Florida Senate - 2019                        COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
       Bill No. CS for CS for SB 328
       
       
       
       
       
       
                                Ì405216ÄÎ405216                         
       
                              LEGISLATIVE ACTION                        
                    Senate             .             House              
                  Comm: RCS            .                                
                  04/16/2019           .                                
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       Appropriations Subcommittee on Criminal and Civil Justice
       (Brandes) recommended the following:
       
    1         Senate Substitute for Amendment (867520) 
    2  
    3         Delete lines 66 - 245
    4  and insert:
    5         1.If filed on or before December 31, 2019, the sum of
    6  $15,000.
    7         2.If filed on or after January 1, 2020, the sum of
    8  $30,000.
    9         3.If filed on or after January 1, 2022, the sum of
   10  $50,000.
   11         (d) Of disputes occurring in the homeowners’ associations
   12  as described in s. 720.311(2)(a), which shall be concurrent with
   13  jurisdiction of the circuit courts.
   14  
   15  By March 1, 2021, the Office of the State Courts Administrator
   16  shall submit a report to the Governor, the President of the
   17  Senate, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives. The
   18  report must make recommendations regarding the adjustment of
   19  county court jurisdiction, including, but not limited to,
   20  consideration of the claim value of filings in county court and
   21  circuit court, case events, timeliness in processing cases, and
   22  any fiscal impact to the state as a result of adjusted
   23  jurisdictional limits. The clerks of the circuit court and
   24  county court shall provide claim value data and necessary case
   25  event data to the office to be used in development of the
   26  report. The report must also include a review of fees to ensure
   27  that the court system is adequately funded and a review of the
   28  appellate jurisdiction of the district courts and the circuit
   29  courts.
   30         Section 3. Paragraphs (a), (b), and (c) of subsection (1)
   31  of section 34.041, Florida Statutes, are amended, and paragraph
   32  (e) is added to that subsection, to read:
   33         34.041 Filing fees.—
   34         (1)(a) Filing fees are due at the time a party files a
   35  pleading to initiate a proceeding or files a pleading for
   36  relief. Reopen fees are due at the time a party files a pleading
   37  to reopen a proceeding if at least 90 days have elapsed since
   38  the filing of a final order or final judgment with the clerk. If
   39  a fee is not paid upon the filing of the pleading as required
   40  under this section, the clerk shall pursue collection of the fee
   41  pursuant to s. 28.246. Upon the institution of any civil action,
   42  suit, or proceeding in county court, the party shall pay the
   43  following filing fee, not to exceed:
   44         1. For all claims less than $100.....................$50.
   45         2. For all claims of $100 or more but not more than
   46  $500........................................................$75.
   47         3. For all claims of more than $500 but not more than
   48  $2,500.....................................................$170.
   49         4. For all claims of more than $2,500 but not more than
   50  $15,000....................................................$295.
   51         5. For all claims more than $15,000.................$395.
   52         6.5. In addition, for all proceedings of garnishment,
   53  attachment, replevin, and distress..........................$85.
   54         7.6. Notwithstanding subparagraphs 3. and 6. 5., for all
   55  claims of not more than $1,000 filed simultaneously with an
   56  action for replevin of property that is the subject of the
   57  claim......................................................$125.
   58         8.7. For removal of tenant action...................$180.
   59  
   60  The filing fee in subparagraph 7. 6. is the total fee due under
   61  this paragraph for that type of filing, and no other filing fee
   62  under this paragraph may be assessed against such a filing.
   63         (b) The first $15 of the filing fee collected under
   64  subparagraph (a)4. and the first $10 of the filing fee collected
   65  under subparagraph (a)8. subparagraph (a)7. shall be deposited
   66  in the State Courts Revenue Trust Fund. By the 10th day of each
   67  month, the clerk shall submit that portion of the fees collected
   68  in the previous month which is in excess of one-twelfth of the
   69  clerk’s total budget for the performance of court-related
   70  functions to the Department of Revenue for deposit into the
   71  Clerks of the Court Trust Fund. An additional filing fee of $4
   72  shall be paid to the clerk. The clerk shall transfer $3.50 to
   73  the Department of Revenue for deposit into the Court Education
   74  Trust Fund and shall transfer 50 cents to the Department of
   75  Revenue for deposit into the Administrative Trust Fund within
   76  the Department of Financial Services to fund clerk education
   77  provided by the Florida Clerks of Court Operations Corporation.
   78  Postal charges incurred by the clerk of the county court in
   79  making service by mail on defendants or other parties shall be
   80  paid by the party at whose instance service is made. Except as
   81  provided in this section, filing fees and service charges for
   82  performing duties of the clerk relating to the county court
   83  shall be as provided in ss. 28.24 and 28.241. Except as
   84  otherwise provided in this section, all filing fees shall be
   85  retained as fee income of the office of the clerk of the circuit
   86  court. Filing fees imposed by this section may not be added to
   87  any penalty imposed by chapter 316 or chapter 318.
   88         (c) A party in addition to a party described in paragraph
   89  (a) who files a pleading in an original civil action in the
   90  county court for affirmative relief by cross-claim,
   91  counterclaim, counterpetition, or third-party complaint, or who
   92  files a notice of cross-appeal or notice of joinder or motion to
   93  intervene as an appellant, cross-appellant, or petitioner, shall
   94  pay the clerk of court a fee of $295 if the relief sought by the
   95  party under this paragraph exceeds $2,500 but is not more than
   96  $15,000 and $395 if the relief sought by the party under this
   97  paragraph exceeds $15,000. The clerk shall remit the fee if the
   98  relief sought by the party under this paragraph exceeds $2,500
   99  but is not more than $15,000 to the Department of Revenue for
  100  deposit into the General Revenue Fund. This fee does not apply
  101  if the cross-claim, counterclaim, counterpetition, or third
  102  party complaint requires transfer of the case from county to
  103  circuit court. However, the party shall pay to the clerk the
  104  standard filing fee for the court to which the case is to be
  105  transferred.
  106         (e)Of the first $200 in filing fees payable under
  107  subparagraph (a)5., $195 must be remitted to the Department of
  108  Revenue for deposit into the State Courts Revenue Trust Fund, $4
  109  must be remitted to the Department of Revenue for deposit into
  110  the Administrative Trust Fund within the Department of Financial
  111  Services and used to fund the contract with the Florida Clerks
  112  of Court Operations Corporation created in s. 28.35, and $1 must
  113  be remitted to the Department of Revenue for deposit into the
  114  Administrative Trust Fund within the Department of Financial
  115  Services to fund audits of individual clerks’ court-related
  116  expenditures conducted by the Department of Financial Services.
  117  By the 10th day of each month, the clerk shall submit that
  118  portion of the filing fees collected pursuant to this subsection
  119  in the previous month which is in excess of one-twelfth of the
  120  clerk’s total budget to the Department of Revenue for deposit
  121  into the Clerks of the Court Trust Fund.
  122         Section 4. Section 44.108, Florida Statutes, is amended to
  123  read:
  124         44.108 Funding of mediation and arbitration.—
  125         (1) Mediation and arbitration should be accessible to all
  126  parties regardless of financial status. A filing fee of $1 is
  127  levied on all proceedings in the circuit or county courts to
  128  fund mediation and arbitration services which are the
  129  responsibility of the Supreme Court pursuant to the provisions
  130  of s. 44.106. However, the filing fee may not be levied upon an
  131  appeal from the county court to the circuit court for a claim
  132  that is greater than $15,000. The clerk of the court shall
  133  forward the moneys collected to the Department of Revenue for
  134  deposit in the State Courts Revenue Trust Fund.
  135         (2) When court-ordered mediation services are provided by a
  136  circuit court’s mediation program, the following fees, unless
  137  otherwise established in the General Appropriations Act, shall
  138  be collected by the clerk of court:
  139         (a) One-hundred twenty dollars per person per scheduled
  140  session in family mediation when the parties’ combined income is
  141  greater than $50,000, but less than $100,000 per year;
  142         (b) Sixty dollars per person per scheduled session in
  143  family mediation when the parties’ combined income is less than
  144  $50,000; or
  145         (c) Sixty dollars per person per scheduled session in
  146  county court cases involving an amount in controversy not
  147  exceeding $15,000.
  148  
  149  No mediation fees shall be assessed under this subsection in
  150  residential eviction cases, against a party found to be
  151  indigent, or for any small claims action. Fees collected by the
  152  clerk of court pursuant to this section shall be remitted to the
  153  Department of Revenue for deposit into the State Courts Revenue
  154  Trust Fund to fund court-ordered mediation. The clerk of court
  155  may deduct $1 per fee assessment for processing this fee. The
  156  clerk of the court shall submit to the chief judge of the
  157  circuit and to the Office of the State Courts Administrator, no
  158  later than 30 days after the end of each quarter of the fiscal
  159  year, a report specifying the amount of funds collected and
  160  remitted to the State Courts Revenue Trust Fund under this
  161  section and any other section during the previous quarter of the
  162  fiscal year. In addition to identifying the total aggregate
  163  collections and remissions from all statutory sources, the
  164  report must identify collections and remissions by each
  165  statutory source.
  166         Section 5. Section 45.21, Florida Statutes, is created to
  167  read:
  168         45.21Reasonableness of amount in controversy; procedures.—
  169         (1)In any civil action in which the court’s jurisdiction
  170  is dependent on the amount in controversy, the defendant may, as
  171  a matter of right, demand proof of the reasonableness of the
  172  amount in controversy within 30 days after the complaint is
  173  filed. The defendant need not offer any evidence or argument to
  174  support the demand.
  175         (2)A demand pursuant to subsection (1) is deemed a
  176  responsive pleading for purposes of the rules of procedure and
  177  the following procedures shall apply:
  178         (a)The court must promptly hold a hearing to determine
  179  whether the amount in controversy as alleged in the complaint is
  180  reasonable.
  181         (b)At the hearing, the plaintiff must demonstrate, by a
  182  preponderance of the evidence, a reasonable likelihood of
  183  recovering at least the amount alleged in the complaint.
  184         (c)If the court finds that the plaintiff has not made the
  185  showing as required in paragraph (b), the court must transfer
  186  the matter to the appropriate court.
  187         Section 6. The amendments to the jurisdiction of a court
  188  made by this act shall apply with respect to the date of filing
  189  the cause of action, regardless of when the cause of action
  190  accrued.
  191         Section 7. This act shall take effect January 1, 2020.