Performance Reports of Circuit and County Court Judges

HB 421 2026

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
hb421-00
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S

A bill to be entitled 1
An act relating to performance reports of circuit and 2
county court judges; providing a short title; creating 3
s. 28.51, F.S.; requiring each clerk of the circuit 4
court to prepare an annual performance report with 5
specified information regarding each circuit and 6
county court judge; requiring such reports to be 7
posted by a certain date on specified websites; 8
requiring such reports to remain posted for a 9
specified time period; authorizing judges to prepare a 10
specified explanatory statement; requiring such 11
statements to be posted with the relevant reports in 12
certain circumstances; providing for a specified 13
reporting period; providing an effective date. 14
15
Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 16
17
Section 1. This act may be cited as the "Judicial 18
Efficiency and Transparency (JET) Act." 19
Section 2. Section 28.51, Florida Statutes, is created to 20
read: 21
28.51 Performance reports of circuit and county court 22
judges.— 23
(1) Each clerk of the circuit court shall prepare an 24
annual performance report regarding the judicial efficiency of 25

HB 421 2026

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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S

each circuit and county court judge in this state. The report 26
shall detail the judicial activities during the preceding 27
calendar year and contain, but need not be limited to, the 28
following information, all of which shall be separated by court 29
division: 30
(a) The number of cases assigned to each judge. 31
(b) The number of cases that have reached final 32
disposition. For purposes of this paragraph, the term "final 33
disposition" means the rendering of a decision or a judgment by 34
a judge in a judicial proceeding in which a case is finally 35
determined by adjudication, dismissal, or other final 36
disposition. 37
(c) The clearance rate, stated as the total percentage of 38
cases filed during each reporting period which were disposed of. 39
(d) The average length of all active pending cases, 40
measured as the number of days from filing until the end of each 41
reporting period. 42
(e) The number of civil cases assigned to each judge, 43
except civil cases placed on inactive status, pending for 3 44
years or more, measured from the filing of a complaint or other 45
filing initiating a case until the end of each reporting period. 46
(f) The average number of days, beginning on the date a 47
hearing is scheduled and ending on the date the hearing is held, 48
for each hearing held in each reporting period. 49
(2) On or before April 1 of each year, each report shall 50

HB 421 2026

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
hb421-00
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S

be posted on the website of the clerk of the circuit court, as 51
applicable, and on the website of each circuit and county court 52
and shall remain posted for the duration of the tenure of the 53
subject judge. 54
(3) A judge may prepare an explanatory statement detailing 55
the basis for any extenuating circumstance that the judge 56
believes impacts the metrics reported pursuant to this section. 57
Upon approval of the Chief Judge of each circuit, the 58
explanatory statement shall be posted with the annual 59
performance report pursuant to subsection (2). 60
(4) The first reporting period required by this section 61
shall be the 2028 calendar year. 62
Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2026. 63