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In the Circuit Court of the Twelfth Judicial Circuit in and for
Manatee County, Florida

Administrative Order No: 2020–22.1

In Re:

Redistribution of
Manatee County Civil
Cases from Division 2
to Divisions 1, 3 and 4

Whereas, the Manatee County Clerk of Court is responsible for accepting new filings of county civil cases and equally assigning them between Division 1, Division 2, Division 3 and Division 4; and

Whereas, the court has recently become aware that due to a computer error, a significantly high number of new county civil cases were assigned to Division 2, resulting in an imbalanced caseload distribution and a disproportionate allocation of civil cases in Division 2; and

Whereas, in order to correct this imbalance, it is appropriate for this Court to direct the Manatee County Clerk of Court to redistribute the most recently filed county civil cases assigned to Division 2 equally between Division 1, Division 3, and Division 4, resulting in each division being assigned an equal number of new cases; and

Whereas, in order to improve the administration of justice within the Twelfth Judicial Circuit, and pursuant to Rule 2.215, Florida Rules of Judicial Administration, it is Ordered and Adjudged as follows:

  1. The Manatee County Clerk of Court is directed to determine the number of new county civil cases filed which were disproportionately assigned to Division 2. The Clerk should not consider "reopened" cases in this calculation.
  2. The Clerk shall then re-assign new county civil pending open cases filed equally between Division 1, Division 3 and Division 4. If a case is currently set for a hearing or trial in Division 2, it shall remain in Division 2.
  3. Before reassigning cases, the Clerk shall also verify that a case has not been specifically assigned to Division 2 due to the disqualification of another judge.
  4. Once the reassignment is complete, the Clerk shall mail and/or email a notice to all parties in the affected cases indicating that their case has been reassigned, designating the new division assignment, and shall reference this Administrative Order as the reason for the reassignment.
  5. For the next six months, the Clerk shall monitor the distribution of newly filed county civil cases on a bi-weekly basis to ensure that the caseload distribution has been appropriately corrected.
  6. This order is effective immediately.

Done and ordered in Chambers, Sarasota County, Florida, this 6th day of October, 2020.

Kimberly C. Bonner
Chief Judge

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