Opinion
No. SC19-2104
02-06-2020
IN RE: AMENDMENTS TO FLORIDA RULE OF JUDICIAL ADMINISTRATION 2.140.
The Court, on its own motion, amends Florida Rule of Judicial Administration 2.140 (Amending Rules of Court) to allow The Florida Bar's rules committees to propose and the Court to adopt procedural rule changes in a more efficient, timely manner. See Fla. R. Jud. Admin. 2.140(d). We have jurisdiction. See art. V, § 2(a), Fla. Const.
Currently, under rule 2.140, The Florida Bar's ten rules committees report, on a staggered basis, the majority of their proposed rule changes to the Court in scheduled regular-cycle reports filed every three years. See Fla. R. Jud. Admin. 2.140 (b)(1). Rule 2.140 also authorizes the committees to propose out-of-cycle rule changes under a limited set of circumstances. See Fla. R. Jud. Admin. 2.140(e)(1), (2). After discussions with representatives of the Bar and the various rules committees about ways to improve the rulemaking process, the Court has determined that amending subdivision (b) (Schedule for Regular-Cycle Rules Proposals) of rule 2.140 to do away with the set schedule for rules committee reports and allow the committees to file rules proposals with the Court whenever a committee determines rules changes are needed will streamline the process and provide for more expeditious rule making. This change also should result in more informative committee reports and responses to comments by helping to ensure that the proposing committee's chair and a majority of its members were involved in the development of the rules proposals filed with the Court.
See Fla. R. Jud. Admin. 2.140(a)(4) (providing that rules committee members serve for three-year staggered terms).
Consistent with the amendments to subdivision (b) of rule 2.140, the Court deletes, as unnecessary, subdivision (e)(2) of the rule, which provides for nonemergency out-of-cycle rules proposals when out-of-cycle proposals are sufficiently necessary to the administration of justice. As amended, subdivision (e) of rule 2.140 will govern only rules reports filed using the committees' fast-track procedures, which are used for rule amendments that warrant expedited consideration or are necessary due to changes in legislation. Amended subdivision (e) also makes clear that fast-track reports filed in response to new legislation are designed to ensure that ordinarily the proposed rules amendments can be adopted before the effective date of the relevant legislation.
The Court also amends subdivision (d) (Emergency Amendments by Court) of rule 2.140 consistent with the Court's current practices when amending court rules on the Court's own motion. The Court makes several other more minor changes throughout rule 2.140.
Accordingly, the Florida Rules of Judicial Administration are amended as reflected in the appendix to this opinion. New language is indicated by underscoring; deletions are indicated by struck-through type. The amendments shall become effective June 1, 2020, at 12:01 a.m. Because the amendments were not published for comment prior to their adoption, interested persons shall have seventy-five days from the date of this opinion in which to file comments with the Court. The Court specifically seeks comments and any suggested revisions to the Court's amendments to rule 2.140 from the Bar's Rules of Judicial Administration Committee.
All comments must be filed with the Court on or before April 21, 2020, with a separate request for oral argument if the person filing the comment wishes to participate in oral argument, which may be scheduled in this case. If filed by an attorney in good standing with The Florida Bar, the comment must be electronically filed via the Florida Courts E-Filing Portal (Portal) in accordance with In re Electronic Filing in the Supreme Court of Florida via the Florida Courts E-Filing Portal , Fla. Admin. Order No. AOSC13-7 (Feb. 18, 2013). If filed by a nonlawyer or a lawyer not licensed to practice in Florida, the comment may be, but is not required to be, filed via the Portal. Comments filed via the Portal must be submitted in Microsoft Word 97 or higher. See In re Electronic Filing in the Florida Supreme Court , Fla. Admin. Order No. AOSC17-27 (May 9, 2017). Any person unable to submit a comment electronically must mail or hand-deliver the originally signed comment to the Florida Supreme Court, Office of the Clerk, 500 South Duval Street, Tallahassee, Florida 32399-1927; no additional copies are required or will be accepted.
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It is so ordered.
CANADY, C.J., and POLSTON, LABARGA, LAWSON, and MUÑIZ, JJ., concur.
APPENDIX ??????
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