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72 verbatim mandatory provisions from 16-11.
Eighteenth Judicial Circuit. Check the order's own effective and rescission dates before relying on it. Procedural information only; not legal advice.
Verbatim from the order's own text layer, harvested 2026-07-24; whitespace normalised only. No OCR was used. Only sentences containing mandatory language (shall, must, may not, no later than, within N) are reproduced — the full document is in custody and is the controlling text. • COURT REPORTING _____________________________________________________________________________________ Whereas, rule 2.535(h)(3), Florida Rules of Judicial Administration, requires that the chief judge, after consultation with the circuit and county court judges in the Eighteenth Judicial Circuit, shall enter an administrative order developing and implementing a circuit-wide plan for the court reporting of all proceedings required to be reported at public expense using either full or part-time court employees or independent contractors; • For the purpose of this Administrative Order, persons performing court reporting in the Eighteenth Judicial Circuit shall be designated as Circuit Court Reporters or Digital Court Reporters. • The hybrid model utilizes a combination of stenographic, digital, centralized and video media for capturing the record in all judicial proceedings where court reporting is required at public expense. • APPLICABLE PROCEEDINGS This Administrative Order and the contracts entered into in accordance with this Administrative Order, former Administrative Order Number 04-33, and the other authorities cited herein shall apply to all criminal and juvenile proceedings, including depositions, and any other judicial proceedings required by law or the court to be reported or recorded at public expense, as required by rule 2.535, Florida Rules of Judicial Administration. -- 3 of 12 -- 4 IV. • ELECTRONIC RECORDING The term “electronic recording” shall include audio tape recording, videocassette tape recording, or recording by any other electronic means, including but not limited to, digital or other technology. • A request for proposal shall be issued in Brevard County and in Seminole County for contracted court reporting services. • The proposal shall clearly state the relationship between the contractor(s) (court reporter(s)) and the Courts as being independent: 1. • The contractor(s) shall pay any and all applicable taxes, comply with all pertinent state and federal statutes, and is solely responsible for any tax withholding from its employees or subcontractors; 2. • The contractor(s) shall hire, compensate, supervise, terminate, set the hours of work for members of their work force, and control and direct the manner in which the work is performed; 3. • The contractor(s) shall not be provided office space at the courthouse(s), and shall not perform office work and/or transcription services on court property; 4. • The contractor(s) shall furnish their own equipment, supplies and pay their own travel, training and continuing education expenses. • The Court Administrator and the contractor(s) shall enter into a contract that: 1. • The trial court administrator or designee shall be the contract manager. • Parties to civil actions shall arrange for an independent court reporter to record those proceedings that the Court is not required to record or report at public expense. 2. • Officers of the Court Employees of the Digital Court Recording Office are considered officers of the court and shall not disclose or discuss any confidential information to which they may be privy. • As officers of the court, employees must comply with all applicable Florida statutes, court rules, and other requirements as established by the State Courts System. • Each employee must sign an Oath of Confidentiality, which will be maintained in his or her personnel file. • RELIABILITY OF THE RECORD The digital recording equipment shall comply with all statewide standards for digital recording as established by the Florida Courts Technology Commission. • Digital Court Recording Office’s Responsibility The Digital Court Recording Office shall be responsible for capturing, managing, maintaining, and storing the complete verbatim Multi-Media Court Record in all judicial proceedings reported at public expense utilizing digital court recording. 2. • Operation of Electronic Equipment The Court’s electronic recording equipment shall be operated by employees of the Administrative Office of the Courts and/or by such other persons designated by the Court Administration and the Chief Judge. • All equipment utilized by the digital court reporters shall be operated and maintained in such a manner and -- 5 of 12 -- 6 under such conditions to ensure the reliability of capturing the record. • These employees shall operate the electronic recording equipment in such manner and under such conditions as to ensure the production and safekeeping of an understandable recording capable of being transcribed into a reliable record. 3. • Monitoring the Recordings The Digital Court Reporters shall monitor the recording input and shall immediately signal or notify the trial judge or presiding official, or such other person designated by the trial judge, when the quality of the recording is in question or doubtful. 4. • Testing prior to Court Sessions Prior to beginning of each court session captured by the digital court reporting system, all equipment shall be tested by the Digital Court Reporter to establish all microphones, appliances, and peripherals are operating at a level sufficient to ensure the recording of the record, playback of the audio, and production of a transcript. 5. • Each participant shall identify self, spell their names for the record, speak clearly, loudly, and distinctly into or near a microphone; 4. • Counsel shall not speak at the same time that witnesses or other counsel are speaking or otherwise improperly interrupt or obstruct the recording of another’s speech; 5. • The Chief Judge hereby orders and designates as of January 15, 2014 that all Baker Act Proceedings in Seminole County shall be preserved by digital recording means using equipment provided by Court Administration which shall be operated by the Magistrate -- 6 of 12 -- 7 without the need for an electronic reporter to be present. • The Magistrate shall maintain custody of the equipment and record until surrendering it to Court Administration for preservation on or before the end of the work day of the scheduled hearing. • Court Administration shall pick up and deliver the recording device to the Magistrate. • The court deputy shall ensure that all participants refrain from tampering with equipment including the inappropriate use of microphone mute buttons or the unauthorized removal of microphones from their original location. • Counsel All participating counsel must be constantly aware of the special requirements for making a clear, reliable, and transcribable recording. • Counsel must speak loudly, distinctly, and only from a position at or near a microphone. • Counsel must make all directions and explanations verbally and should aid and direct all witnesses as needed. • Attorneys shall inform their clients of the method of recording being utilized and take necessary precautions to protect disclosure of confidential communication during the proceeding. • ALTERATION OR CIRCUMVENTION OF RECORDING SYSTEM PROHIBITED Alteration or circumvention of the court’s recording system is prohibited. • All parties shall work on the assumption that their conversations are being recorded while in the courtroom. • Cassette Taped Recordings The Clerk of Court shall provide storage space and safekeeping for all taped recordings of court proceedings for the appropriate record retention period. 2. • The Digital Court Recording Office shall follow court orders regarding sealed and expunged files, and to what extent recordings of proceedings in those cases should be released. • All persons performing court reporting transcription services shall comply with all applicable court rules and standards established by the State Courts System and the Chief Judge of this circuit. 2. • In order to obtain a transcript, a person must make a written request and pay the requisite fees to the transcriber. • An original and at least one copy of proceedings shall be transcribed and the transcriber shall file the original with the clerk. 3. • Requests for Copies of Tapes and Digital Recordings All requests for a written transcript or a copy of an original recording must be submitted in writing to the Digital Court Recording Office. • If the request is for transcripts or copies of original recordings which may include confidential information, including but not limited to juvenile dependency, the request must be accompanied by an appropriate court order. • Production When a transcript of a judicial proceeding or a portion of a judicial proceeding is requested from the Circuit Court Reporters or from the Digital Court Reporters, -- 8 of 12 -- 9 an accurate and timely transcript shall be produced in accordance with rule 2.535(f), Florida Rules of Judicial Administration, and rule 9.200(b), Florida Rules of Appellate Procedure. 5. • Original Transcript of Proceedings to be Filed Unless otherwise ordered by the Court, the original transcript of the proceeding shall be filed with the Clerk of Court. 6. • If the court reporter is present and paid for with state funds, the Digital Court Recording Office will notify the requestor that the digital recording is not the “official court record.” If a circuit court reporter records a proceeding (trial, hearing, or other court event), the request for a transcript of the proceeding shall be submitted to the court reporter. • In addition, all off-record conversations between attorneys and their clients are protected by the attorney-client privilege and shall remain confidential. • The Digital Recording Office shall review recordings to be given to the public at large to ensure that matters protected from disclosure by court rule or Florida law are not disseminated. • Anyone who has or gains access to any recordings produced from the electronic court record shall not reveal, divulge, utilize in any fashion, or transcribe any attorney-client statements, conversations, or similar confidential communications that are monitored, intercepted, and/or recorded in the courts of the Eighteenth Judicial Circuit, unless otherwise provided by specific order of the Court. 8. • Certification of Transcripts or Electronic Recordings All persons transcribing digital recordings, whether court personnel or independent contract transcriptionist, shall certify the transcript as a true and accurate text of the digital recording of the proceeding or deposition. • All court -- 9 of 12 -- 10 personnel providing a copy of the original recording on electronic medium, such as compact disk, shall certify the copy to be true and accurate. • If any portion of the recording is redacted from a copy of the audio recording, the Digital Court Reporter shall provide in the certification an accurate record of the date and time of the redaction and indicate that the redaction is for an off-record conversation as the term is utilized in paragraph 8. • If any dispute arises as to whether any transcript truly discloses what occurred, the disputing party shall motion the presiding court for settlement of the dispute, and, upon order of the court, the transcript shall be made to conform accordingly. • Copies of audio/video recordings may be made available to attorneys of record, parties to a case, and self-represented litigants upon request so long as an acknowledgement is provided with the copy that states confidential information may be contained on the recording, further dissemination of confidential information contained on the recording is prohibited, and violation of the prohibition against the dissemination may subject the requestor to an action for contempt of court. 9. • In all trials in which the State seeks the death penalty, and in capital post- conviction proceedings, in-court stenographic court reporting services must be used. • The use of digital court reporting as the court reporting system is prohibited. • All persons approved by the Court to perform court reporting transcription services shall give priority to capital cases in the production of transcripts, and shall use all measures necessary to expedite the preparation of the transcript, including but not limited to: 1. • The Court Reporter in these cases shall provide, upon request, transcripts of individual testimony within 48 hours of the request. • The Court Reporter shall be paid from state funds to prepare and provide the finalized and certified transcript in these cases within 30 days of the end of the trial or proceeding. • D. ”Loaning out” of stenographic notes is prohibited in capital cases to ensure that the court reporter has immediate access to the notes for production of the transcript. -- 10 of 12 -- 11 E. • Use of only the digital recording to transcribe a proceeding without the in-court stenographic reporter’s notes is prohibited unless those notes are destroyed or lost. • Judges shall give immediate instruction to the court reporter to begin transcription upon the return of the verdict in capital cases and immediately initiate an order approving the production of the transcript. • The contracted court reporting agency shall assure that any court reporter assigned to death penalty or capital post-conviction proceedings is aware and capable of complying with these requirements. • The party scheduling an electronically recorded deposition shall be responsible for safekeeping the recording of any testimony. • Any party requesting transcription shall be responsible for notifying all parties that transcription is being requested and obtaining a competent transcriber. • ELECTRONIC COURT RECORDING Fee schedules for transcripts or copies of electronically recorded proceedings or depositions required to be reported at public expense shall be on file in the Digital Court Recording Office. • COURT RECORDING BY INDEPENDENT CONTRACTORS Fees and rates for the recording and transcription by independent contract court reporters of court proceedings or deposition required to be reported at public expense shall be as set forth in the court reporting contracts. • SIGNAGE Appropriate signs shall be placed outside all courtrooms and hearing rooms where digital court recording or monitoring is being utilized to capture the records. • Signs noticing the use of microphones shall also be posted on the counsel table and podiums. • The signs shall provide notice to all who enter the courtroom or hearing room of the use of digital court recording and that any conversations may be recorded. • ON-SITE SUPPORT To ensure the reliability, integrity, safekeeping, and accurate transcription of the record, the Digital Court Recording Office shall maintain daily on-site support and management personnel. • OWNERSHIP OF THE OFFICIAL RECORD -- 11 of 12 -- 12 The Court shall retain ownership and control over the official record whether it is in paper or electronic format.
COURT REPORTING _____________________________________________________________________________________ Whereas, rule 2.535(h)(3), Florida Rules of Judicial Administration, requires that the chief judge, after consultation with the circuit and county court judges in the Eighteenth Judicial Circuit, shall enter an administrative order developing and implementing a circuit-wide plan for the court reporting of all proceedings required to be reported at public expense using either full or part-time court employees or independent contractors;
Reviewer note: Document sha256: 9a1910717ab23329c8394fd89c0011975aee3b78adb9a48831fdee1f35309dc6 (188852 bytes). BenchPath harvested this circuit itself because no research corpus existed for it. Extraction is conservative: mandatory-language sentences only, so this rule is a faithful subset of the order, never a summary of it.
The 17th Circuit's circuit-wide AI disclosure/certification mandate (Jan 2026, twice amended) was VACATED in its entirety effective June 15, 2026 by Chief Judge Phillips's AO 2026-19-Gen, expressly citing the statewide framework (AOSC26-12; Rule 2.515(d)(2), SC2026-0673). Several division procedure pages still cite the vacated order.
Every circuit-civil case reviewed within 120 days of commencement and assigned a track (complex, streamlined, or general); case management orders required; firm continuance policy; sanctions for missed deadlines. Rescinds AO 21-09.
Circuit-civil hearing-availability standards: motion calendars ~2 weeks from request; 15-30 min special sets within 45-60 days; longer special sets scale.