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40 verbatim requirements from admin. order AO 2.41 - Transition to Allow More In-Person Court Proceedings and Services, and to Phase-Out Operational Plan Implemented In Response to COVID-19 (Fifth Amended 01/11/2022) [Judicial].
20th Judicial Circuit. Procedural information only; not legal advice.
Verbatim from https://www.ca.cjis20.org/pdf/ao/AO_2.41_Fifth%20Amended.pdf, harvested 2026-07-25; whitespace normalised only. • AOSC21-l 7, Amendment 3, over which the Ch ief Judge of the Twentieth Judicial Circuit has no discretion, shall govern all court proceedings within the Twentieth Judicial Circuit, regardless of whether they are re-stated within the body of this amended local Administrative Order. • Participants in courtrooms may request to be physically distanced, and the judicial or quasi-judicial officer shall address such requests as appropriate under the circumstances at the time of the request. d. • The following trial court proceedings must be conducted in-person: • Grand Jury selection and proceedings. • Criminal Jury selection and trial proceedings, and Criminal Non- • All other trial court proceedings: i) must be conducted remotely if requested by a party, unless the presiding judicial or quasi-judicial officer determines that the interests of justice require the proceeding to be conducted in person or by a hybrid of the two. ii) should be conducted remotely, as appropriate, to facilitate the efficient and expeditious processing of cases, except that a proceeding must be conducted in-person or by a hybrid of the two if the presiding judicial or quasi-judicial officer determines that remote conduct of the proceeding is inconsistent with the United • Accordingly, the following provisions shall apply uniformly to all criminal proceedings, both county and circuit, within the Twentieth Judicial Circuit: i) Case management, pretrial conferences, and docket soundings shall be conducted remotely so as to allow remote access by parties and attorneys, unless the presiding judge determines on a case-by- case basis that remote conduct of the specific proceeding is inconsistent with the United States or Florida Constitution, a statute, or a rule of court, a court order, or an opinion that has not been suspended by administrative order. • This does not prohibit counsel or parties or members of the public from attending in person, and, _as such, cases do not need to be re-noticed. • It shall be the responsibility of defense counsel to advise their clients that they may attend remotely. • The presiding judicial or quasi-judicial officer in all cases must consider the constitutional rights of crime victims and criminal defendants and the public's constitutional right of access to the courts. e. • To the extent that there may be conflicting needs, the Chief Judge shall have the discretion to determine how best to utilize available resources (including jurors and staff) and facility space. • When the suspension ends and the time periods resume, any time that accrued under the procedure for a person before the suspension began at the close of business on March 13, 2020, must be subtracted from the time periods provided by the procedure. b. • When the suspension ends and the time periods resume, any time that accrued under the procedure for a juvenile before the suspension began at the close of business on March 13, 2020, must be subtracted from the time periods provided by the procedure. • When the suspension ends and the time period resumes, any time that accrued under the procedure for a person before the suspension began at the close of business on March 13 , 2020, must be subtracted from the time period provided by the procedure. • Measures in Response to COVID-19 & Operational Plan for Resumption of Court Proceedings and Services (Fourth Amended), and any other related policies, have been incorporated as a supplement to the Administrative Office of the Courts' Personnel Regulations and shall remain applicable to the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as future pandemics, subject to revision by the • This fifth amended version of local Administrative Order No. 2.41 shall be effective immediately, and supersedes the fourth amended version, and shall remain in effect until otherwise vacated or superseded by further order of this Court or the Supreme Court of • Unless required by any binding law, rule, regulation, or order, a court may not require the wearing of face masks4 or physical distancing in a courthouse; 5 however, a person in a courthouse may choose to wear a face mask. • A face mask must be provided upon request to a participant or observer. • If adopted, ·the policy must apply consistently across all in-person court proceedings in the same courthouse. • All in-person court proceedings must be conducted in a manner consistent with • ( 1) The presiding judge in all cases must consider the constitutional rights of crime victims and criminal defendants and the public 's constitutional right of access to the courts. 7 ·{-2) To maximize the availability of facility space for trial court proceedings that must be conducted in person, each chief judge of a judicial circuit should take all necessary steps to support the remote conduct of other trial court proceedings with the use of technology, in accordance with this administrative order and othe:r applicable standards and guidance as may be adopted by the Chief • Justice or supreme court.a (3) Participants who have the capability of participating by electronic means in remote appellate or trial court proceedings must do so.9 For purposes of this administrative order, "remote • 109. - 5 - r; ;)\ Al '\ . . ~ /.μ . ... ·. ......· -- 15 of 41 -- conduct," "remotely conduct," or "conducted remotely" means the conduct, in part or in whole, of a court proceeding using telephonic or other electronic means.10 (4) All rules of procedure, court orders, and opinions applicable to court proceedings that limit or prohibit the use of communication equipment for the remote conduct of proceedings shall remain suspended. 11 (5) The Chief Justice and chief judges remain authorized to e stablish procedures for the use, to the maximum extent feasible, of communication equipment for the remote conduct of proceedings to facilitate the efficient and expeditious processing of cases . 12 10 . • Florida, provided they can positively identify the witness.13 (2) If a witness is not located within the State of Florida, a witness may consent to being put on oath via audio-video communication technology by a person qualified to administer an oath in the State of Florida.14 (3) All rules of procedure, court orders, and opinions applicable to remote testimony, depositions, and other legal testimony, including the attestation of family law forms, that can be read to limit or prohibit the use of audio-video communication technology to administer oaths remotely or to witness the attestation of family law forms shall remain suspended. 15 • The supervising attorney and law student must maintain a separate, confidential communication channel during the proceedings. • (2) In a law school practice program, the requirement in Rule l l-l.2(b.) of the Rules Regulating The Florida Bar that an indigent person and the supervising attorney must consent in writing to representation by a supervised law student may be satisfied by the judge receiving the consent verbally under oath. • Non-statewide grand jury selection and proceedings, civil jury selection proceedings and trial proceedings, and criminal jury selection proceedings and trial proceedings must be conducted in person, unless a remote civil or criminal jury selection proceeding or trial proceeding is authorized under Section 11 .E.(3). • Hearings to determine whether an individual should be involuntarily committed under the Baker Act or the Marchman Act must be conducted in person unless the facility in which the individual is located is closed to hearing participants due to health and safety measures implemented by the facility for the pandemic or the individual waives the right to physical presence at the hearing . • The cases selected for a remote jury proceeding must be based upon the case being conducive to a remote proceeding and conducted pursuant to the requirements specified in the report titled Requirements and Evaluation Criteria - Remote Civil and • Within 30 days after the remote conduct of a jury selection proceeding or trial proceeding for the first time in a judicial circuit , the circuit must present the results of the proceeding and report its findings and recommendations to the Chief Justice through the state courts administrator . • Il.E.(3)a.ii. are satisfied or, if not, must be conducted in person. ii. • Terminatfon of parental rights and juvenile delinquency cases may be conducted remotely if ordered by the chief judge or the presiding judge or, if not, must be conducted in person. b. • Must be conducted remotely if requested by a party unless the chief judge or presiding judge determines that the interests of justice require the proceeding to be conducted in person . ii. • Should be conducted remotely, as appropriate, to facilitate the efficient and expeditious processing of cases, except that a proceeding must be conducted in person if the chief judge or presiding judge determines that remote conduct of the proceeding is inconsistent - 14 - -- 24 of 41 -- or a rule of court, a court order, or an opinion that has not been suspended by administrative order. • (5) In-Person Trial Court Proceedings. 24 It is the responsibility of the chief judge to ensure that trial court proceedings that must be in person pursuant Section II.E. • Chief judges shall have the discretion to determine how best to utilize available trial court resources and facility space to conduct in - person proceedings, but before making such determination should consider the following priorities listed from highest to lowest : a. • Must direct all judges within their circuits to strictly comply with Florida Rule of General Practice and Judicial • Communicate to the local Bar that lawyers must strictly comply with Florida Rule of General Practice and Judicial • Florida Small Claims Rule 7.090(d) (providing that the trial in a small claims act ion must be set not more than 60 days from the date of the pretrial conference except as otherwise ..,,'i.coun r «· er: specified); • Upon such designation, the action must proceed as provided in the rule . 2 . • Streamlined civil cases must be identified based on criteria determined by the chief judge and specified in the administrative order. • Required the presiding judge to issue a case management order for each streamlined and general civil case that at a minimum specifies the deadlines for service of complaints, service under extensions, and adding new parties and the deadlines by which: fact and expert · discovery must be completed; all objections to pleadings and pretrial motions must be resolved; and mediation must have occurred .
AOSC21-l 7, Amendment 3, over which the Ch ief Judge of the Twentieth Judicial Circuit has no discretion, shall govern all court proceedings within the Twentieth Judicial Circuit, regardless of whether they are re-stated within the body of this amended local Administrative Order.
Reviewer note: Order PDF sha256: daa842e57b9a62d822f00d0a17c68a49c761e18899b76d3debfd22283eb74eb0. Extracted from the order's own text layer.
Judge Bell caps motions and responses at 5 pages for UMC hearings and 12 pages for special-set hearings.
Judge Alijewicz requires every motion for attorney's fees and/or costs to attach a document detailing time records — no records, no fee award.
Judge Corlew bars informal contact: every communication with the Court must be in writing, filed with the Clerk, with copies furnished to all parties — and no calls to the JA to schedule or cancel UMC.