IN THE CIRCUIT COURT, SIXTH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT

IN AND FOR PASCO AND PINELLAS COUNTIES, FLORIDA

 

ADMINISTRATIVE ORDER NO. 2009-005 PI-CIR

 

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RE:  UNIFIED FAMILY COURT – PINELLAS COUNTY

 

            Unified Family Court in Pinellas County was created in 2001 and consists of sections 1, 2, 5, and 6.  See Administrative Order 2001-29 PI-CIR.

 

In order to ensure an even distribution of cases in the Pinellas County Unified Family Court sections, ZIP codes were realigned in 2005.  See Administrative Order 2005-004 PI-CIR.  In order to continue to ensure an even distribution of cases, ZIP code 33756 needs to be moved from section 1 to section 2, ZIP codes 33760 and 33782 need to be moved from section 2 to section 5, and ZIP codes 33772 and 33776 need to be moved from section 2 to section 6.  Therefore,

 

IT IS ORDERED:

 

            1.  Unified Family Court (UFC) shall continue to be comprised of sections 1, 2, 5, and 6.

 

            2.  Every juvenile delinquency case arising from a law enforcement complaint against a minor child, juvenile dependency case, termination of parental rights case (TPR) under Chapter 39, Florida Statutes, adoption that emanates from a TPR under Chapter 39, Florida Statutes, action under Chapter 751, Florida Statutes, and action under Chapter 984, Florida Statutes shall be assigned to a UFC section according to the ZIP code of that minor child’s most recent residential address. 

 

            3.  Effective February 23, 2009, the Clerk of the Circuit Court shall assign the cases described in paragraph 2 using the ZIP code of the minor child’s most recent residential address as follows:

 

a.  Section 1:   33755, 33759, 33761, 33763, 33765, 34660, 34688, 34697, 34677, 34681, 34682, 34683, 34684, 34685, 34688, 34689, 34695, 34697, 34698

 

b.  Section 2:   33756, 33757, 33758, 33764, 33766, 33767, 33770, 33771, 33773, 33774,             33775, 33777, 33778, 33779, 33780, 33781, 33784, 33785, 33786

 

            c.  Section 5:   33701, 33702, 33703, 33704, 33705, 33712, 33716, 33760, 33762, 33782

 

d.  Section 6    33706, 33707, 33708, 33709, 33710, 33711, 33713, 33714, 33715, 33744,             33772, 33776

 

4.  The Clerk of the Circuit Court shall continue to assign cases described in paragraph 2 with an out of county ZIP code on an equal, at random, blind assignment basis among Sections 1, 2, 5, and 6. 

 

5.  If a minor child has been previously assigned to a section but has moved to a new residence with a new ZIP code, the Clerk of the Circuit Court shall assign a new juvenile delinquency, dependency, termination of parental rights case, case under Chapter 751, Florida Statutes, or case under Chapter 984, Florida Statutes according to the minor child’s most recent or new ZIP code.  If a minor child has any cases pending before one section of the court at the time of the new case, and the new ZIP code results in the new case being assigned to a different section, then the court on its own motion or on the motion of the state attorney, public defender, regional counsel, court appointed counsel, private counsel for the child, or counsel for the Guardian ad Litem, may assign all pending cases relating to the child to a single section.  Notwithstanding Local Rule 3(B), the motion shall be filed in and heard by the judge of the section in which the older pending case(s) are assigned.

 

            6.  The Clerk of the Circuit Court shall assign all co-defendants in a juvenile delinquency case to a UFC section according to their ZIP code as described in paragraph 3.  However, should the court determine that it is necessary to reassign one or more co-defendants in order to ensure that all the co-defendants’ cases are tried in one section, then the case shall be reassigned by the court as described in paragraph 5.

 

            7.  The Clerk of the Circuit Court shall reassign existing cases that are in ZIP code 33756 from section 1 to section 2, ZIP codes 33760 and 33782 from section 2 to section 5, and ZIP codes 33772 and 33776 from section 2 to section 6 no later than February 23, 2009, and shall mail to all counsel of record and parties, if pro se, a notification of the reassignments.  The Clerk shall provide to each UFC judge a listing of the cases assigned to each section once the reassignment has been accomplished.  The Clerk shall also reassign cases from those ZIP codes that were closed within three years of February 23, 2009.  Such closed cases are not to be included in the listing of reassigned cases provided to each UFC judge. 

 

            8.  The Clerk of the Circuit Court shall continue to assign termination of parental rights cases under Chapter 63, Florida Statutes, and adoption cases under Chapter 63, Florida Statutes (excluding those adoption cases arising from a TPR under Chapter 39, Florida Statutes) on an equal, at random, blind assignment basis among Sections 1, 2, 5, and 6 without regard to the ZIP code.

 

            9.  The Clerk of the Circuit Court and the Pinellas County Business Technology Services Department shall take the steps needed to ensure that cases are assigned and reports generated in accordance with this Administrative Order.

 

            10.  The Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC) is directed to provide the UFC Administrative Judge with a report, which reflects the number of cases being assigned to each UFC section based upon the ZIP code lists. This report should specifically show how many cases are coming from each individual ZIP code listed in Paragraph 3 above. These reports should be
provided to the UFC Administrative Judge on a monthly basis. The AOC shall be responsible for monitoring any significant shifts in the number of cases being assigned to the UFC sections. The AOC shall report to the UFC Administrative Judge any significant shifts in the number of cases being assigned to the judges assigned to UFC.

 

Effective February 23, 2009, Administrative Order 2005-004 PI-CIR is rescinded.

 

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

 

 

 

                                                                                    ________________________________

                                                                                    Robert J. Morris, Jr., 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

            Jackson Flyte, Regional Counsel

            Gay L. Inskeep, Trial Courts Administrator

            Donna Rasmussen, Director, Guardian ad Litem Program

            Carol Heath, Executive Director, Pinellas County Clerk’s Office

            Bar Associations, Pasco and Pinellas Counties

            Law Libraries, Pasco and Pinellas Counties