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24 verbatim requirements from admin. order AO 3.3 - Florida Contraband Forfeiture Act (2/5/92) [Criminal].
20th Judicial Circuit. Procedural information only; not legal advice.
Verbatim from https://www.ca.cjis20.org/pdf/ao/ao_3_3.pdf, harvested 2026-07-25; whitespace normalised only. • To the extent that this order is in any way inconsistent with that opinion, the opinion shall control and ti' shall be binding upon all parties to forfeiture proceedings. • In any action for the forfeiture of real property, the state must provide notice and schedule an adversarial hearing for interested parties prior to any initial restraint other than lis pendens. • The action shall be commenced by the state's filing of a petition for rule to show cause in the circuit court where the property is located or where the crime is alleged to have taken place. • The state shall simultaneously record a notice of its petition with the appropriate property records clerk.of court, which will serve as a lis pendens. -- 1 of 5 -- • The state must then immediately schedule an adversarial preliminary hearing with the appropriate circuit judge as contemplated by Administrative Order 2.11 (formerly • This hearing shall take place within ten (10) days of the filing of the petition unless an extension of time is granted by the court upon joint application of the parties. • Notice of the petition and the adversarial preliminary hearing must be served on all interested parties. • At that hearing, the court shall authorize seizure of the personal property if it finds probable cause to maintain the forfeiture action. - 2 - -- 2 of 5 -- • After the ex parte seizure of personal property, the state must immediately notify all interested parties that they have the right to request a post-seizure adversarial preliminary hearing. • If requested, the preliminary hearing shall be held before the appropriate circuit judge as contemplated by Administrative • In all forfeiture cases, notice shall be served on all persons whom the law enforcement agency knows, or with reasonable investigation should know, have a legal interest in the subject property. • Notice shall advise those persons that a forfeiture action is pending against the property or properties which are specifically identified therein. - 3 - -- 3 of 5 -- • In real property forfeiture actions, notice must advise interested parties of the time and place of the.adversarial preliminary hearing. • In personal property forfeiture actions notice must advise interested parties that they have a right to an adversarial preliminary hearing upon request. • If the state establishes probable cause, the court shall order the property restrained throughout the pendency of the forfeiture action by the least restrictive means necessary under the circumstances. • All forfeiture actions shall commence by the filing of a petition for issuance of a rule to show cause in the circuit court where the property was restrained or where the alleged offense occurred. • The petition shall be assigned as contemplated by Administrative Order 2.11. • If the court determines that the petition is facially sufficient to state a cause of action for forfeiture, the court shall sign and issue the rule. • A copy of the petition and rule shall be served on all persons who the agency knows, or with reasonable investigation should know, have a legal interest in the property. • The rule to show cause shall also require that • responsive pleadings and affirmative defenses be filed within - 4 - -- 4 of 5 -- twenty (20) days of service of the rule to show cause. • The contents of the required notice shall be as set forth previously in this order. • The required notices shall be 9repared by the state and provided by the state to all interested persons as set forth previously. • The Florida Rules of Civil Procedure shall otherwise control service of process, discovery, and other measures appropriate for the administration of forfeiture proceedings. • The burden of proof at trial shall be as set forth in Department of Law
To the extent that this order is in any way inconsistent with that opinion, the opinion shall control and ti' shall be binding upon all parties to forfeiture proceedings.
Reviewer note: Order PDF sha256: 3c67e4e76749016bf39a440532d60f880eac84afb7796111aee845ac0436683b. 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.