may voluntarily choose to wear a face mask in a courthouse when not attending an in-person court proceeding.” Id. d. Court Bailiffs and local Sheriff Deputies are hereby granted the authority to eject a person from an in-person court proceeding and refuse a person access to an in- person proceeding if the person refuses to wear a face mask and/or socially distance during an in-person court proceeding in accordance with this Administrative Order. • Direction to Maximize the Resolution of Cases: Section III.G. of the Thirteenth Amended AOSC20-23 directs the chief judge of each circuit to maximize the resolution of cases by requiring active case management of certain civil cases and by directing all judges within their circuits and the local Bar to strictly comply with Florida Rule of General Practice and Judicial Administration 2.545. Accordingly, all judges of the Tenth Judicial Circuit are hereby directed to strictly comply with Florida Rule of General Practice and Judicial Administration 2.545(a), (b), and (e), which respectively require judges to conclude litigation as soon as it is reasonably and justly possible to do so, to take charge of all cases at an early stage and to control the progress of the case thereafter until it is determined, and to apply a firm continuance policy allowing continuances only for good cause shown. Also as directed by Section III.G. of the Thirteenth Amended AOSC20-23, all attorneys practicing within the Tenth Judicial Circuit are directed to strictly comply with Florida Rule of General Practice and Judicial Administration 2.545(a), which requires lawyers to conclude litigation as soon as it is reasonably and justly possible to do so, and that the pandemic alone is not a basis for a lawyer’s failure to prepare a case for trial or otherwise actively manage a case. • Indicate that a firm trial date will be ordered by the presiding judge when the case is at issue pursuant to Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.440. For cases filed before April 30, 2021, the case management order must include the projected trial date and the deadlines listed above if the event has not already occurred or has not already been specified by a separate court order. ii. Case management orders must be issued as follows: • If the case is subject to a statutory stay or a moratorium that prevents prosecution of the case, then a case management order shall be issued: a. Cases filed on or after April 30, 2021: Within 45 days after the stay or the moratorium ends or within 30 days after service of the complaint on the last of all named defendants (whichever date is later); or b. Cases filed before April 30, 2021: By December 3, 2021, within 45 days after the stay or the moratorium ends or within 30 days after service of the complaint on the last of all named defendants (whichever date is later). • If the case is not subject to a statutory stay or a moratorium, then a case management order shall be issued: a. Cases filed on or after April 30, 2021: Within 30 days after service of complaint on the last of all named defendants; or b. Cases filed before April 30, 2021: By December 3, 2021. • The parties may stipulate and agree to a case management order, which must be submitted for final approval by the deadline stated by the presiding judge. The required form to be used for the parties’ agreement is attached as Attachment A, entitled “Civil Case Management Plan.” A sample case management order is provided in Attachment B. iii. Maximum Deadline Periods for Streamlined Cases (unless otherwise ordered based upon good cause): • Deadlines for service of complaints, service under extensions, and adding new parties (service within 120 days of filing of the complaint unless the Court grants an extension which shall not exceed 240 days from the date of filing of the complaint); • Deadlines to complete fact and expert discovery (within 270 days after the complaint is filed); • Deadlines for all objections to pleadings and pretrial motions to be resolved (within 45 days after filing and prior to the pretrial conference); • Deadline for mediation to have occurred (within 270 days after the complaint is filed); and • Projected date of trial - within 12 months of filing. iv. Maximum Deadline Periods for General Cases (unless otherwise ordered based upon good cause): • Deadlines for service of complaints, service under extensions, and adding new parties (service within 120 days of filing of the complaint unless the Court grants an extension which shall not exceed 240 days from the date of filing of the complaint); • Deadlines to complete fact and expert discovery (within 450 days after the complaint is filed); • Deadline for mediation to have occurred (within 450 days after the complaint is filed); and • Projected date of trial – within 18 months of filing.
Jury Proceedings and Jury Trials: a. Non-statewide grand jury selection and proceedings, civil jury selection and trial proceedings, and criminal jury selection and trial proceedings are no longer suspended and must be conducted in a manner that is consistent with this Administrative Order and the Tenth Circuit Phase 2 Operational Plan (COVID- 19), as amended. b. Remote civil and criminal jury trials may be conducted as provided for in the Thirteenth Amended AOSC20-23. “Within 30 days after the remote conduct of a jury trial for the first time in a judicial circuit, the circuit shall present the results of the trial and report its findings and recommendations to the Chief Justice through the state courts administrator.” Thirteenth Amended AOSC20-23 at
Reviewer note: PDF sha256: 8b669b0444b40b8509c48548bfe499a0923e5dc09a43b9844829dc7c32ae806c. Read from the ORDERED section as numbered paragraphs. 1 paragraph(s) withheld as too scan-damaged to quote. Text layer cleaned 2026-09-08 (Phase 3e): running page headers/footers removed; wording untouched. Verbatim from the operative section of https://www.jud10.flcourts.org/sites/default/files/adminOrders/AO_1-57.4.pdf, harvested 2026-08-02; whitespace normalised only. [moved from the text 2026-09-14]
9 verbatim requirements from 4th Circuit Administrative Order 1997-10.
6 verbatim requirements from 4th Circuit Administrative Order 1997-13.