Florida Senate - 2018 SENATOR AMENDMENT
Bill No. CS/HB 7061, 1st Eng.
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LEGISLATIVE ACTION
Senate . House
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Floor: WD/2R .
03/08/2018 12:21 PM .
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Senator Passidomo moved the following:
1 Senate Amendment to Amendment (136072) (with title
2 amendment)
3
4 Delete lines 346 - 435
5 and insert:
6 Section 7. Effective upon this act becoming a law,
7 subsection (1) of section 34.01, Florida Statutes, is amended to
8 read:
9 34.01 Jurisdiction of county court.—
10 (1) County courts shall have original jurisdiction:
11 (a) In all misdemeanor cases not cognizable by the circuit
12 courts.;
13 (b) Of all violations of municipal and county ordinances.;
14 (c)1. Of all actions at law in which the matter in
15 controversy does not exceed the sum of $15,000, exclusive of
16 interest, costs, and attorney attorney’s fees, except those
17 within the exclusive jurisdiction of the circuit courts.; and
18 2. Of all actions at law filed on or after January 1, 2020,
19 in which the matter in controversy does not exceed the sum of
20 $20,000, exclusive of interest, costs, and attorney fees, except
21 those within the exclusive jurisdiction of the circuit courts.
22
23 By December 1, 2018, the State Courts Administrator shall make
24 recommendations regarding the potential adjustment of county
25 court jurisdiction to the Governor, the President of the Senate,
26 and the Speaker of the House of Representatives. The
27 recommendation must include an analysis on workflow, timely
28 access to court by litigants, and any resulting fiscal impact to
29 the state as a result of adjusted jurisdictional limits.
30 (d) Of disputes occurring in the homeowners’ associations
31 as described in s. 720.311(2)(a), which shall be concurrent with
32 jurisdiction of the circuit courts.
33 Section 8. Subsections (9), (12), (17), and (28) of section
34 34.022, Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
35 34.022 Number of county court judges for each county.—The
36 number of county court judges in each county shall be as
37 follows:
38
39 COUNTY TOTAL
40 (9) Citrus............................................2 1
41 (12) Columbia.........................................2 1
42 (17) Flagler..........................................2 1
43 (28) Hillsborough...................................19 17
44 Section 9. Paragraphs (a) and (b) of subsection (1) of
45 section 34.041, Florida Statutes, are amended, and paragraph (e)
46 is added to that subsection, to read:
47 34.041 Filing fees.—
48 (1)(a) Filing fees are due at the time a party files a
49 pleading to initiate a proceeding or files a pleading for
50 relief. Reopen fees are due at the time a party files a pleading
51 to reopen a proceeding if at least 90 days have elapsed since
52 the filing of a final order or final judgment with the clerk. If
53 a fee is not paid upon the filing of the pleading as required
54 under this section, the clerk shall pursue collection of the fee
55 pursuant to s. 28.246. Upon the institution of any civil action,
56 suit, or proceeding in county court, the party shall pay the
57 following filing fee, not to exceed:
58 1. For all claims less than $100.....................$50.
59 2. For all claims of $100 or more but not more than
60 $500........................................................$75.
61 3. For all claims of more than $500 but not more than
62 $2,500.....................................................$170.
63 4. For all claims of more than $2,500 but not more than
64 $20,000....................................................$295.
65 5. For all claims of more than $20,000 $395.
66
67 ================= T I T L E A M E N D M E N T ================
68 And the title is amended as follows:
69 Delete lines 587 - 594
70 and insert:
71 34.01, F.S.; increasing the limit of the amount in
72 controversy in certain actions at law, filed on or
73 after a certain date, under which the county court has
74 original jurisdiction; requiring the State Courts
75 Administrator to make certain recommendations to the
76 Governor and Legislature by a specified date;