IN THE CIRCUIT COURT, SIXTH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT

IN AND FOR PASCO AND PINELLAS COUNTIES, FLORIDA

 

ADMINISTRATIVE ORDER NO. PI-CIR-02-58


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RE:   CREATION OF FAMILY SECTION

 

            In order to provide for a new family law section, it is hereby:

 

ORDERED:

 

            1.  Section 25 is created for family law cases effective January 13, 2003.

 

            2.  In order to provide for the initial caseload for section 25, the Clerk of the Circuit Court for Pinellas County shall reassign family law cases currently assigned to sections 9, 12, 14, 17, 22, 23, and 24 in essentially equal proportion among family law sections 9, 12, 14, 17, 22, 23, 24, and 25.  Cases that require reassignment because of a recusal order shall first be reassigned.  Cases from sections 14, 22, and 23 may be reassigned from any zip code.  Cases from sections 9, 12, 17 and 24 shall first be randomly selected for reassignment from the following ZIP codes: 33702, 33714, 33716, 33772, 33773, 33776, 33777, 33780, 33781, 33782 and 33784.  Sufficient cases shall be reassigned so that the eight family law sections will have essentially the same number of cases.

 

            3. Effective December 1, 2002, the Clerk of the Court for Pinellas County shall:

 

a.  Mail to all counsel of record and parties, if pro se, a notification of the above reassignments along with specific instructions provided by the court. 

b.  Provide to each affected judge a listing of those cases assigned to the judge after the reassignments have been completed.

 

            4.  For the period between the reassignment and January 13, 2003, the Clerk of the Court for Pinellas County shall not assign any cases to section 25.  During this period, cases shall continue to be assigned pursuant to procedures in place on the date of this order.

 

            5.  In order to provide for the continued equal distribution of family law cases among the eight family law sections, the Clerk of the Circuit Court for Pinellas County shall, effective January 13, 2003, assign cases as follows. 

 

Clearwater (North) family law sections 14, 22, 23 and 25 shall be randomly assigned cases from ZIP codes 33702, 33714, 33716, 33755, 33756, 33757, 33758, 33759, 33760, 33761, 33762, 33763, 33764, 33765, 33766, 33767, 33770, 33771, 33772, 33773, 33774, 33775, 33776, 33777, 33778, 33779, 33780, 33781, 33782, 33784, 33785, 33786, 34660, 34677, 34681, 34682, 34683, 34684, 34685, 34688, 34689, 34695,  34697 and 34698.

 

 

St. Petersburg (South) family law sections 9, 12, 17 and 24 shall be randomly assigned cases from ZIP codes: 33701, 33703, 33704, 33705, 33706, 33707, 33708, 33709, 33710, 33711, 33712, 33713, 33715, 33744, 33730, 33731, 33732, 33733, 33734, 33736, 33737, 33738, 33740, 33741, 33742, 33743 and 33744.

 

            Cases with out of county ZIP codes and unknown ZIP codes may be assigned to all eight family law sections and shall be assigned in a manner that balances the workload between the eight sections.

 

            6.  For purposes of this Order, the ZIP code of the petitioner’s attorney, or petitioner, if the petitioner is pro se shall be used. 

 

            For purposes of this Order, the term “case” includes any family law proceeding in which a final disposition code has not been entered on the docket, closed cases in which a final disposition code has been entered but the docket reflects any activity within the six months prior to the date of reassignment and closed cases in which a final disposition code has been entered and there is no docket activity within the six months prior to the date of reassignment.

 

            7.  The legal services providers for the Department of Revenue shall identify for the Clerk of the Circuit Court whether a Title IV-D case should be assigned to a North or South county family law section pursuant to the Zip code plan established in paragraph 5 of this order.  The assignment to North or South County shall be based upon the ZIP code of the individual petitioner and not the ZIP codes of the legal services provider.

 

            8.  The chief judge may adjust the assignment of cases to balance the workload among these sections without further modification of this order.

 

            9.  The Clerk of the Court and the Pinellas County Information Technology Department shall take immediate action to implement this order.

 

            Effective January 13, 2003, Administrative Orders 92-66 and PI-CIR 96-101 are rescinded.

 

            DONE AND ORDERED in Chambers at Pinellas County, Florida, this _______ day of  October 2002.      

           

 

__/s/_____________________

David A. Demers, Chief Judge