IN THE CIRCUIT COURT, SIXTH
JUDICIAL CIRCUIT
IN AND FOR
ADMINISTRATIVE ORDER NO. 2007-011 PI-CIR
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RE: TRANSFER OF CASES TO UNIFIED FAMILY
COURT
Rule of
Judicial Administration 2.545(d), provides for a notice of related cases to be
filed by the parties in a family law case so that cases can be coordinated and
judicial resources can be conserved. In
ORDERED:
1.
When a judge in a Family Law Section identifies a case pending before
him or her that is related to a case pending before a judge in UFC because it
involves any of the same parties, children, or issues, the judge may, upon his
or her own motion or the partys motion, issue a Notice of Referral to
UFC. The Family Law judge can identify
which UFC section to forward the referral to based upon information in CJIS on
the related cases. If the Family Law
Judge is unable to determine which section to forward the referral to, the UFC
Staff Director can be contacted to obtain that information. A sample Notice of Referral is attached as
Appendix A. The Notice shall be placed
in the court file and a copy provided to the UFC Section Judge.
2.
If the UFC Section Judge agrees with the referral, the UFC Section Judge
shall within five (5) business days enter an Order of Acceptance reassigning
the case to UFC. If the UFC Section
Judge is unavailable, then the referral should be reviewed by the UFC
Administrative Judge.
A sample Order of Acceptance is attached as Appendix B. The Order of Acceptance shall be placed in
the court file and copy of the Order served upon all parties.
3. If the UFC Section Judge does not accept the
referral, a Notice of Denial shall be entered.
A sample Notice of Denial is attached as Appendix C. The Notice shall be placed in the court file
and a copy provided to the judge making the referral.
4.
If an Order of Acceptance is not issued within five (5) business days,
or if a Notice of Denial is entered, the referring judge may forward a copy of
the Notice of Referral and the Notice of Denial, if any, to the Chief Judge for
a determination of whether the case should be reassigned. It is anticipated that the Chief Judge will
consult with each of the judges to determine whether the case should be
reassigned to promote the efficient administration of justice.
5.
When a judge in a Family Law Section identifies a case pending before
him or her that the judge believes should be in UFC but it is not related to a
case pending in UFC, or when a judge in any other division identifies a case
pending before him or her that the judge believes should be in UFC, the judge may
forward the file to the Chief Judge requesting review. It is expected that the Chief Judge will
consult with the judge requesting review and the UFC Administrative Judge to
determine whether the case should be reassigned. The Chief Judge will determine whether the
case should be reassigned to promote the efficient administration of justice.
DONE
AND ORDERED in Chambers, at
_____________________________
David
A. Demers, Chief Judge
cc: All Pinellas Judges
The Honorable
The Honorable
The Honorable
Gay Inskeep, Trial Courts
Administrator
Bar Associations, Pinellas and
Law Libraries, Pinellas and
IN THE CIRCUIT
COURT OF THE JUDICIAL CIRCUIT,
IN AND FOR COUNTY,
Case No.:
Division:
,
Petitioner,
and
,
Respondent.
Notice of Referral to the Unified Family Court
To: Unified Family Court Judge, Section
______
From: __________________________________ _______________________________
Name
of Judge Making Referral Section/Office
The following
case(s) is being referred for review by the UFC Judge:
Case
Name Child(ren)s Name(s) Child(ren)s DOB Case Number Action Type
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Please
list other case(s) pending in Juvenile/UFC:
_____
Dependency: ___________________________________
SPN__________________
___________________________________
SPN__________________
_____ Delinquency: ___________________________________
SPN__________________
___________________________________
SPN__________________
_____ Other: ___________________________________
SPN__________________
___________________________________
SPN__________________
Other
information pertinent to referral:
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Referred on
(date):_______________________________
ญญญญญญญญญญญญญญ_______________________________________
Circuit
Judge
Original
to File/ Copy to UFC Section Judge
APPENDIX A
IN THE CIRCUIT
COURT OF THE JUDICIAL CIRCUIT,
IN AND FOR COUNTY,
Case No.:
Division:
,
Petitioner,
and
,
Respondent.
Order of Acceptance reassigning referred case to the
Unified Family
Court
The
above captioned case has been referred to the Unified Family Court.
The
related pending cases in Juvenile/UFC are:
_____
Dependency: ___________________________________
SPN__________________
___________________________________
SPN__________________
_____
Delinquency: ___________________________________
SPN__________________
___________________________________
SPN__________________
_____
Other: ___________________________________
SPN__________________
___________________________________
SPN__________________
This
referral is hereby accepted.
It
is hereby ORDERED AND ADJUDGED that the Clerk of the Circuit Court shall
reassign the above caption case to UFC section ______.
Done
and ordered this_____day of _______________200__in
ญญญญญญญญญ____________________________________
Unified Family Court Circuit
Judge
Original
to File
Copy to
UFC case manager
Copies
served on all parties
APPENDIX B
IN THE CIRCUIT
COURT OF THE JUDICIAL CIRCUIT,
IN AND FOR COUNTY,
Case No.:
Division:
,
Petitioner,
and
,
Respondent.
Notice of Denial
The
above captioned case has been referred to the Unified Family Court.
The
related pending cases in Juvenile/UFC are:
_____
Dependency: ___________________________________
SPN__________________
___________________________________
SPN__________________
_____
Delinquency: ___________________________________
SPN__________________
___________________________________
SPN__________________
_____
Other: ___________________________________
SPN__________________
___________________________________
SPN__________________
This
referral is hereby not accepted for the following
reasons__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________.
ญญญญญญญญญญญ____________________________________
Circuit
Judge
Original
to File
Copy to
referring Judge
Copy to
UFC case manager
APPENDIX C