EFTA01114871.pdf

Payret v. Adams, 500 So.2d 136 (1986) 12 Fla. L. Weekly 13 Atty. of the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit, amicus curiae. 500 So.2d 1,36 Supreme Court of Florida. Opinion Manuel Esteban PAYRET, Petitioner, v. EHRLICH, Justice. The Honorable Don T. ADAMS, As Acting Circuit Judge of the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit of Florida, Respondent. We have for our review Payret v. Adams, 475 So.2d 300 No. 67739. I Dec. 24, 1986. (Fla. 4th DCA 1985), wherein the district court certified the following question of great public importance: MAY A COUNTY JUDGE BE INDEFINITELY Petition was filed for writ of prohibition from the Circuit ASSIGNED CIRCUIT COURT DUTIES IN A Court, Palm Beach County, alleging that county judge SPECIALLY CREATED JURY DISTRICT OF THE was without jurisdiction to act as circuit court judge. The FIFTEENTH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT? District Court of Appeal, 475 So.2d 300, certified a question. The Supreme Court, Ehrlich, J., held that county We have jurisdiction, article V, section 3(b)(4), Florida judge could not be indefinitely assigned circuit court Constitution, and answer the question in the negative. duties in specially created jury district. In order to understand the procedural history of this case Question answered in negative. and our treatment of the certified question, the current system of trying criminal cases in the Fifteenth Judicial Overton, J., filed a dissenting opinion in which Circuit must be examined. Of particular importance are McDonald, C.J., concurred. three administrative orders issued by the chief judge of that circuit. The Glades Courthouse Annex, located in Belle Glade, is an official courthouse facility of the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit, in and for Palm Beach County. West Headnotes (I) By Administrative Order 1.004, all circuit and county court matters may be heard at the Glades annex, which geographically encompasses that section of Palm Beach 1 Courts County lying west of a north-south line at 20-Mile Bend. 4$,Designation or Assignment of Judges Administrative Order 1.006, enacted pursuant to the authority granted the chief judge of a judicial circuit by County judge could not be indefinitely assigned section 40.015, Florida Statutes (1985), created the circuit court duties in specially created jury Glades jury district. Under this administrative order, district given constitutional article mandating where the situs of an alleged felony is within the Glades that circuit court judges be elected by vote of district, a felony-charged defendant may request a jury qualified electors within territorial jurisdiction of trial at the Glades annex before a jury drawn from the court and article providing that when vacancy on Glades jury district; a defendant who does not so request circuit court occurs, governor shall appoint is tried at the main courthouse in West Palm Beach before judge to fill that vacancy. West's F.S.A. Const. a jury drawn from the eastern district. Administrative Art. 5, §§ 10(b), 11(b). Order 1.003 represents a blanket authorization from the 13 Cases that cite this headnote chief judge for county court judges to decide circuit court cases; assignments entered pursuant to this administrative order are for a full one-year period. This order further provides that in cases other than those in which the county court has exclusive jurisdiction, upon good cause shown a Attorneys and Law Firms party may have a case transferred to an appropriate division of the circuit court. *137 Nelson E. Bailey, West Palm Beach, for petitioner. Jim Smith, Atty. Gen., and Robert L. Teitler, Asst. Atty. Respondent is a county court judge in Palm Beach Gen., West Palm Beach, for respondent. County. Pursuant to Administrative Order 1.003, David H. Bludworth, State Atty., and Maureen H. respondent has been annually reassigned for the past five Ackerman, Asst. State Atty., West Palm Beach, for State years to be the acting circuit court judge for the Glades WestlawNex! © 2012 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works. 1 EFTA01114871 Payret v. Adams, 500 So.2d 136 (1986) 12 Fla. L. Weekly 13 district. Respondent has acknowledged that for all Id. (footnotes omitted). We suggested that when a county practical purposes, he is the circuit judge for the Glades court judge is assigned to do solely circuit court work, the district. assignment, in order to be temporary, should be for no The petitioner was charged by information with a felony more than sixty days; when a county court judge is and the case was set for trial before the respondent, acting assigned to spend only a portion of his time doing circuit as circuit judge, at the Glades annex. Respondent denied court work, we suggested no more than six months. petitioner's motion to transfer the case to an appropriate division of the circuit court" We suggested these time periods because we recognized the need for giving the chief judges flexibility in order for *138 Following this denial, petitioner sought a writ of them to effectively utilize available judicial labor, and we prohibition from the Fourth District Court of Appeal, liberally construed the assignments in Crusoe with this in alleging that respondent was without jurisdiction to act as mind. Id. at 1166. a circuit court judge. The district court denied the petition stating that this Court's decision in Crusoe v. Rowls, 472 Factually, Crusoe dealt with successive and repetitive So.2d 1163 (Fla.1985), and ow reaffirmance of State a assignments of county court judges assigned to hear a rel. Treadwell v. Hall, 274 So.2d 537 (Fla.1973), in limited class of support orders. We found these Crusoe foreclosed the district court from acting. While we assignments valid as the county judges were assigned "to understand the district court's reluctance, we feel it has supplement and aid the circuit judges rather than to read Crusoe and Treadwell too broadly. replace them." Id. at 1165. The facts sub judice stand in stark contrast. Respondent's assignment has been The sole issue before us sub judice is the temporal nature successive and repetitive, having been renewed annually of respondent's assignment. The issue before us in for the last five years. Rather than being assigned to aid or Treadwell was whether the chief judge of a judicial circuit assist the circuit judges in a limited class of cases, was authorized to assign duties to a county court judge respondent has been assigned to hear all circuit court which, under our constitution, are in the exclusive matters in the Glades district. Indeed, respondent has jurisdiction of the circuit court. 274 So.2d at 538. The conceded that for all intents and purposes, he is the circuit extent of our holding in Treadwell was that those county judge for the Glades district. Respondent and amicus court judges who met the qualifications for being a circuit argue that the assignment at issue is a valid temporary judge under article V, section 8, were qualified to be assignment as, facially, it is only for a one year period. assigned as temporary circuit judges. Id. at 539. The We cannot simply close our eyes to the de facto assignment in Treadwell stated that it was to be effective permanency of respondent's assignment, and no exercise "until further order," id. at 538, and it is this language on in liberal construction of the administrative order before which both respondent and amicus rely in support of their us can transform this permanent assignment into a valid position that the assignment sub judice is temporary and temporary one; such a result could only be accomplished more limited than the assignment we approved in by legerdemain. Treadwell. Judging from the phrasing of the district court's opinion below, it was evidently this same Respondent and amicus have presented us with various open-ended language which that court found to be reasons supporting the creation of the Glades annex and controlling. the Glades *139 jury district, and have stressed the convenience to the citizens of western Palm Beach In Crusoe, however, we explicitly stated that, "what County in having respondent assigned as the circuit judge temporary circuit judges" meant was not discussed or for that locale. The only issue before us today is the defined in Treadwell. 472 So.2d at 1165. In Crusoe we validity of respondent's assignment, and constitutional explained: provisions cannot be ignored for reasons of convenience. Article V, section 10(b), mandates that circuit judges shall "Temporary" is an antonym for "permanent." It is a be elected by vote of the qualified electors within the comparative term. It can be said that if a duty is not territorial jurisdiction of the court. Article V, section permanent it is temporary. If a county judge is assigned 11(b), provides that when a vacancy on a circuit court to perform solely circuit court work, the assignment occurs, the governor shall appoint a judge to fill that must be for a relatively short time for it to be vacancy. Respondent has become a permanent circuit temporary. If a county judge is assigned to spend a judge not by the method mandated by the constitution, but portion of his time performing circuit work, the by administrative order. This cannot be done. assignment can be longer, but the assignment cannot usurp, supplant, or effectively deprive circuit court Therefore, we answer the certified question in the jurisdiction of a particular type of case on a permanent negative, quash the decision of the district court and basis. remand for proceedings consistent with this opinion. WestlawNext © 2012 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works. 2 EFTA01114872 Payret v. Adams, 500 So.2d 136 (1986) 12 Fla. L. Weekly 13 It is so ordered. circuit court work. As a result, judicial time will be lost in travel and other available judicial time from county court judges will be totally lost. In my view, this is poor administrative policy and clearly contrary to the intent of ADKINS, BOYD, SHAW and BARKETT, JJ., concur. article V, section 2, of Florida's constitution. OVERTON, J., dissents with an opinion, in which The majority answers the certified question in the McDONALD, C.J., concurs. negative. I would answer the question in the affirmative provided the county court judge retains his or her county OVERTON, Justice, dissenting. court duties. I agree with the majority, however, that a county court judge could not indefinitely be assigned exclusively to circuit court work. Consistent with The majority's decision will substantially impact on the Treadwell, I would consider the order "temporary" when efficient utilization of Florida's judicial manpower and is the phrase "until further order of the court" is used and contrary to the intent and purpose of article V, section 2, the judge is not relieved of county court jurisdiction. of the Florida Constitution. The basic circumstances in State er reL Treadwell v. Hall, 274 So.2d 537 (Fla.1973), In view of the majority's decision, article V should be are identical to those in the instant case. In Treadwell, we amended to allow Florida to fully utilize its present approved assigning DeSoto County's county court judge judicial manpower. to circuit court work in that county. That record reflected that the county court judge had ample time to fulfill both county court and circuit court responsibilities. The McDONALD, C.J., concurs. majority decision effectively overrules Treadwell by restricting the use of county court judges as circuit judges in rural and semi-rural counties. Further, the majority Parallel Citations decision will require either (1) that circuit judges travel to counties where there are no resident circuit judges or (2) 12 Fla. L. Weekly 13 that qualified county court judges from other counties within the circuit periodically exchange counties to do Footnotes The petitioner's motion was made pursuant to Administrative Order 1.003, which allows transfer for good cause shown. Petitioner's good cause argument was premised on the validity of respondent's nontemporary assignment as circuit court judge. End of Document C 2012 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works. WestlawNext © 2012 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works. 3 EFTA01114873