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30 verbatim mandatory provisions from 22-23.
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. • WHEREAS, in an effort to ensure the effective administration of justice, it is necessary that a policy be established to provide certain basic principles concerning court interpreters in the Eighteenth Judicial Circuit NOW, THEREFORE, pursuant to the authority vested in me as Chief Judge of the Eighteenth Judicial Circuit of Florida under Florida Rule of Judicial Administration 2.215, the Chief Judge orders that all judges, judicial assistants, trial clerks, and attorneys appearing in this Court, as well as Court Administration, shall abide by the following: -- 1 of 4 -- 2 1. • Spoken language interpreter services shall not be provided for persons summoned for jury service. 2. • In cases where a court interpreter is required to be provided pursuant to the terms of this Order, it is the responsibility of the attorney or self-represented litigant to make an appropriate request for services to the Court Interpreter Services department. • If the services of an interpreter are needed at a hearing or trial, the attorney must inform the judicial assistant when scheduling the hearing. • Opposing counsel must inform the judicial assistant of the need for interpreter services as soon as counsel is made aware of the need. • Once the need for an interpreter has been determined, the requesting party must contact the Court Interpreter’s office. • If interpreter services are needed, the attorney shall inform the Court Interpreter’s office no less than five (5) business days in advance of the scheduled date for Spanish interpreters, and seven (7) all other foreign languages. • Emergency requests and same day requests shall be covered whenever possible, depending upon the availability of resources. 4. • In the event of a conflict concerning the severity of the offense, the chief judge or his designee shall decide which case will be given precedence. • Trials requiring foreign language interpretation shall be coordinated with the Court Interpreter’s Office no less than five (5) business days in advance from the scheduled date for Spanish interpreters and for languages other than Spanish, no less than ten (10) business days in advance of the scheduled date. • A single division shall not order interpreters for more than one time-certain trial on a single day. 7. • The Court’s interpreters shall not sit in the jury box with a defendant and shall not accompany an attorney into a holding cell to conduct “in-custody” client interviews, except when a unique circumstance occurs which requires the court to proceed to a holding cell to advise a defendant of certain consequences of his actions where a defendant refuses to leave a holding cell. 8. • The Court’s interpreters shall not hold discussions or offer interpretation to defendants unless directed by the court and in the presence of defendant’s counsel. • Interpreters may sight translate brief court documents during a court proceeding, but shall not explain court documents, procedures, or otherwise communicate with litigants outside of the court proceeding. • Interpreters shall not be required to translate disposition reports or case plans during court proceedings due to the excessive length of the document. 10. • The Court’s interpreters shall not assist defendants after court, except to receive court minutes, judgments and sentencing paperwork. • If foreign language audio or video recordings are to be used as evidence in a trial or hearing, the party offering the recordings shall have them transcribed and translated into English at his or her own expense, or as provided for indigent criminal defendants, and shall provide in advance a copy of the recordings, foreign language transcripts, and transcripts of the English translation to opposing counsel and the court. • The court interpreter shall not interpret audio or video recordings during court proceedings. 12. • If the need for an interpreter arises during the weekend or holiday, the trial clerk shall utilize the language line service. 13. • The Court’s interpreter services shall be provided for NES parents or guardians of a minor who are directly involved in a juvenile court proceeding. • Interpreter services shall be provided to any NES individual who is served a summons to appear before the court due to his or her direct involvement in a minor’s juvenile court proceeding. 14. • The Court’s interpreter services shall be provided for domestic, dating, repeat and sexual violence injunction hearings to indigent NES parties. • At the time the case has been set for hearing, the clerk shall provide the parties an affidavit for indigency. • Based upon the affidavit, the clerk shall notify Court Administration if there is an indication that interpreter services may be needed. 15. • The presiding judge shall call cases involving the use of interpreters before other matters but shall not be required to interrupt a proceeding that has already begun. • Interpreters shall move to their next assignment if the presiding judge does not utilize the interpreter’s services within 15 minutes of their arrival, or the conclusion of the immediate case before the court, whichever -- 3 of 4 -- 4 occurs first. • The Court Interpreter’s Office will be notified when the interpreter is to return to the courtroom if the case for which their services are required is ready to be heard. • When interpreters are requested for a general trial call, only one interpreter shall be present to assist with possible pleas or negotiations. • Every effort shall be made to minimize the length of time the interpreter must remain in the courtroom. 16. • Every effort must be made to obtain and use the most qualified interpreter for each court proceeding.
WHEREAS, in an effort to ensure the effective administration of justice, it is necessary that a policy be established to provide certain basic principles concerning court interpreters in the Eighteenth Judicial Circuit NOW, THEREFORE, pursuant to the authority vested in me as Chief Judge of the Eighteenth Judicial Circuit of Florida under Florida Rule of Judicial Administration 2.215, the Chief Judge orders that all judges, judicial assistants, trial clerks, and attorneys appearing in this Court, as well as Court Administration, shall abide by the following: -- 1 of 4 -- 2 1.
Reviewer note: Document sha256: 2757d088abd5cc00b3db520271ab4931381b5a3febd420bb70a623f334a799f6 (36840 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.