| 1 | A bill to be entitled |
| 2 | An act relating to the judiciary; amending s. 26.031, |
| 3 | F.S.; increasing the number of circuit court judges in the |
| 4 | Twentieth Judicial Circuit; amending s. 34.022, F.S.; |
| 5 | increasing the number of county court judges in Collier |
| 6 | and Lee Counties; providing for appointment of certain |
| 7 | additional judges; providing for qualification and |
| 8 | election of certain additional judges; providing |
| 9 | legislative findings; providing effective dates. |
| 10 |
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| 11 | Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: |
| 12 |
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| 13 | Section 1. Effective April 1, 2006, subsection (20) of |
| 14 | section 26.031, Florida Statutes, as amended by section 2 of |
| 15 | chapter 2005-150, Laws of Florida, is amended to read: |
| 16 | 26.031 Judicial circuits; number of judges.--The number of |
| 17 | circuit judges in each circuit shall be as follows: |
| 18 |
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| 19 | JUDICIAL CIRCUIT TOTAL |
| 20 | (20) Twentieth 27 23 |
| 21 | Section 2. Effective April 1, 2006, subsections (11) and |
| 22 | (35) of section 34.022, Florida Statutes, as amended by section |
| 23 | 4 of chapter 2005-150, Laws of Florida, are amended to read: |
| 24 | 34.022 Number of county court judges for each county.--The |
| 25 | number of county court judges in each county shall be as |
| 26 | follows: |
| 27 |
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| 28 | COUNTY TOTAL |
| 29 | (11) Collier 4 3 |
| 30 | (35) Lee 8 7 |
| 31 | Section 3. Effective January 2, 2007, subsection (20) of |
| 32 | section 26.031, Florida Statutes, as amended by this act, is |
| 33 | amended to read: |
| 34 | 26.031 Judicial circuits; number of judges.--The number of |
| 35 | circuit judges in each circuit shall be as follows: |
| 36 |
|
| 37 | JUDICIAL CIRCUIT TOTAL |
| 38 | (20) Twentieth 31 27 |
| 39 | Section 4. (1) The judicial offices created in sections 1 |
| 40 | and 2 of this act shall be filled through appointment by the |
| 41 | Governor. Judges appointed as provided in this subsection shall |
| 42 | take office for a term beginning on April 1, 2006. |
| 43 | (2)(a) The judicial offices created in section 3 of this |
| 44 | act may not be appointed by the Governor but shall be filled by |
| 45 | election in 2006 pursuant to chapter 105, Florida Statutes. |
| 46 | Candidates for those judicial offices shall qualify as provided |
| 47 | in chapter 105, Florida Statutes. |
| 48 | (b) The Legislature finds that no emergency exists and |
| 49 | that public business does not require immediate appointment of |
| 50 | the judicial offices created in section 3 of this act prior to |
| 51 | the effective date of that section. |
| 52 | (c) Notwithstanding the effective date of section 3 of |
| 53 | this act, the creation of the judicial offices in that section |
| 54 | shall constitute vacancies in office for purposes of qualifying |
| 55 | for the 2006 general election. |
| 56 | Section 5. Except as otherwise expressly provided in this |
| 57 | act, this act shall take effect upon becoming a law. |