Read the full stored bill text
Florida Senate
-
2026
SB 666
By
Senator Bernard
24-01274-26 2026666__
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to performance reports of circuit and
3 county court judges; providing a short title; creating
4 s. 28.51, F.S.; requiring each clerk of the circuit
5 court to prepare an annual performance report with
6 specified information regarding each circuit and
7 county court judge; defining the term “final
8 disposition”; requiring such reports to be posted by a
9 certain date on specified websites; requiring such
10 reports to remain posted for a specified time period;
11 authorizing judges to prepare a specified explanatory
12 statement; requiring such statements to be posted with
13 the relevant reports in certain circumstances;
14 providing for a specified reporting period; providing
15 an effective date.
16
17 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
18
19 Section 1.
This act may be cited as the “Judicial
20
Efficiency and Transparency (JET) Act.”
21 Section 2. Section 28.51, Florida Statutes, is created to
22 read:
23
28.51
Performance reports of circuit and county court
24
judges.—
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(1)
Each clerk of the circuit court shall prepare an annual
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performance report regarding the judicial efficiency of each
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circuit and county court judge in this state. The report shall
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detail the judicial activities during the preceding calendar
29
year and contain, but need not be limited to, the following
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information, all of which shall be separated by court division:
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(a)
The number of cases assigned to each judge.
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(b)
The number of cases that have reached final
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disposition. For purposes of this paragraph, the term “final
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disposition” means the rendering of a decision or a judgment by
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a judge in a judicial proceeding in which a case is finally
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determined by adjudication, dismissal, or other final
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disposition.
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(c)
The clearance rate, stated as the total percentage of
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cases filed during each reporting period which were disposed of.
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(d)
The average length of all active pending cases,
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measured as the number of days from filing until the end of each
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reporting period.
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(e)
The number of civil cases assigned to each judge,
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except civil cases placed on inactive status, pending for 3
45
years or more, measured from the filing of a complaint or other
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filing initiating a case until the end of each reporting period.
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(f)
The average number of days, beginning on the date a
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hearing is scheduled and ending on the date the hearing is held,
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for each hearing held in each reporting period.
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(2)
On or before April 1 of each year, each report shall be
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posted on the website of the clerk of the circuit court, as
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applicable, and on the website of each circuit and county court
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and shall remain posted for the duration of the tenure of the
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subject judge.
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(3)
A judge may prepare an explanatory statement detailing
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the basis for any extenuating circumstance that the judge
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believes impacts the metrics reported pursuant to this section.
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Upon approval of the
c
hief
j
udge of each circuit, the
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explanatory statement shall be posted with the annual
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performance report pursuant to subsection (2).
61
(4)
The first reporting period required by this section
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shall be the 2028 calendar year.
63 Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2026.