Requirements & Information
Standards of Professionalism
Judge Stephen M. Walker expects all attorneys who appear to know and adhere to the Twelfth Judicial Circuit’s Standards of Professionalism, also available on the websites of the Manatee County Bar Association and the Sarasota County Bar Association.
A. Remote Appearance
All matters are In Person unless specially approved by the court at least 2 days prior to the hearing. Please visit the Public Court Hearings on Zoom page for Zoom log on credentials and procedures, including requirements for noticing a Zoom hearing and Zoom etiquette.
Standing Zoom Credentials: Download the
Zoom app on your chosen device or launch the Zoom app and click “Join”.
Meeting ID is
958 4147 3008;
Passcode is
636837.
Telephone/audio only:
1-786-635-1003.
Please remember, the remote Courtroom is still a Public Courtroom. The Court expects that you attend the Remote hearing with your camera on and that you conduct yourself professionally.
B. Hearing Procedures
DUI Court
Pleas
Please email the Judicial Assistant to request available hearing times for Pleas. They will be set on Wednesday afternoons.
All other Division P hearings will be set on their assigned day by the overseeing Counsel/Parties. Please contact the Judicial Assistant with any questions.
No Recording Proceedings
By court rule and court order, you are not authorized to make your own audio or visual recording of a court proceeding. No one may take “screenshots” or other audio or visual depictions of a court proceeding. Recording a court proceeding is strictly prohibited unless approved by the Judge. If you violate these rules, you may be held in contempt of court. Members of the media must comply with rule 2.450 and administrative order 2020-23.2 regarding media coverage. Please contact the Court’s Public Information Officer for further information.
Cross Notices/Add-On Hearings
Once a motion is scheduled, subsequent motions shall not be “cross noticed”, absent prior approval of opposing counsel and the Court.
Cancelling Hearings
Please email or call the Judicial Assistant to cancel a hearing. You must immediately send notice of cancellation to all parties including the Judicial Assistant and file into the court file.
C. Communications with the Court
Judge Walker must apply the same rules to all parties, regardless of whether you have an attorney or you represent yourself. Your opportunity to speak with Judge Walker about your case is when you are in the courtroom only. The Judicial Assistant is more than happy to help you confirm a time to do this; however, she is not able to help you with your case, give legal advice or send information to other parties in the case. For details about your case, you may visit the Sarasota County Clerk’s website.
Ex-parte
The Court will not consider ex-parte communication, therefore all communication sent to the Court by email must be copied to the opposing parties before the matter will be considered. Counsel should not use email for general correspondence or copy the Judicial Assistant any extraneous documentation or email correspondence between counsels. The Court will not consider emails as motions. All pleadings must be filed into the electronic court file.
D. Submission of Orders
Effective May 2, 2022, unless good cause is shown, proposed orders are required to be submitted electronically through the statewide Portal whenever feasible. See AO: 2022-1.2. Please refer to the Sarasota Clerk's website for information on how to use the Florida Courts e-Filing Portal.
Proposed Orders submitted through the “Proposed Documents” feature of the Portal are electronically transmitted to Judge Walker. Judge Walker’s name is not specifically listed, please choose “Assigned Judge” and it will go to his proposed order queue. The proposed order must be submitted electronically through the Portal in Word (.docx) format. If not submitted in Word format, it will be rejected. Proposed orders should conclude with the following language: “Done and Ordered in Sarasota, Sarasota County, Florida” and Please include a signature line for the Judge’s signature block and a service list, if needed. Do not include a date; the date is included with the judge’s electronic signature. Please leave adequate room in the document for the judge’s electronic signature. Cover letters must be submitted through the Portal in PDF/A format. All proposed orders submitted through the Portal to Judges and Magistrates in Sarasota County require a cover letter. If a cover letter is not included, it will be rejected. Any ancillary documents related to the proposed order (copy of the motion, case law, legal memorandums, etc.) may be attached to the cover letter in PDF/A format. Motions and proposed orders must be submitted through the Portal as separate documents. Combined motion/proposed orders in the same document are not permitted. Parties shall only submit a proposed order when all parties agree to the form. If an order is submitted via the portal, emailed courtesy copies are not needed.
Please do not Email “Proposed Orders” unless instructed to by the Court. Do not mail or email orders if they have been submitted via the portal as it can result in duplicate orders or errors.
E. Courtesy Copies
Please do not email “courtesy copies” of anything previously filed into the electronic court file unless requested to do so by the court. Judge Walker now views the court file electronically and copies are no longer needed. Please continue to submit all case law and any supporting documents that are not filed in the court file at least 48 hours prior to the Judicial Assistant. When sending case law and supporting documents, please state in your email or letter which party you represent. For voluminous submissions, the Court appreciates an index or searchable file.
F. Emergency & Other Urgent Matters
Any motion requesting emergency hearing time must explain the emergency, the anticipated time needed, and, where appropriate, good faith efforts to resolve the matter without Court intervention. The attorney or party filing the motion must (1) phone the Court’s Judicial Assistant about the motion, and (2) email or hand deliver a copy to the Court’s Judicial Assistant. The Court will determine how to handle the request.
G. Exhibits for Evidentiary Proceedings
Please confer with opposing counsel prior to setting the hearing to appropriately estimate the length of hearing. Please submit hard copies of exhibits to the Court properly marked and indexed. If it is a remote hearing, please submit the evidence five days prior to the hearing/trial. If the Hearing is In Person, you may bring the exhibits the morning of the hearing to the courtroom. If hard copies were sent, please email the Judicial Assistant prior to the hearing confirming receipt. If the exhibits are under 25 pages, they may be emailed to the Judicial Assistant to print. Please note that the Court is unable to access Dropbox or links for exhibits.
Zoom Witness Exhibits
Please provide copies of all exhibits to Zoom witnesses prior to the hearing or trial.
H. Pretrial Procedures & Conferences
Not applicable
I. Setting Case for Trial
Not applicable
J. Preferred Division Forms
Not applicable
K. Other Division Procedures
Technology Services
All Technology service requests must be made prior to trial. If presentation equipment or assistance is needed, please review the technology services page for more information. It is the Attorney’s responsibility to obtain all requests or equipment needed for trial.
Interpreters
The Twelfth Judicial Circuit provides spoken language court interpreters to limited-English-proficient persons in accordance with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, section 90.606, Florida Statutes, and Rule 2.560, Florida Rules of Judicial Administration. If you require the assistance of an interpreter, please submit your request using the Interpreter Request Form or please call 941‐749‐3659. Please submit your request as early as possible, requests made with less than 5 business days’ notice may not be able to be accommodated.
ADA Notice
If you are a person with a disability who needs any accommodation in order to participate in this proceeding, you are entitled, at no cost to you, to the provision of certain assistance. Please contact the Sarasota County Clerk of Court’s Jury Office, P.O. Box 3079, Sarasota, FL 34230-3079; (941) 861‐8000 at least seven (7) days before your scheduled court appearance, or immediately upon receiving this notification if the time before the scheduled appearance is less than seven (7) days; if you are hearing or voice impaired, call 711. Additional ADA information can be found on the Americans with Disabilities Act page.