In Re: Amendments to Florida Rules of Appellate Procedure 9.130 and 9.200
This text of In Re: Amendments to Florida Rules of Appellate Procedure 9.130 and 9.200 (In Re: Amendments to Florida Rules of Appellate Procedure 9.130 and 9.200) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.
Opinion
Supreme Court of Florida ____________
No. SC18-2011 ____________
IN RE: AMENDMENTS TO FLORIDA RULES OF APPELLATE PROCEDURE 9.130 AND 9.200.
January 30, 2020
PER CURIAM.
The Court has for consideration an out-of-cycle report proposing
amendments to Florida Rules of Appellate Procedure 9.130 (Proceedings to
Review Nonfinal Orders and Specified Final Orders) and 9.200 (The Record) filed
by The Florida Bar’s Appellate Court Rules Committee (Committee). See Fla. R.
Jud. Admin. 2.140(e)(2). We have jurisdiction.1
The Florida Bar Board of Governors unanimously approved the proposals.
The Committee published the proposals for comment before filing them with the
Court, but no comments were received. The Court published the proposals for
comments after they were filed and received one comment from the Florida Court
Clerks and Comptrollers pertaining to the Committee’s proposals to amend rule
1. See art. V, § 2(a), Fla. Const. 9.200. Additionally, upon order of the Court, the Committee filed a supplemental
report addressing its proposed amendments to rule 9.200. After reviewing the
Committee’s proposals and considering the comment filed, the Committee’s
response, and the supplemental report, we adopt the Committee’s amendments as
proposed. We discuss the amendments below.
AMENDMENTS
First, we amend rule 9.130 (Proceedings to Review Nonfinal Orders and
Specified Final Orders) to add a new subdivision (a)(3)(C)(x), which creates a new
type of appealable nonfinal order for permanent guardianships for dependent
children pursuant to section 39.6221, Florida Statutes. According to the
Committee’s report, the Committee proposed amending rule 9.130 in light of this
Court’s opinion in M.M. v. Florida Department of Children and Families, 189 So.
3d 134 (Fla. 2016). In that case, we considered the proper standard of review for
post-dependency orders that anticipate future modification and held that “the
legally required and the common sense approach to such post-dependency orders is
review by certiorari.” 189 So. 3d at 137. We also emphasized that “[i]f the non-
final order is not listed under rule 9.130, the review must come by certiorari.” Id.
at 137-38. In its report, the Committee explains that since this decision, appellate
courts have treated orders establishing permanent guardianships for dependent
children pursuant to section 39.6221, Florida Statutes, as nonfinal orders
-2- reviewable only by certiorari. Thus, the Committee proposes amending rule 9.130
to include a new type of nonfinal appealable order for permanent guardianships
established for dependent children pursuant to section 39.6221, Florida Statutes,
that would otherwise not be appealable under this Court’s holding in M.M. v.
Florida Department of Children and Families. Accordingly, we now amend rule
9.130 to create a new subdivision (a)(3)(C)(x), which would permit appellate
review of this type of nonfinal order.
Furthermore, we amend rule 9.200 (The Record) to address a concern raised
by the Committee that heavily redacted records on appeal are increasingly
common. The Committee explains in its report that often portions of the record are
redacted unnecessarily and sometimes to the extent that the record is unreadable.
To receive a less-redacted, usable version of the record, attorneys have been
required to get orders directing the trial court clerks to transmit an unredacted
version of the record. Thus, we now amend rule 9.200 to enable attorneys and
parties to obtain unredacted records on appeal without having to obtain a court
order from the district courts in every case.
Specifically, we first delete the second and third sentences in subdivision
(d)(1)(C), which required that the PDF file of the record include all filings in their
redacted form and that the unredacted version of any information in the record be
provided to the appellate court upon request. We next amend rule 9.200 by adding
-3- a new subdivision (d)(3) that contains all the requirements pertaining to the
redacted record, and we renumber existing subdivisions (d)(3) and (d)(4) as (d)(4)
and (d)(5), respectively. We move the existing requirement that the clerk of the
lower tribunal certify the record from the existing subdivision (d)(3) to the new
subdivision (d)(3). The new subdivision (d)(3) also requires that the clerk of the
lower tribunal redact the PDF files of the record and transcript and transmit the
redacted PDF files to the court. Further, the subdivision allows the unredacted
version of the record on appeal to be requested, without filing formal notice, to the
extent permitted for access by the requestor. As the Committee explains in its
report, the “extent permitted” language is meant to ensure that the requirements of
the Florida Courts Technology Commission’s Access Security Matrix are still
followed. Additionally, these amendments allow the unredacted record and
transcript to be sent to the counsel of record or pro se party by “standing agreement
with the clerk of the lower tribunal,” permitting offices such as the appellate public
defenders to obtain the unredacted records in all its cases without making
individual requests.
Accordingly, the Florida Rules of Appellate Procedure are amended as
reflected in the appendix to this opinion. New language is indicated by
underscoring, and deletions are indicated by struck-through type. The amendments
shall become effective on April 1, 2020, at 12:01 a.m.
-4- It is so ordered.
CANADY, C.J., and POLSTON, LABARGA, LAWSON, and MUÑIZ, JJ., concur.
THE FILING OF A MOTION FOR REHEARING SHALL NOT ALTER THE EFFECTIVE DATE OF THESE AMENDMENTS.
Original Proceeding – Florida Rules of Appellate Procedure
Thomas D. Hall, Chair, and Courtney Rebecca Brewer, Past Chair, Appellate Court Rules Committee, Tallahassee, Florida; and Joshua E. Doyle, Executive Director, and Krys Godwin, Staff Liaison, The Florida Bar, Tallahassee, Florida,
for Petitioner
Douglas D. Sunshine, Chief Legal Officer, Florida Court Clerks & Comptrollers, Tallahassee, Florida,
Responding with comments
-5- APPENDIX
RULE 9.130. PROCEEDINGS TO REVIEW NONFINAL ORDERS AND SPECIFIED FINAL ORDERS
(a) Applicability.
(1) – (2) [No Change]
(3) Appeals to the district courts of appeal of nonfinal orders are limited to those that:
(A) – (B) [No Change]
(C) determine:
(i) – (vii) [No Change]
(viii) the issue of forum non conveniens; or
(ix) that, as a matter of law, a settlement agreement is unenforceable, is set aside, or never existed.; or
(x) that a permanent guardianship shall be established for a dependent child pursuant to section 39.6221, Florida Statutes.
(D) – (F) [No Change]
(4) – (5) [No Change]
(b) - (i) [No Change]
Committee Notes [No Change]
-6- RULE 9.200. THE RECORD
(a) – (c) [No Change]
(d) Preparation and Transmission of Electronic Record.
(1) The clerk of the lower tribunal shall prepare the record as follows:
(C) The entire record, except for the transcript of the trial, shall be compiled into a single PDF file. The PDF file shall include all filings in their redacted form. The unredacted version of any information in the record shall be provided to the appellate court upon request. The PDF file shall be:
(i) – (iii) [No Change]
(2) [No Change]
Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI
Related
Cite This Page — Counsel Stack
In Re: Amendments to Florida Rules of Appellate Procedure 9.130 and 9.200, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-amendments-to-florida-rules-of-appellate-procedure-9130-and-9200-fla-2020.