司法管理委员会

六十多年了, the judicial branch has benefitted from the guidance of its judicial management councils (JMCs), which are described as high-level management consultants to the supreme court.  成立于2012年11月, the current JMC—which is the branch’s fifth—was conceived as a “forward-looking advisory body to deftly assist the chief justice and the supreme court in proactively identifying trends, 潜在的危机情况, 以及解决这些问题的方法.JMC的第一任主席, 时任首席大法官瑞奇·波尔斯顿, 称委员会为“分支机构的前灯”, 对未来大放异彩.”

The JMC has 15 voting members: the chief justice and another justice, 各级法院代表, and public members; the state courts administrator is a nonvoting member.  除了, 暂时的, 根据需要, the council invites others to participate as nonvoting members.  至少每季度召开一次会议, the JMC has five areas of responsibility: to identify 潜在的危机情况 affecting the branch and develop strategies for addressing them; to identify and evaluate information that will assist in improving the performance and effectiveness of the branch; to develop and monitor progress related to the branch’s long-range planning endeavors; to review the charges of the various court and Florida Bar commissions and committees, 建议合并或修订, and propose a method for coordinating the work of these bodies; and to address issues that the court brings to the council.  (见 规则2.《bg视讯》.)

The JMC was designed to function as a nimble body that can respond swiftly and dynamically to administrative issues the branch is facing.  This agility is achieved through the creation of workgroups, each of which is charged with specific tasks and usually sunsetted when its tasks are completed.  最初, the chief justice created three workgroups: 表演; 教育 and 外展; and Access to Justice.  工作表现工作小组, after reviewing filing and disposition trends by case type and level of work, made recommendations to the court about how to meet future branch needs for uniform and consistent data reporting and analysis in some crucial performance areas.  The 教育 and 外展 Workgroup—which addressed issues relating to effective internal and external communication, 公众的信任和信心, 并使用清楚, unified messages within and outside the judicial branch—updated the branch-wide communication plan; Delivering Our Message: Court Communication Plan for the Judicial Branch of Florida, January 2016  was approved by the supreme court, and implementation began in January 2016.  The Access to Justice Workgroup began the development of interactive, 基于网络的, guided Do-It-Yourself (“DIY”) interviews to facilitate self-represented litigants’ access to the courts.  该工作组于2020年结束, at which time the Office of the State Courts Administrator in collaboration with the Florida Court Clerks and Comptrollers took over the continued development of DIY interviews.  请参阅 DIY佛罗里达 了解更多信息.

近年来, JMC workgroups have been formed to address trial court security, 监护, 县法院管辖权, 诉讼费及罚款, 对县法院判决进行上诉复审, 和遥远的外表.  Notable outcomes based on or informed by the work of these workgroups have included:

• The implementation of enhanced trial court security measures, 培训, and coordination with law enforcement and other local security partners.
• 建立监护司法培训制度 标准化监护表格 供公众使用.
• The development of an electronic system for the assessment of 诉讼费及罚款 and 培训 for users on the system. 
• The increase of small claims jurisdiction in court rule from $5,000 to $8,000 and the adoption of legislation that increased 县法院管辖权 to $30,从1月1日开始, 2020年将增加到50美元,从1月1日开始, 2023).  
• The adoption of legislation that transferred circuit court authority to hear appeals from most county court final orders and judgments to the district courts of appeal beginning January 1, 2021.
• The development of recommendations to more expansively employ remote technology for the conduct of court proceedings, which were ultimately addressed through rule amendments proposed by the Workgroup on Continuity of the Court Operations and Proceedings During and After COVID-19 in 2021 in 佛罗里达州最高法院案件号. SC21-990.
• The development of recommendations to implement differentiated case management in civil cases. In 佛罗里达州最高法院案件号. SC22-122, the Court made a series of phased referrals for the refinement and study of the Workgroup’s proposals.

At this time, there are three active workgroups under the JMC: 1) the 初审法院司法实务工作小组; 2) the 审判法庭技术策略工作组; and 3) the 诉诸司法问题工作组.

The JMC is also responsible for developing and monitoring the branch’s Long-Range Strategic Plan.  2021年秋天, JMC对该计划进行了最新的更新, 哪些是由最高法院批准的.  实施 2022-2027年长期战略规划 于2022年1月开始.

For more information about the branch’s management councils, please see the Short History of Florida State Courts System Processes, Programs, and Initiatives.