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63 verbatim mandatory provisions from 23-15-s-2nd-amd.
Eighteenth Judicial Circuit. Check the order's own effective and rescission dates before relying on it. Procedural information only; not legal advice.
• All original cases presently assigned to one of those divisions in the clerk's computer shall remain assigned to that division unless the Administrative Judge of the Criminal Division shall order otherwise in a particular case. • The Administrative Judge of the Criminal Division shall be responsible for criminal division operations including, but not limited to, maintaining approximately equal caseload distribution among the various criminal divisions, publication of the Criminal Division Operations Manual, reassignment of cases in which a criminal division judge has recused or been dis qualified, and acting as liaison with other components of the criminal justice system. • The Criminal Division Judges shall 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 back-up judge tried. • Original informations and indictments (except for Capital and Jimmy Ryce cases) shall be randomly assigned so that the four (4) criminal divisions are each assigned to 25% of the cases. • Informations filed directly (before the defendant is taken into custody) shall initially be assigned to Division N. • These cases shall be reassigned by the clerk in accordance with this paragraph when the defendant is taken into custody, unless there is an active pending substantive case with the same defendant it shall be in accordance with paragraph I. • Informations naming multiple defendants shall be assigned to the first judge assigned to the case. • Stat. 782.04(1)(a)3, and Jimmy Ryce Act cases shall be assigned on a rotating basis among the four criminal divisions in alphabetical order beginning with the next division in rotation. • A judge who imposes the death penalty shall remain assigned to the case for all purposes, including all post-trial and post- conviction proceedings, whether or not the judgment and sentence is upheld on appeal, regardless of the division of the court to which that judge may be assigned subsequent to the imposition of the death penalty sentence . • The Chief Judge shall assign these cases if the judge who imposes the death penalty is no longer in office E. • These cases shall be assigned to the judge who is assigned to the division designated on the file. • The Clerk of the Court shall consolidate misdemeanor cases arising out of the same facts as a felony case into the felony case. • All papers in the misdemeanor case shall be filed in the felony case and the case shall be set for arraignment on the next open felony arraignment docket before the assigned judge. • The felony information shall contain the felony case number and show the former misdemeanor case number. • Violations of probation or community control, adult consequences alternatives, habeas corpus actions contesting the legality of a prisoner's detention, and any other action filed in a criminal case shall be assigned to the division designated on the file. • If the file does not contain a current division designation, such as old cases, the case shall be assigned according to the following schedule, using the last two numbers in the case: • The Clerk shall deliver Petitions for Writs of Mandamus, Certiorari, and Prohibition filed in the circuit court and arising out of criminal charges in Seminole County Court to the Criminal Division Administrative Judge for action and assignment within the Criminal Division. • Substantive cases involving the same defendant in two or more divisions in Circuit Court shall be reassigned to the division with the lowest case number, sua sponte, by the clerk unless at least one of the cases has been resolved by trial. • Should a case have been tried as the date of this Order, the judge who tried the case against a defendant shall sentence the defendant on that case and on all other cases then pending for sentencing with that defendant. • Any subsequent substantive new case obtained by the same defendant shall be consolidated with the pending substantive case with the lowest case number. • Consolidation of said new case shall be made by the clerk at the time of the arrest and assignment of the case number, if an information or indictment has not been filed as of that time. • Otherwise, should an information or indictment be filed prior to arrest, the consolidation of said new substantive case shall be made by the clerk at the time of the filing of the information or indictment. • Violations of probation or community control cases involving the same defendant and pending in two or more divisions shall be assigned to the division with the lowest case number sua sponte, by the clerk, or upon motion by either party. • Defendants who have a new substantive felony case in Seminole County and who have a violation of probation or community control pending shall have the new violation case(s) consolidated with the new substantive case if the violation alleges the new substantive case as a ground for the violation. • Consolidation shall be made by the clerk after an information or indictment has been filed in the new substantive case at the next violation of probation or community control arraignment date. • Defendants who are arrested for failure to appear for docket sounding or trial shall be placed on the next docket sounding docket before the assigned judge. • Defendants who are arrested for failure to appear for violations of probation or community control shall be placed on the next violation of probation docket before the assigned judge. • In any case in which a criminal division judge imposes juvenile sanctions, the case shall remain assigned to the criminal division judge, as required by F.S. 985.565(4)(d). 2. • All cases presently assigned to those divisions in the clerk's computer shall remain assigned to that division unless the judge assigned to that division shall order otherwise in a particular case. • All new dependency filings shall be assigned equally by the Clerk to divisions B and P at the time of filing regardless of the case number. • All new delinquency filings against a juvenile who is not on probation or conditional release shall be assigned to the division based upon the mailing address of the juvenile. • A juvenile whose residence or mailing address is Sanford, Midway, Lake Forest, Heathrow, Lake Mary, Lake Monroe, Longwood shall be assigned to Division B. • Any new charge against a juvenile who is on probation or conditional release shall be assigned to the division previously assigned to that case or cases. • New delinquency filings involving co-defendants who would be assigned different divisions because of their mailing addresses or their probationary status shall be assigned to the judge assigned to the co-defendant with the lowest case number until all of the co- defendant cases are resolved. • Any violation of probation companion cases shall also be assigned to that judge for resolution 3. • The probate, guardianship, and mental health division shall be assigned to the juvenile divisions. • All probate, guardianship, and mental health cases pending on July 1, 2022, or filed thereafter shall be assigned as follows: • All matters pending in probate, guardianship, and mental health cases shall be heard at the Juvenile Justice Center. • The clerk shall make arrangements to store or transport any files not electronically available through the Judicial Viewer or Clerks online electronic file system to the Juvenile Justice Center in time for scheduled hearings or at the request of the judge. • Consolidation and/or Transfer of Probate and Guardianship Cases All probate cases involving the same individual in any pending guardianship matter in Seminole County circuit court shall be reassigned to the division with the corresponding guardianship case, sua sponte, by the clerk, unless the guardianship case has been closed. • The Clerk of Court shall upon the filing of any new probate cases, assign the probate case to the division of any pending guardianship case involving the same decedent /ward. • If there is no guardianship case pending, then it shall be assigned according to 3A, supra. • 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 shall 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 was filed, and status of the guardianship. • However, attorneys opening a guardianship case for a minor child of decedent shall file a Notice of Related Cases in the guardianship case and the probate case, indicating the indicating the guardianship case number(s), the guardianship case name, the jurisdiction where the guardianship was filed, and status of the guardianship. 5. • The civil division (including forfeiture cases, but excluding Jimmy Ryce Act cases) shall be comprised of divisions G, K, Land W. • All pending general civil cases filed prior to July 1, 2022 shall be randomly reassigned so that each division receives an equal and proportionate share of each case type. • Any new civil case filed on July 1, 2022, and after shall be randomly assigned so that each division will receive an equal and proportionate share of each case type. C. • Any general civil case that is not presently assigned in the clerk's computer to divisions G, K, L or W shall be reassigned when reactivated on a rotating basis among the divisions beginning with the next division in rotation. 6. • All open family cases and supplemental petition or reopened family cases that were originally transferred from Division L to divisions G, K, and W on July 1, 2021 shall be transferred back to division L on July 1, 2023. • Further, all remaining pending family matters filed after July 1, 2021, in divisions G, K, and W shall be randomly reassigned so that each division has an equal and proportionate share of family cases as of July 1, 2023. • Any new family case filed on July 1, 2023, and after shall be randomly assigned so that each division will receive an equal and proportionate share of each case type with the exception of actions filed pursuant to F.S. 741.30 which shall be assigned pursuant to the existing Family Division - Model Family Court Administrative Order. • Any family case that is not presently assigned in the clerk’s computer to divisions G, K, L or W shall be reassigned when reactivated on a rotating basis among the divisions beginning with the next division in rotation . 7. • Upon the filing of a Petition for Injunction for Protection Against Domestic Violence which qualifies as a Unified Family Court injunction as defined in existing Family Division - Model Family Court Administrative Order, the clerk shall assign the Petition per the injunction duty rotation. • S. 784.048 shall be forwarded along to the Seminole County judge designated in a rotation furnished to the clerk from the Seminole County Court judges to handle injunctions for that particular week. • The exception to the above provision is that any Petition seeking an Injunction for Protection Against Sexual Violence in which it is alleged that sexual violence is perpetrated by a child or upon a child shall be transferred and reassigned to a presiding juvenile division circuit judge for a return/review hearing. • A Seminole County Judge initially shall review the Petition to determine the necessity of a Temporary Injunction, Hearing on the Petition or Dismissal. • If a Temporary Injunction is entered or hearing granted, then the reassignment and transfer to a Juvenile Division Circuit Judge shall occur without delay and the assigned Juvenile Division Circuit Judge shall conduct such return hearing in accordance with the time limitations required by law. 8. • Any Circuit Judge may elect to retain assignment of individual cases and shall accomplish this by entering an order directing to the Clerk not to reassign the case. 9. • Habeas Corpus actions in pending cases shall be assigned to the division in that case. • A new Habeas Corpus action that does not allege unlawful detention in a jail, correctional facility, juvenile detention facility or medical facility shall be assigned to each division like other general civil cases. • Habeas Corpus actions related to a probate, guardianship, or mental health case shall be assigned as follows: • Habeas Corpus actions related to a juvenile case shall be assigned to the judge assigned to the case if the detention alleged to be illegal involves a delinquency case pending in the Juvenile Division. • Other Habeas Corpus actions involving a juvenile who is detained in the Juvenile Detention Center, the County Jail or other state detention or commitment facility shall be assigned as follows:
All original cases presently assigned to one of those divisions in the clerk's computer shall remain assigned to that division unless the Administrative Judge of the Criminal Division shall order otherwise in a particular case.
Reviewer note: Document sha256: 62ba070a51307c5e54b01cfd1aa9353aba4807ce4aa7388404fe588af855a2ba (248887 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. Text layer cleaned 2026-09-08 (Phase 3a): page markers removed; wording untouched. 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. [moved from the text 2026-09-14]
4 verbatim requirements on hearings.
2 verbatim requirements on hearing time in LAUREN N. PEFFER's division.