In Re: Amendments to the Florida Rules of Appellate Procedure

Supreme Court of Florida·Decided October 12, 2023·No. SC2023-0261·Published

Opinion

Supreme Court of Florida ____________

No. SC2023-0261 ____________

IN RE: AMENDMENTS TO THE FLORIDA RULES OF APPELLATE PROCEDURE.

October 12, 2023

PER CURIAM.

The Florida Bar’s Appellate Court Rules Committee filed a

report proposing amendments to Florida Rules of Appellate

Procedure 9.020 (Definitions), 9.147 (Appeal Proceedings to Review

Final Orders Dismissing Petitions for Judicial Waiver of Parental

Notice and Consent or Consent Only to Termination of Pregnancy),

9.180 (Appeal Proceedings to Review Workers’ Compensation

Cases), 9.200 (The Record), 9.320 (Oral Argument), 9.340

(Mandate), 9.420 (Filing; Service of Copies; Computation of Time),

9.800 (Uniform Citation System), and 9.900 (Forms). 1 The

Committee proposes certain procedural changes to these rules as

1. We have jurisdiction. See art. V, § 2(a), Fla. Const. well as minor technical revisions to conform with the guidelines we

articulated in In re Guidelines for Rules Submissions, Florida

Administrative Order No. AOSC22-78 (Oct. 24, 2022). Most of the

technical amendments were described in the Committee’s report,

but a few were addressed in an Update to the Report of the

Appellate Court Rules Committee, dated April 12, 2023.

Aside from the minor technical proposals included in the

recent update, the Committee published all proposed amendments

for comment and received no comments, and the Board of

Governors of The Florida Bar unanimously recommends acceptance

of the amendments. This Court also published the proposed

amendments (other than the minor technical revisions described in

the update) and received no comments.

Having considered the proposed amendments and the

Committee’s report, the Court hereby amends the Florida Rules of

Appellate Procedure as proposed by the Committee, with one minor

modification. The more significant amendments are as follows.

First, rule 9.020 is amended to create a new subdivision

(h)(1)(M). Subdivision (h)(1) (Rendition of an Order; Motions Tolling

Rendition) provides a list of motions that can toll rendition. New

-2- subdivision (h)(1)(M) adds to that list motions filed under Florida

Rule of Juvenile Procedure 8.075(f) (Withdrawal of Plea After

Disposition), which was amended in 2015 to allow juveniles to move

to withdraw pleas after disposition. See In re Amends. to Fla. Rules

of Juv. Proc., 175 So. 3d 263 (Fla. 2015). The only modification we

make is to subdivision (h)(2)(A), which currently reads: “the final

order shall not be deemed rendered as to any existing party . . . .”

The Committee proposes amending this subdivision by replacing

the word “shall” with “must,” but we believe that “will” is the more

appropriate replacement in context.

Next, rule 9.147 is amended to align with section

390.01114(6)(b)2., Florida Statutes (2023). Specifically, rule

9.147(c) (Record) is amended to provide that lower tribunal clerks

must simultaneously transmit notices of appeal and records on

appeal electronically within two days of a notice of appeal being

filed, and subdivision (d) (Disposition of Appeal) is amended to

provide that appellate courts must dispose of any appeal within

seven days of receipt of a notice of appeal. The title of subdivision

(c) is also changed to “Transmission of Notice of Appeal and

Electronic Record.”

-3- Next, rule 9.180 is amended to align with section 440.25(5)(b),

Florida Statutes (2023). Specifically, subdivisions (B)-(F) of rule

9.180(g)(3) are amended to provide that verified petitions to be

relieved of costs must be filed within 15 days after service of a

notice of estimated costs and that objections to such petitions must

be filed within 20 days after service of the petition. In addition,

subdivisions (f)(5)(B) and (f)(6)(B) are amended to provide that

estimated costs must be deposited within 15 days after service of a

notice of estimated costs and that any objection to a court reporter

or transcriptionist must be filed within 15 days after service of the

notice of selection.

Rule 9.180(f)(6)(A) is amended by deleting the word “approved”

before the terms “court reporter” and “transcriptionist” to avoid

implying that the services are carried out at public expense based

on the definitions in Florida Rule of General Practice and Judicial

Administration 2.535(a) (Court Reporting; Definitions). Also,

subdivision (f)(9), which lists rules that apply to preparation of the

record, is amended to add a reference to rule 9.200(d) (The Record).

Finally, subdivision (b)(3) is amended to clarify that a party’s failure

to submit the required filing fee is not a jurisdictional defect.

-4- Next, rule 9.320 is amended to align with rule 9.120

(Discretionary Proceedings to Review Decisions of District Courts of

Appeal), which was amended in 2020 to provide that parties must

file jurisdictional briefs in any proceeding seeking discretionary

review of a district court decision. See In re Amends. to Fla. Rule of

App. Proc. 9.120 & 9.210, 307 So. 3d 626 (Fla. 2020). Because of

this requirement, a clause in rule 9.320(a) (Requests) reading

“except that in proceedings in which jurisdiction is invoked under

rule 9.030(a)(2)(A)(v), not later than 5 days after the filing of the

notice to invoke discretionary review” is deleted. Rule 9.320 will

instead tie requests for oral argument in discretionary review

proceedings to the service of jurisdictional briefs.

Next, rule 9.420 is amended to remove language stating that

petitions invoking the Court’s original jurisdiction under rule

9.030(a)(3), (b)(3), or (c)(3) must be served by e-mail pursuant to

rule 2.516(b)(1) and in paper format pursuant to rule 2.516(b)(2).

Because Florida Rule of General Practice and Judicial

Administration 2.516(b) (Service of Pleadings and Documents;

Service; How Made) contains guidance for paper service when such

-5- is required, rule 9.420(c) (Method of Service) will now simply state

that all documents must be served in conformity with rule 2.516(b).

Next, rule 9.800 is amended to replace an obsolete hyperlink

to the Florida Style Manual with a general reference to the manual

that does not require a rule amendment to be initiated anytime the

website address changes.

Finally, rule 9.900 is amended to include a reference to rule

9.200(b)(4), which explains how trial transcripts should be

organized. Specifically, a reference to rule 9.200(b)(4) is now

included in the note for Form 9.900(h), which describes deadlines

for requesting extensions of time for designation to court reporter

forms.

In addition to the procedural changes described above and the

minor technical revisions made to comply with the Guidelines, rules

9.147, 9.180, 9.200, 9.340, 9.420, and 9.900 are further amended

by replacing inconsistent language used throughout the ruleset for

lower tribunal clerks of court with more consistent terminology.

Accordingly, we amend the Florida Rules of Appellate

Procedure as reflected in the appendix to this opinion. New

language is indicated by underscoring; deletions are indicated by

-6- struck-through type. The amendments shall become effective on

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In Re AMENDMENTS TO the FLORIDA RULES OF JUVENILE PROCEDURE
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