03/18/2020
New 6th Circuit Court Protocols during the COVID-19 Pandemic
Although the courts remain open, our goal is to dramatically reduce the number of people reporting to the courthouses each day. Persons who do not have business in the court facilities are requested to refrain from coming into these buildings.
As of March 13, all criminal or civil jury trials, jury selection, and grand jury proceedings in the Sixth Judicial Circuit were canceled until at least March 27th by administrative order of the Florida Supreme Court. All civil, family and probate proceedings were to be done by teleconference or by written submission of memorandum and that is still in effect and will remain in effect until further order of this Court.
On March 17, Anthony Rondolino, chief judge of the Sixth Judicial Circuit, issued a local administrative order; however, several hours later, Charles T. Canady, Chief Justice of the Florida Supreme Court, issued an administrative order (AOSC20-15) which became effective immediately and supersedes the Sixth Circuit’s local order. Click here to read it in its entirety.
https://www.floridasupremecourt.org/content/download/631996/7181425/AOSC20-15.pdf
The Supreme Court has temporarily suspended all jury trials. Essential proceedings listed in the Supreme Court AOSC20-15 will continue to be performed by the court. These are:
1. First appearance hearings, where a defendant appears before a judge within 24 hours of their arrest.
2. Criminal arraignments, where a defendant not in custody enters a plea, but only as necessary.
3. Bond motions for individuals in custody.
4. Detention hearings, where a judge has to decide whether a child should be held.
5. Shelter hearings, when a judge has to decide whether to remove a child from the home.
6. Hearings on petitions for temporary injunctions relating to the safety of an individual.
7. Petitions by law enforcement agencies for risk-protection orders, where someone allegedly posing a threat to someone else or themselves risks losing temporary custody of their fi****ms.
8. Hearings on petitions for the appointment of an emergency temporary guardian.
9. Hearings to determine whether an individual should be involuntarily committed under the state’s Baker or Marchman acts.
10. Hearings on petitions for extraordinary writs as necessary to protect to protect constitutional rights.
11. Proceedings related to a violation of quarantine or isolation, a violation of an order to limit travel, a violation of public or private building closures, and a violation of a curfew.
While conducting these mission-critical proceedings, judges shall employ all methods practicable to minimize risk of COVID-19 exposure to the individuals involved in the proceedings and to the general public. ALL PERSONS ARE REQUESTED TO AVOID UNNECESSARY ATTENDANCE FOR SUCH ESSENTIAL PROCEEDINGS.
A local chief judge may add other essential mission critical proceedings to those listed above and it is anticipated that the Chief Judge here will issue a new local order including such matters.
In the meantime many civil, family and probate hearings and mediation sessions previously set may be held by the use of electronic means, primarily conference calls. Counsel or pro se parties should understand that the Supreme Court order does not permit in person hearings for non-essential proceedings.
Unfortunately, until further order of the court, proceedings not discussed above will be cancelled or suspended. This includes but is not limited to; traffic court hearings of all kinds, local ordinance violations, simplified divorces, small claims matters, mass dockets or calendar calls, small claims pre-trials and any court dockets that would have required the gathering of large numbers of people. Such matters will all need to be rescheduled and conducted after the pandemic emergency passes.
