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37 verbatim mandatory provisions from Biography: Moody, Laura.
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. • The subject line of any e-mail to the judicial office must contain the case number, case name, and relevant matter (e.g., 2024 CF 001234 – State v. • The judicial office does not accept text messages. • Ex parte Communications: • All communications with the judicial office must comply with Canon 3 of the Code of Judicial Conduct, which prohibits a judge from initiating, permitting, or considering ex parte communications and from considering other communications outside the presence of the parties concerning a pending or impending proceeding, unless authorized by law. • All parties must be copied on any e-mail directed to the judicial office, including to the Judicial Assistant, unless an ex parte communication is authorized by law. -- 1 of 10 -- 2 • Unsolicited Communications: • Parties may only contact the judicial office in accordance with these practices and procedures. • Unsolicited communications from non- parties will not be considered by the court. • E-Filing Portal Contact Information: • All attorneys and self-represented litigants must make and receive service by e-mail, which is generally through the Florida Courts E- Filing Portal, unless excused. • Hearings are scheduled by contacting the assigned Judicial Assistant. -- 2 of 10 -- 3 • Notice of Hearing: • A notice of hearing must be filed and served immediately after reserving hearing time, with a copy emailed to the Judicial Assistant. • Any failure to comply with this procedure may result in the Court unilaterally cancelling the hearing. • A notice of hearing involving any remote appearance must list the judge’s Virtual Courtroom credentials. • All notices of hearing must contain the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) notification required by Florida Rule of General Practice and Judicial Administration 2.540. • A notice of hearing must include the full name of the motion, docket number of the motion, and length of time reserved for the motion. • Continuance Procedure: • Counsel may make ore tenus motions on the day of the event (Docket Sounding, Calendar Call). • A written motion filed prior to the court event is not required. • Agreed continuances prior to a court event should be presented in the form of a motion stating the reason for the continuance, to the JA no later than two days prior to the event for processing. • Please include a copy of the email showing counsel’s agreement. • Cancelling Hearings: • You must cancel hearings by notifying the judicial assistant immediately. • You must also immediately file and serve a notice of cancellation on opposing counsel, self-represented litigant, and the judicial assistant. • Opposed requests to use communication technology for an appearance must be made by motion. • If there is an objection to the use of communication technology for a hearing or trial, the objection must be filed no later than 10 days prior to the hearing or trial. • Attorneys may appear remotely for Docket Sounding or Violation of Probation Arraignment without the necessity of filing a motion. • However, attorneys appearing remotely will ordinarily be addressed last. • Attorneys must request permission (to appear remotely) from the Court via email at least 48 hours prior to a hearing - for any other hearing other than Docket Sounding and VOP arraignment - and must provide a phone number for the Court to directly reach the attorney if problems arise with use of the communication technology. • Requirements for Virtual Appearances: • Any person appearing remotely must be in a private location that is quiet and free from distractions. • Under no circumstances will a participant be permitted to appear remotely from a moving vehicle. • Any person appearing remotely must dress and behave professionally in the same manner as if physically present in the courtroom. • If a witness appears remotely, the party calling the witness must ensure the witness has a functioning camera and microphone and has tested the internet connection before the hearing. • Submission of Orders and Judgments • Format and Submission Method: • All proposed orders must be either submitted in Word format by email to the assigned Judicial Assistant or uploaded to the e-portal (unopposed orders only). • All proposed orders must be accompanied by a cover letter either (1) certifying that all parties agree to the order or (2) containing a statement identifying any disagreement of the parties as to the proposed order. • Opposed orders must be submitted in Word format identifying disagreements utilizing the redline or “track changes” feature in -- 4 of 10 -- 5 Word so that a single document is submitted for the Court’s entry. • Unless a Defendant is in custody, the Defendant must be present at VOP Arraignment, unless waived by counsel. • Counsel must appear at VOP Arraignment (in person or virtually) to set the case for the next court date – the Court will not automatically schedule the case for a VOP Hearing. • Calendar Call. • This Division uses a Violation of Probation Calendar Call as an intermediate Court date prior to a hearing. • Continuances are discouraged. • Motions for Early Termination of Probation • All Motions for Early Termination must first be provided to the Office of the State Attorney to obtain the position of the State and Probation. • After 10 business days have lapsed without a response and upon seeking the State’s position as to a Motion for Early Termination, the Court will conclude the State has no objection and will consider the Motion for Early Termination on the face of the pleadings. • If the Motion for Early Termination is unopposed, the party requesting early termination must provide a proposed order for the Court to enter terminating supervision. • Calendar Call and Trial Periods • Calendar Call • Defendants are required to attend Calendar Call in person, unless prior permission is given by the Court to allow a waiver of appearance. • Attorneys of record are required to be present in person for Calendar Call, unless prior approval is given by the Court to attend via the Court’s Virtual Courtroom. • Written Motions to Continue Trial must be filed prior to the Calendar Call and will be addressed on the day of the Calendar Call, unless the Court allows an exception. -- 6 of 10 -- 7 • Attorneys, self-represented litigants, parties, and witnesses are expected to be available during the entire trial period. • All Motions to Suppress, Motions to Dismiss, or substantive motions must be filed seven (7) days prior to Calendar Call. • Motions requiring more than two (2) hours of hearing time should be set at least seven (7) days prior to Trial. • Defendants may be placed on a two-hour call (where both parties and attorneys are expected to be ready for trial with two hours’ notice) or set for the first day of trial or other date as directed by the Court. • Order of Trials • Parties will typically be given an Order of Trials prior to the first day of the trial period, showing the general order the Court will take cases. • Attorneys, self- represented litigants, parties, and witnesses are expected to be available during the entire trial period. • The Judicial Assistant will typically email a “Must Appear” list to the attorneys who have trials set the next morning or afternoon. • Plea Forms • Written plea forms are required for all pleas and may be found at the following link: https://flcourts18.org/judge-moodys-forms- page/. • Drug Offender Conditions. • If a defendant’s sentence after a plea will include drug offender conditions, or the defendant will be placed on drug offender probation, the defendant must read, initial, and sign a “Drug Conditions” form and attach that form to the plea agreement. • Community Control Conditions. • If a defendant’s sentence after a plea will include community control conditions, the defendant must -- 7 of 10 -- 8 read, initial, and sign a “Community Control Conditions” form and attach that form to the plea agreement. • Counsel shall meet and confer on all motions prior to setting for hearing. • Any motion filed and not set or attempted to be set within six (6) months of the filing shall be considered abandoned, waived, and deemed denied. • Pursuant to Fla. • Rule 2.515, every document filed or served must be signed by the attorney, unrepresented party, or other person authorized by law to file or serve the document as provided in this rule. • On filing, each signer represents that: • The signer has read the document; to the best of the signer’s knowledge, information, and belief, there are good grounds to support the document; the document is not interposed for delay; and the legal authorities identified exist and are accurately cited. • If it appears that the parties will be stipulating to an expert report finding a defendant competent or incompetent, the defendant must be present at the competency status date. • Interpreter Requests: • If an interpreter is needed for a hearing or trial, it is the responsibility of the attorney representing the defendant or the attorney calling the witness who needs interpreter services to contact Court Administration to have the interpreter present for the hearing. • Information on interpreters’ services can be found on the 18th Judicial Circuit’s website. • Motions to Withdraw: • However, if there is another reason for the withdrawal (such as irreconcilable differences), a hearing must be set, and the defendant must be present for a Motion to Withdraw hearing. • If a defendant has filed a JAC Motion, the attorney must submit the JAC response to the motion and a proposed order that complies with the JAC’s response. • An order for accounting must be submitted to the Court as soon as possible after the resolution of a case where JAC funds were utilized. • ADA ACCOMMODATIONS LANGUAGE: • Park Avenue, Sanford, FL 32771, 407-665-4227, at least 7 days before your scheduled court appearance, or immediately on receiving this notification if the time before the scheduled appearance is less than 7 days; if you are hearing or voice impaired, call 711. -- 10 of 10 --
The subject line of any e-mail to the judicial office must contain the case number, case name, and relevant matter (e.g., 2024 CF 001234 – State v.
Reviewer note: Document sha256: ccb962bbd890643decafb213cebb302dfa32de7c61b6c43685fe22d70ad873c5 (198804 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.
A DV injunction petition is reviewed promptly; the court may issue a temporary injunction ex parte, and when it does, a full evidentiary hearing is generally set within 15 days. There is no filing fee.
Judge Lee requires a detailed emergency motion stating the issues, why an emergency hearing is necessary, and the presentation time needed — the FSC-template standard now appearing across 2026 division procedures.
Judge Thomas: an emergency motion not properly filed with the clerk will not be treated as an emergency — the clerk channel is the only emergency channel.