January 22, 2018
The Constitution Revision Commission (CRC) is in full swing with committee meetings scheduled throughout January. The Appellate Practice Section’s Legislative Committee[*] has identified several Commissioner Proposals that I am monitoring due to their potential impact on the court system or practitioners. As Legislative Committee Chair, my plan is to update the Section through The Record Online during the coming weeks on the status of the following proposals. You can also check the status of proposals, get information about the process, or view upcoming agendas at this website: https://flcrc.gov/. And feel free to contact me at cbrewer@mills-appeals.com if you are aware of any Public Proposals the Section should monitor.
| No. | Substance/potential effect on appellate issues | Provisions affected or created | Status as of 1/22/18 |
| 6 | Requires a state court or an administrative law judge to interpret a state statute or rule de novo in litigation between an administrative agency and a private party and not merely defer to the agency’s interpretation | Art. V, § 21 | Passed Judicial Committee on 11/2/17; currently before Executive Committee |
| 28 | Requires clerks of circuit courts to store, maintain, transmit, and make records available to courts in accordance with standards and requirements established by the supreme court; also deals with funding for trial court communications services | Art. V, § 16(b) | Passed Judicial Committee on 1/19/18; currently before Local Government Committee |
| 40 | Creates new right to counsel for children in dependency proceedings who have been removed from the custody of their parents or guardians due to abuse or neglect | Art. I | On agenda for Declaration of Rights Committee meeting on 1/25/18 |
| 41 | Increases judicial retirement age to 75 and removes provision that permits appellate jurist to complete a term if one half has been served upon reaching retirement age; effective date 7/1/19 | Art. V, § 8 | Passed Judicial Committee on 11/10/17; Passed Ethics and Elections Committee on 1/12/18; on 2nd reading |
| 42 | Amends composition of JNCs to require 3 members appointed by Board of Governors, 3 members by Governor, and 3 members selected by a majority vote of the other 6 members; limits terms of JNC members to 4 years with no consecutive reappointment; establishes diversity goal for JNCs | Art. V, § 11 | Passed Judicial Committee on 1/12/18; currently before Executive Committee |
| 47 | Amends requirements for service as judge of any court to require 10 years of Florida Bar membership | Art. V, § 8 | Passed Judicial Committee on 11/28/17; passed Executive Committee on 1/19/18; on 2nd reading |
| 81[†] | Amends provision for access to public records and meetings to expressly include all meetings of “the judicial branch, including meetings between judges and justices” at which official acts are to be taken or at which public business is to be transacted and discussed. | Art. I, § 24; Art. III, § 4 | Referred to Declaration of Rights Committee (not currently on agenda) |
| 96 | Creates additional rights for crime victims and requires that “[a]ll state-level appeals and collateral attacks on any judgment must be complete within two years from the date of appeal in non-capital cases and five years in capital cases” | Art. I, § 16 | Passed Declaration of Rights Committee on 1/19/18; currently on second reading |
Courtney Brewer
Courtney Brewer is a shareholder in The Mills Firm in Tallahassee. She has served as Legislative Chair for the Section since 2016.
[*] Special thanks to Ileen J. Cantor, Deborah Marks, Ann M. Phillips, and Jonathan Tannen, who reviewed all of the commissioner proposals and identified those that will have impacts on the court system and/or appellate practice.
[†] The Section submitted a whitepaper to the CRC on this proposal.
