The Florida Senate

440.45  Office of the Judges of Compensation Claims.--

(1)  There is hereby created the Office of the Judges of Compensation Claims within the Department of Labor and Employment Security. The Office of the Judges of Compensation Claims shall be headed by a Chief Judge who shall serve at the pleasure of the Governor and Cabinet. The Chief Judge shall be appointed by the Governor and confirmed by the Cabinet from a list of two names submitted by each of the District Court Judicial Nominating Commissions created by ¹s. 2, Art. V of the State Constitution and s. 43.29. The office shall be a separate budget entity and the Chief Judge shall be its agency head for all purposes. The Department of Labor and Employment Security shall provide administrative support and service to the office to the extent requested by the Chief Judge but shall not direct, supervise, or control the Office of the Judges of Compensation Claims in any manner, including but not limited to personnel, purchasing, budgetary matters, or property transactions. The operating budget of the Office of the Judges of Compensation Claims shall be paid out of the Workers' Compensation Administration Trust Fund established in s. 440.50.

(2)

(a)  The Governor shall appoint full-time judges of compensation claims to conduct proceedings as required by this chapter or other law. No person may be appointed as a judge of compensation claims unless he or she has been a member of The Florida Bar in good standing for the preceding 5 years and is knowledgeable in the law of workers' compensation. No judge of compensation claims shall engage in the private practice of law during a term of office.

(b)  The Governor shall initially appoint a judge of compensation claims from a list of three persons nominated by a statewide nominating commission. The statewide nominating commission shall be composed of the following: 5 members, at least one of whom must be a member of a minority group as defined in s. 288.703(3), one of each who resides in each of the territorial jurisdictions of the district courts of appeal, appointed by the Board of Governors of The Florida Bar from among The Florida Bar members who are engaged in the practice of law; 5 electors, at least one of whom must be a member of a minority group as defined in s. 288.703(3), one of each who resides in each of the territorial jurisdictions of the district courts of appeal, appointed by the Governor; and 5 electors, at least one of whom must be a member of a minority group as defined in s. 288.703(3), one of each who resides in the territorial jurisdictions of the district courts of appeal, selected and appointed by a majority vote of the other 10 members of the commission. No attorney who appears before any judge of compensation claims more than four times a year is eligible to serve on the statewide nominating commission. The meetings and determinations of the nominating commission as to the judges of compensation claims shall be open to the general public.

(c)  Each judge of compensation claims shall be appointed for a term of 4 years, but during the term of office may be removed by the Governor for cause. Prior to the expiration of a judge's term of office, the statewide nominating commission shall review the judge's conduct. The commission shall report its finding to the Governor no later than 6 months prior to the expiration of the judge's term of office. The report of the commission shall include a list of three candidates for appointment. The candidates shall include the judge whose term is expiring, if that judge desires reappointment and the judge's performance is satisfactory upon review by the commission. If a vacancy occurs during a judge's unexpired term, the commission shall issue a report to the Governor which includes a list of three candidates for appointment. The Governor shall review the commission's report, and may select one of the listed candidates. If no candidate is selected, the Governor shall so inform the commission, which shall within 2 months issue a report to the Governor which includes a list of three different candidates for appointment.

(3)  The Chief Judge shall select from among the full time judges of the office two or more judges to rotate as docketing judges. Docketing judges shall review all claims for benefits for consistency with the requirements of this chapter and the rules of procedure, including but not limited to specificity requirements, and shall dismiss any claim that fails to comport with such rules and requirements. The docketing judge shall not dismiss any claim with prejudice without offering the parties an opportunity to appear and present argument. The Chief Judge may as he or she deems appropriate expand the duties of the docketing judges to include resolution without hearing of other types of procedural and substantive matters, including resolution of fee disputes.

(4)  The Chief Judge shall have the discretion to require mediation and to designate qualified persons to act as mediators in any dispute pending before the judges of compensation claims and the division. The Chief Judge shall coordinate with the Director of the Division of Workers' Compensation to establish a mandatory mediation program to facilitate early and efficient resolution of disputes arising under this chapter and to establish training and continuing education for new and sitting judges.

(5)  The Office of the Judges of Compensation Claims shall promulgate rules to effect the purposes of this section. Such rules shall include procedural rules applicable to workers' compensation claim resolution and uniform criteria for measuring the performance of the office, including but not limited to the number of cases assigned and disposed, the age of pending and disposed cases, timeliness of decisionmaking, extraordinary fee awards and other performance indicators. The workers' compensation rules of procedure approved by the Supreme Court shall apply until the rules promulgated by the Office of the Judges of Compensation Claims pursuant to this section become effective.

(6)  Not later than December 1 of each year, the Office of the Judges of Compensation Claims and the Division of Workers' Compensation shall jointly issue a written report to the Governor, the House of Representatives, and the Senate summarizing the amount, cost, and outcome of all litigation resolved in the prior year, summarizing the disposition of applications and motions for mediation conferences and recommending changes or improvements to the dispute resolution elements of the Workers' Compensation Law and regulations.

History.--s. 45, ch. 17481, 1935; CGL 1936 Supp. 5966(43); s. 2, ch. 57-245; s. 1, ch. 61-133; s. 1, ch. 63-179; s. 1, ch. 63-275; s. 1, ch. 65-541; s. 1, ch. 67-515; s. 2, ch. 67-554; s. 1, ch. 69-201; ss. 17, 35, ch. 69-106; s. 1, ch. 70-313; s. 1, ch. 71-290; s. 20, ch. 74-197; s. 3, ch. 74-363; s. 22, ch. 75-209; ss. 14, 23, ch. 78-300; ss. 35, 124, ch. 79-40; ss. 19, 21, ch. 79-312; s. 17, ch. 80-236; s. 16, ch. 83-305; s. 8, ch. 84-267; s. 10, ch. 86-171; ss. 23, 43, ch. 89-289; ss. 39, 56, ch. 90-201; ss. 37, 52, ch. 91-1; s. 34, ch. 91-46; s. 40, ch. 93-415; s. 74, ch. 96-418.

¹Note.--Section 2, Art. V of the State Constitution does not provide for Judicial Nominating Commissions.