Navigation Justices ask for three new trial judgeships, funding for 10 approved earlier
The Supreme Court is asking for one new 14th Circuit judge and two new Hillsborough County judgeships in its annual certification opinion. The court also asked for funding for 10 trial judgeships authorized by the Legislature earlier this year but which were left vacant when the accompanying appropriation was vetoed because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The court released its annual certification opinion on December 3. The Florida Constitution requires the court to set a procedure to determine the need for new judges or decertifying existing seats.
“The ten new judgeships authorized during the 2020 legislative session but for which the funding was vetoed were considered to be in existence for purposes of conducting the analysis in support of this year’s certification opinion,” the court wrote in the unanimous per curiam opinion. “In this opinion we are certifying the need for one additional circuit court judgeship in the Fourteenth Judicial Circuit, two additional county court judgeships in Hillsborough County, and no additional judgeships in the district courts of appeal. We decertify no district court, circuit court, or county court judgeships.”
