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Circuit-wide civil-forfeiture procedure: civil-division assignment, the 10-business-day ex parte probable-cause application, 5-day release when probable cause fails, seizure notice and the adversarial preliminary hearing set within 10 days of request, the 45-day (extendable to 60) complaint deadline, the 20-day claimant response, and no court reporter at public expense.
• ORDERED that the procedures set forth in this administrative order are necessary to administer the Court's affairs and shall be followed whenever property is the subject of civil proceedings under the Act. These procedures complement but are not intended to and do not supersede any provisions of the Act and the Rules of Court which are applicable to civil forfeiture actions. • A. Circuit Civil Forfeiture Proceedings Generally — Assigned Judge. In accordance with section 932.704(2), Florida Statutes, of the Florida Contraband Forfeiture Act, all civil forfeiture cases shall be heard before a judge of the civil division. In each county, the Judge assigned to hear civil jury cases is hereby designated as the primary Circuit Court Judge for all forfeiture cases. Court Reporter. Because forfeiture proceedings are civil proceedings, court reporters shall not be provided at public expense. The seizing agency and/or claimant(s) are responsible for securing the services of and paying the cost of court reporting services. • B.1. Application for an Ex-Parte Order Finding Probable Cause for Seizure — In order to obtain a ruling pursuant to section 932.703(2)(a), Florida Statutes, the seizing agency shall, within 10 business days of the seizure, submit an Application for Seizure Probable Cause Determination with an accompanying Affidavit to the court for ex-parte review and ruling. The submission packet must include a proposed Order Finding Probable Cause for Seizure and, as an alternative, a proposed Order Denying Probable Cause for Seizure. If there has not yet been a complaint filed or a circuit civil number issued for the action by the Clerk, the seizing agency shall obtain a civil case number from the Clerk of Court to be used on these papers submitted for ex-parte review. • B.2. Determination of Probable Cause — If the Court finds that the requirements in section 932.703(1)(a), Florida Statutes, have not been met, or that probable cause does not exist for the seizure, any forfeiture hold, lien, lis pendens, or other civil encumbrances must be released within five (5) days. A party should file a notice when appropriate to seal any record or proceeding under the Act which is exempt, or confidential and exempt, from section 119.07(1), Florida Statutes, and section 24(a), Article I of the Florida Constitution, pursuant to Florida Rule of Judicial Administration 2.420. • B.3. Notice of Seizure and Right to Adversary Probable Cause Hearing — Section 932.703(3)(a), Florida Statutes, includes a right to an adversarial preliminary hearing upon request. Pursuant to this statute a specific notice of this right must be provided at the time of seizure of the property or provided by certified mail sent within 5 working days after the seizure. The seizing agency must make a diligent search and inquiry to determine the names and addresses of the owners of the seized property and all persons and entities having any interest under the Act. In order to account for mailing of the request for hearing, the seizing agency must wait a period of at least 5 days after the 15 days prescribed by § 932.703(3)(a), Florida Statutes before attesting to the absence of a request for hearing. When any person receiving the notice requests an adversary hearing in conformity with the statute, the seizing agency is then required to set and notice a hearing. A hearing shall be scheduled so that it is held within 10 days after the request for hearing was received by the seizing agency, or as soon as practicable thereafter, as contemplated by § 932.703(3)(a), Florida Statutes. • B.4. Adversarial Probable Cause Hearing — At the adversarial preliminary hearing, in addition to the verified supporting affidavits, the seizing agency and the party contesting probable cause may offer other affidavits, testimony and documents in support of and in opposition to a finding of probable cause for forfeiture under the Act. Witnesses may be cross-examined as deemed appropriate by the Court. • C. Complaint for Forfeiture and § 932.704(5)(c), Florida Statutes — There is a deadline of 45 days after the seizure to file a formal civil action. This deadline may be extended to 60 days for good cause. Upon filing of the Complaint, affidavit and payment of the appropriate filing fee and posting of a bond pursuant to section 932.704(4), Florida Statutes, to the Clerk of Court, the Clerk of Court shall cause the opening of a circuit civil proceeding which shall be treated in all regards in like manner. • C.2. Notice to Claimant — Section 932.704(5)(c), Florida Statutes, indicates the court shall require any claimant who desires to contest the forfeiture to file and serve upon the attorney for the seizing agency any responsive pleading and affirmative defenses within 20 days after the receipt of the complaint. C.3. Proceedings after Service of Complaint — After service of the summons and complaint, a civil forfeiture action will proceed as other civil actions and shall be governed by the Florida Rules of Civil Procedure except as otherwise specified under the Florida Contraband Forfeiture Act.
Reviewer note: Document sha256: 0ffcaec214d6-prefixed (see source_documents custody row; 639,073 bytes; 15 pages — operative order pp.2-6 read in full; pp.7-15 are the Attachment A-E forms, which the order says may be modified without further changes to the order). Born-scanned order from the 19th's named 14-scan OCR backlog (P1 task 47f5ab4e). Transcription method: page images read at 170 dpi with each quoted provision verified against the image; no raw machine OCR was published. Applicability 2026-09-09 (fix program 2026-09-09, Phase 5, audit M7): specific -> universal — the row binds every court in its state/circuit/county scope and names no court, judge or division. Transcribed verbatim from the court's born-scanned order (no text layer has ever existed publicly; the register PDF was live-fetched 2026-08-19, sha256-matched to the 2026-07 custody row, rasterized at 170 dpi, and each quoted provision was read and verified against the page image at transcription time); whitespace normalised only. The full scanned document remains in custody and is the controlling text. [moved from the text 2026-09-17]
9 verbatim requirements from 4th Circuit Administrative Order 1997-10.
6 verbatim requirements from 4th Circuit Administrative Order 1997-13.