RE: DATING, DOMESTIC, REPEAT, AND SEXUAL VIOLENCE CIVIL

INJUNCTION RETURN HEARINGS JANUARY 1, 2010

It is necessary to the dispatch of the business of the Circuit and County Court, Sixth Judicial Circuit, for County judges in Pinellas County to be assigned to injunction return hearings in Pinellas County. This temporary assignment of County Court judges to Circuit Court is being made because the County judges have volunteered to assist the Circuit Family Law Division. This temporary assignment of County Court judges to Circuit Court is made pursuant to Rule of Judicial Administration 2.215. This assignment is made for the calendar year 2010; however, it may be revoked if county judges are needed for County Court matters or other circumstances require it.

In order to comply with the statutory requirements in §741.30 and §784.046, Florida Statutes, that a return hearing be conducted within 15 days of the issuance of an ex parte injunction, and

In order to establish the schedule for return hearings for dating, domestic, repeat, and sexual violence injunctions for the year 2010,

IT IS ORDERED:

1. Petitions for temporary and permanent injunctions against dating, domestic, repeat, and sexual violence shall continue to be assigned in accordance with the procedures for assignment of family law cases, based upon the ZIP code of the petitioner or the petitioner’s attorney. Domestic violence petitions where the parties have a pending matter in a Unified Family Court (UFC) section shall be assigned to the UFC section.

2. The Clerk of the Circuit Court (Clerk) shall accept petitions for temporary and permanent injunctions against dating, domestic, repeat, and sexual violence at the Clearwater Courthouse, the St. Petersburg Judicial Building, and the Criminal Justice Center.

3. For petitions for temporary injunctions against domestic violence filed at the Clearwater Courthouse or the St. Petersburg Judicial Building, the Clerk shall present the petition to the section judge if the section judge is available. If the section judge is not available, the Clerk shall present the petition to the duty judge.

Except for petitions that are assigned to a UFC section, if a petitioner files a petition at a courthouse to which the petition has not been assigned, the Clerk shall present the petition to the duty judge at the courthouse where the petition is filed. For petitions that are assigned to a UFC section, the Clerk shall forward the petitions by facsimile to the Clerk at the Criminal Justice Center. The Clerk shall handle the petition as if it had been filed at the Criminal Justice Center in accordance with paragraph 5 of this Order.

4. For petitions for temporary injunctions against dating, repeat, and sexual violence filed at the Clearwater Courthouse or the St. Petersburg Judicial Building, the Clerk shall present the petition to a civil judge on an equal, at random, blind assignment system. If the civil judge is not available, the Clerk shall present the petition to the duty judge.

5. For petitions for temporary injunctions against dating, domestic, repeat, and sexual violence filed at the Criminal Justice Center, if a petitioner has a pending matter in UFC, the Clerk shall present the petition to the judge handling the pending matter. If the UFC judge is not available, the Clerk shall present the petition to the duty judge. If a petition is not assigned to UFC, the Clerk shall present the petition to the duty judge.

6. Return hearings for petitions assigned to a UFC section shall be scheduled on the calendar of the section judge. Return hearings for all other petitions for an injunction against dating, domestic, repeat, and sexual violence shall be scheduled in Clearwater or St. Petersburg.

7. Circuit and County judges assigned to the following sections are assigned to preside over injunction hearings on the dates provided. Hearings shall be conducted every Wednesday in Courtroom F, 545 1^st Avenue N., St. Petersburg, Florida.

ST. PETERSBURG	DOMESTIC VIOLENCE	DATING, REPEAT, & SEXUAL VIOLENCE & MOTIONS	DUTY JUDGE
January
6	P	P	13
13	P	P	4
20	P	P	9
27	P	P	8
February
3	24	P	11
10	17	P	12
17	12	P	17
24	9	P	24
March
3	24	P	19
10	17	P	13
17	12	P	9
24	9	P	4
31	24	P	12
April
7	17	P	8
14	12	P	17
21	9	P	11
28	24	P	19
May
5	17	P	24
12	12	P	9
19	9	P	13
26	24	P	4
June
2	17	P	12
9	12	P	8
16	9	P	17
23	24	P	11
30	17	P	19
July
7	9	P	24
14	12	P	9
21	24	P	4
28	17	P	13
August
4	12	P	8
11	9	P	12
18	24	P	11
25	12	P	17
September
1	17	P	19
8	9	P	24
15	24	P	9
22	17	P	4
29	12	P	13
October
6	9	P	8
13	17	P	12
20	24	P	17
27	12	P	11
November
3	9	P	19
10	17	P	24
17	24	P	9
24	12	P	4
December
1	9	P	13
8	24	P	12
15	17	P	8
22	12	P	11
29	9	P	17

8. Circuit and County judges assigned to the following sections are assigned to preside over injunction hearings on the dates provided. Except as provided herein, hearings shall be conducted every Thursday in Courtroom A, 315 Court Street, Clearwater, Florida.

CLEARWATER	DOMESTIC VIOLENCE	DATING, REPEAT, & SEXUAL VIOLENCE & MOTIONS	DUTY JUDGE
January
7	Advisory Judge #2	Advisory Judge #2	20
14	Advisory Judge #2	Advisory Judge #2	14
21	Advisory Judge #2	Advisory Judge #2	15
28	Advisory Judge #2	Advisory Judge #2	22
February
4	14	Advisory Judge #2	21
11	23	Advisory Judge #2	7
18	25	Advisory Judge #2	23
25	22	Advisory Judge #2	25
March
4	23	Advisory Judge #2	3
11	25	Advisory Judge #2	20
18	22	Advisory Judge #2	14
25	14	Advisory Judge #2	22
April
1	22	Advisory Judge #2	15
8	14	Advisory Judge #2	21
15	23	Advisory Judge #2	7
22	25	Advisory Judge #2	23
29	23	Advisory Judge #2	25
May
6	25	Advisory Judge #2	3
13	22	Advisory Judge #2	14
20	14	Advisory Judge #2	22
27	23	Advisory Judge #2	20
June
3	22	Advisory Judge #2	15
10	23	Advisory Judge #2	21
17	14	Advisory Judge #2	7
24	25	Advisory Judge #2	23
July
1	22	Advisory Judge #2	25
8	23	Advisory Judge #2	3
15	14	Advisory Judge #2	20
22	25	Advisory Judge #2	14
29	23	Advisory Judge #2	22
August
5	14	Advisory Judge #2	15
12	22	Advisory Judge #2	21
19	25	Advisory Judge #2	23
26	14	Advisory Judge #2	25
September
2	25	Advisory Judge #2	3
7*	23	Advisory Judge #2	20
16	14	Advisory Judge #2	15
23	22	Advisory Judge #2	14
30	25	Advisory Judge #2	22
October
7	14	Advisory Judge #2	21
14	23	Advisory Judge #2	7
21	25	Advisory Judge #2	23
28	22	Advisory Judge #2	25
November
4	14	Advisory Judge #2	3
9*	22	Advisory Judge #2	20
18	25	Advisory Judge #2	14
23*	23	Advisory Judge #2	21
December
2	14	Advisory Judge #2	15
9	22	Advisory Judge #2	7
16	23	Advisory Judge #2	22
23	25	Advisory Judge #2	3
30	23	Advisory Judge #2	25

*Injunction hearings moved to Tuesday due to Court holiday.

9. The Clerk is directed to docket the cases as follows:

Domestic violence cases shall be calendared for 9:00 a.m., 10:00 a.m., and 11:00 a.m. Each calendar shall be assigned 10 cases beginning with the 9:00 a.m. calendar and then 10 cases shall be assigned to each subsequent calendar. If more cases need to be docketed in order to meet the statutory time frames, cases shall be added to the 9:00 a.m. calendar.

Dating, repeat, and sexual violence cases shall be calendared for 1:30 p.m. and 2:30 p.m. The 1:30 p.m. calendar shall be assigned 10 cases and the remaining cases shall be calendared for 2:30 p.m. The 2:30 p.m. calendar shall also include dating, domestic, repeat, and sexual violence cases with in-custody parties.

This does not restrict the authority of the assigned judge to reset cases on a calendar when service of process has not been obtained. If the calendars are too large for the assigned judge or the duty judge to provide an adequate hearing, the assigned judge may move the hearing to later in the day in his or her sole discretion.

10. The duty judge must be available to handle overflow cases and otherwise provide assistance to the assigned judges. The duty judge must maintain sufficient time on his or her calendar on the assigned day so that the duty judge has time to handle return hearings and handle other duty matters. If the duty judge assignment conflicts with any other commitment, it is the obligation of the judge to make arrangements with a fellow judge to exchange this assignment. Judges assigned to the civil division should not be assigned duty or accept an exchange of duty assignment during jury trial weeks. It is the responsibility of the assigned judge to provide timely notification of the exchange to all persons affected by the exchange.

11. The County Court judges who are assigned to dating, domestic, repeat, and sexual violence return hearings are under and by virtue of the authority hereof, vested with all and singular the powers and prerogatives conferred by the Constitution and laws of the State of Florida upon the judges of the Circuit Court to which they are hereby assigned.

Effective January 1, 2010, Administrative Orders 2008-084 PI-CIR and 2007-097 PI-CIR are hereby rescinded.

DONE AND ORDERED in Chambers at Clearwater, Pinellas County, Florida this _____ day of December 2009.

________________________________

J. Thomas McGrady, Chief Judge

cc: All Pinellas Judges
The Honorable Bernie McCabe, State Attorney
The Honorable Bob Dillinger, Public Defender
The Honorable Ken Burke, Clerk of the Circuit Court, Pinellas County
The Honorable Jim Coats, Sheriff, Pinellas County

Jackson, Flyte, Regional Counsel

Suzanne Mucklow, Executive Director, Pinellas County Clerk’s Office
Gay L. Inskeep, Trial Courts Administrator

Bar Association, Pinellas County
Law Libraries, Pinellas and Pasco County
Center Against Spouse Abuse, (CASA)

The Haven Domestic Violence Center