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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
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An act relating to clerks of the court; amending s. 2
28.37, F.S.; authorizing the cumulative excess of 3
funds to be used in the development of the total 4
combined budgets of the clerks of the court; amending 5
ss. 28.35 and 28.36, F.S.; conforming provisions to 6
changes made by the act; amending s. 50.0311, F.S.; 7
revising the definition of the term "publicly 8
accessible website"; amending s. 318.18, F.S.; 9
providing exceptions to requirements that certain 10
civil penalties be remitted to school districts; 11
amending s. 318.21, F.S.; increasing the percentage of 12
certain penalties which must be deposited into the 13
fine and forfeiture fund and decreasing the percentage 14
of certain penalties that must be paid to a 15
municipality; providing an effective date. 16
17
Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 18
19
Section 1. Paragraph (b) of subsection (4) of section 20
28.37, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 21
28.37 Fines, fees, service charges, and costs remitted to 22
the state.— 23
(4) 24
(b) No later than February 1, 2022, and each February 1 25
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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
thereafter, the Department of Revenue shall transfer 50 percent 26
of The cumulative excess of the original revenue projection from 27
the Clerks of the Court Trust Fund to the General Revenue Fund. 28
The remaining 50 percent in the Clerks of the Court Trust Fund 29
may be used in the development of the total combined budgets of 30
the clerks of the court as provided in s. 28.35(2)(f)6. However, 31
a minimum of 10 percent of the clerk-retained portion of the 32
cumulative excess amount must be held in reserve until such 33
funds reach an amount equal to at least 16 percent of the total 34
budget authority from the current county fiscal year, as 35
provided in s. 28.36(3)(a). 36
Section 2. Paragraph (f) of subsection (2) of section 37
28.35, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 38
28.35 Florida Clerks of Court Operations Corporation.— 39
(2) The duties of the corporation shall include the 40
following: 41
(f) Approving the proposed budgets submitted by clerks of 42
the court pursuant to s. 28.36. The corporation must ensure that 43
the total combined budgets of the clerks of the court do not 44
exceed the total estimated revenues from fees, service charges, 45
court costs, and fines for court-related functions available for 46
court-related expenditures as determined by the most recent 47
Revenue Estimating Conference, plus the total of unspent 48
budgeted funds for court-related functions carried forward by 49
the clerks of the court from the previous county fiscal year, 50
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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
plus the cumulative excess as provided in balance of funds 51
remaining in the Clerks of the Court Trust Fund after the 52
transfer of funds to the General Revenue Fund required pursuant 53
to s. 28.37(4)(b), and plus any appropriations for court-related 54
functions. The corporation may amend any individual clerk of the 55
court budget to ensure compliance with this paragraph and must 56
consider performance measures, workload performance standards, 57
workload measures, and expense data before modifying the budget. 58
As part of this process, the corporation shall: 59
1. Calculate the minimum amount of revenue necessary for 60
each clerk of the court to efficiently perform the list of 61
court-related functions specified in paragraph (3)(a). The 62
corporation shall apply the workload measures appropriate for 63
determining the individual level of review required to fund the 64
clerk's budget. 65
2. Prepare a cost comparison of similarly situated clerks 66
of the court, based on county population and numbers of filings, 67
using the standard list of court-related functions specified in 68
paragraph (3)(a). 69
3. Conduct an annual base budget review and an annual 70
budget exercise examining the total budget of each clerk of the 71
court. The review shall examine revenues from all sources, 72
expenses of court-related functions, and expenses of noncourt-73
related functions as necessary to determine that court-related 74
revenues are not being used for noncourt-related purposes. The 75
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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
review and exercise shall identify potential targeted budget 76
reductions in the percentage amount provided in Schedule VIII-B 77
of the state's previous year's legislative budget instructions, 78
as referenced in s. 216.023(3), or an equivalent schedule or 79
instruction as may be adopted by the Legislature. 80
4. Identify those proposed budgets containing funding for 81
items not included on the standard list of court-related 82
functions specified in paragraph (3)(a). 83
5. Identify those clerks projected to have court-related 84
revenues insufficient to fund their anticipated court-related 85
expenditures. 86
6. Use revenue estimates based on the official estimate 87
for funds from fees, service charges, court costs, and fines for 88
court-related functions accruing to the clerks of the court made 89
by the Revenue Estimating Conference, as well as any unspent 90
budgeted funds for court-related functions carried forward by 91
the clerks of the court from the previous county fiscal year and 92
the cumulative excess as provided in balance of funds remaining 93
in the Clerks of the Court Trust Fund after the transfer of 94
funds to the General Revenue Fund required pursuant to s. 95
28.37(4)(b), plus any appropriations for the purpose of funding 96
court-related functions. 97
7. Identify pay and benefit increases in any proposed 98
clerk budget, including, but not limited to, cost of living 99
increases, merit increases, and bonuses. 100
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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
8. Identify increases in anticipated expenditures in any 101
clerk budget that exceeds the current year budget by more than 3 102
percent. 103
9. Identify the budget of any clerk which exceeds the 104
average budget of similarly situated clerks by more than 10 105
percent. 106
107
For the purposes of this paragraph, the term "unspent budgeted 108
funds for court-related functions" means undisbursed funds 109
included in the clerks of the courts budgets for court-related 110
functions established pursuant to this section and s. 28.36. 111
Section 3. Paragraph (b) of subsection (2) and paragraph 112
(a) of subsection (3) of section 28.36, Florida Statutes, are 113
amended to read: 114
28.36 Budget procedure.—There is established a budget 115
procedure for the court-related functions of the clerks of the 116
court. 117
(2) Each proposed budget shall further conform to the 118
following requirements: 119
(b) The proposed budget must be balanced such that the 120
total of the estimated revenues available equals or exceeds the 121
total of the anticipated expenditures. Such revenues include 122
revenue projected to be received from fees, service charges, 123
court costs, and fines for court-related functions during the 124
fiscal period covered by the budget, plus the total of unspent 125
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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
budgeted funds for court-related functions carried forward by 126
the clerk of the court from the previous county fiscal year and 127
the cumulative excess as provided in plus the portion of the 128
balance of funds remaining in the Clerks of the Court Trust Fund 129
after the transfer of funds to the General Revenue Fund required 130
pursuant to s. 28.37(4)(b) which has been allocated to each 131
respective clerk of the court by the Florida Clerks of Court 132
Operations Corporation. For the purposes of this paragraph, the 133
term "unspent budgeted funds for court-related functions" means 134
undisbursed funds included in the clerk of the courts' budget 135
for court related functions established pursuant to s. 28.35 and 136
this section. The anticipated expenditures must be itemized as 137
required by the corporation. 138
(3)(a) The Florida Clerks of Court Operations Corporation 139
shall establish and manage a reserve for contingencies within 140
the Clerks of the Court Trust Fund which must consist of an 141
amount not to exceed 16 percent of the total budget authority 142
for the clerks of court during the current county fiscal year, 143
to be carried forward at the end of the fiscal year. Funds to be 144
held in reserve include the transfers of cumulative excess, as 145
provided in s. 28.37(4)(b), from the Clerks of the Court Trust 146
Fund and may also include revenues provided by law or moneys 147
appropriated by the Legislature. 148
Section 4. Subsection (2) of section 50.0311, Florida 149
Statutes, is amended to read: 150
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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
50.0311 Publication of advertisements and public notices 151
on a publicly accessible website and governmental access 152
channels.— 153
(2) For purposes of notices and advertisements required 154
under s. 50.011, the term "publicly accessible website" means a 155
county's official website or other private website designated by 156
the county for the publication of legal notices and 157
advertisements that is accessible via the Internet. For legal 158
notices and advertisements regarding real property required 159
under s. 50.011 by a clerk of the circuit court or county 160
comptroller, the term "publicly accessible website" means such 161
entity's website, a private website designated by such entity, a 162
county's official website, or a private website designated by 163
the county in which such entity is located. All advertisements 164
and public notices published on a website as provided in this 165
chapter must be in searchable form and indicate the date on 166
which the advertisement or public notice was first published on 167
the website. 168
Section 5. Paragraphs (a) and (b) of subsection (5) of 169
section 318.18, Florida Statutes, are amended to read: 170
318.18 Amount of penalties.—The penalties required for a 171
noncriminal disposition pursuant to s. 318.14 or a criminal 172
offense listed in s. 318.17 are as follows: 173
(5)(a)1. Except as provided in subparagraph 2., $200 for a 174
violation of s. 316.172(1)(a), failure to stop for a school bus. 175
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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
If, at a hearing, the alleged offender is found to have 176
committed this offense, the court shall impose a minimum civil 177
penalty of $200. In addition to this penalty, for a second or 178
subsequent offense within a period of 5 years, the department 179
shall suspend the driver license of the person for not less than 180
180 days and not more than 1 year. 181
2. If a violation of s. 316.172(1)(a) is enforced by a 182
school bus infraction detection system pursuant to s. 316.173, 183
the penalty of $200 shall be imposed. If, at an administrative 184
hearing contesting a notice of violation or uniform traffic 185
citation, the alleged offender is found to have committed this 186
offense, a minimum civil penalty of $200 shall be imposed. 187
Notwithstanding any other provision of law except s. 28.37(6), 188
the civil penalties assessed under this subparagraph resulting 189
from a notice of violation or uniform traffic citation shall be 190
remitted to the school district at least monthly and used 191
pursuant to s. 316.173(8). 192
(b)1. Except as provided in subparagraph 2., $400 for a 193
violation of s. 316.172(1)(b), passing a school bus on the side 194
that children enter and exit when the school bus displays a stop 195
signal. If, at a hearing, the alleged offender is found to have 196
committed this offense, the court shall impose a minimum civil 197
penalty of $400. 198
2. If a violation of s. 316.172(1)(b) is enforced by a 199
school bus infraction detection system pursuant to s. 316.173, 200
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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
the penalty under this subparagraph is a minimum of $200. If, at 201
a hearing contesting a notice of violation or uniform traffic 202
citation, the alleged offender is found to have committed this 203
offense, the court shall impose a minimum civil penalty of $200. 204
Notwithstanding any other provision of law except s. 28.37(6), 205
the civil penalties assessed under this subparagraph resulting 206
from notice of violation or uniform traffic citation shall be 207
remitted to the school district at least monthly and used 208
pursuant to s. 316.173(8). 209
3. In addition to this penalty, for a second or subsequent 210
offense within a period of 5 years, the department shall suspend 211
the driver license of the person for not less than 360 days and 212
not more than 2 years. 213
Section 6. Paragraph (g) of subsection (2) of section 214
318.21, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 215
318.21 Disposition of civil penalties by county courts.—216
All civil penalties received by a county court pursuant to the 217
provisions of this chapter shall be distributed and paid monthly 218
as follows: 219
(2) Of the remainder: 220
(g)1. If the violation occurred within a special 221
improvement district of the Seminole Indian Tribe or Miccosukee 222
Indian Tribe, 56.4 percent shall be paid to that special 223
improvement district. 224
2. If the violation occurred within a municipality, 28.2 225
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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
50.8 percent shall be paid to that municipality and 28.2 5.6 226
percent shall be deposited into the fine and forfeiture trust 227
fund established pursuant to s. 142.01. 228
3. If the violation occurred within the unincorporated 229
area of a county, including the unincorporated areas, if any, of 230
a government created pursuant to s. 6(e), Art. VIII of the State 231
Constitution, that is not within a special improvement district 232
of the Seminole Indian Tribe or Miccosukee Indian Tribe, 56.4 233
percent shall be deposited into the fine and forfeiture fund 234
established pursuant to s. 142.01. 235
Section 7. This act shall take effect July 1, 2026. 236