CRC - 2017                                                 P 102
       
       
        
       By Commissioner Heuchan
       
       heuchanb-00098A-17                                     2017102__
    1                         A proposal to amend                       
    2         Sections 4 and 11 of Article V and to create a new
    3         section in Article XII of the State Constitution to
    4         revise the minimum amount of judges for each district
    5         court of appeal, to require that each district court
    6         of appeal have at least one judge from each judicial
    7         circuit in the court’s territorial jurisdiction, and
    8         to require that each judicial nominating commission of
    9         a district court of appeal have at least one member
   10         from each judicial circuit in the court’s territorial
   11         jurisdiction.
   12          
   13  Be It Proposed by the Constitution Revision Commission of
   14  Florida:
   15  
   16         Sections 4 and 11 of Article V of the State Constitution
   17  are amended to read:
   18                              ARTICLE V                            
   19                              JUDICIARY                            
   20         SECTION 4. District courts of appeal.—
   21         (a) ORGANIZATION.—There shall be a district court of appeal
   22  serving each appellate district. Each district court of appeal
   23  shall consist of at least six three judges. Each district court
   24  of appeal must have at least one judge from each judicial
   25  circuit in the court’s territorial jurisdiction. Three judges
   26  shall consider each case and the concurrence of two shall be
   27  necessary to a decision.
   28         (b) JURISDICTION.—
   29         (1) District courts of appeal shall have jurisdiction to
   30  hear appeals, that may be taken as a matter of right, from final
   31  judgments or orders of trial courts, including those entered on
   32  review of administrative action, not directly appealable to the
   33  supreme court or a circuit court. They may review interlocutory
   34  orders in such cases to the extent provided by rules adopted by
   35  the supreme court.
   36         (2) District courts of appeal shall have the power of
   37  direct review of administrative action, as prescribed by general
   38  law.
   39         (3) A district court of appeal or any judge thereof may
   40  issue writs of habeas corpus returnable before the court or any
   41  judge thereof or before any circuit judge within the territorial
   42  jurisdiction of the court. A district court of appeal may issue
   43  writs of mandamus, certiorari, prohibition, quo warranto, and
   44  other writs necessary to the complete exercise of its
   45  jurisdiction. To the extent necessary to dispose of all issues
   46  in a cause properly before it, a district court of appeal may
   47  exercise any of the appellate jurisdiction of the circuit
   48  courts.
   49         (c) CLERKS AND MARSHALS.—Each district court of appeal
   50  shall appoint a clerk and a marshal who shall hold office during
   51  the pleasure of the court and perform such duties as the court
   52  directs. Their compensation shall be fixed by general law. The
   53  marshal shall have the power to execute the process of the court
   54  throughout the territorial jurisdiction of the court, and in any
   55  county may deputize the sheriff or a deputy sheriff for such
   56  purpose.
   57         SECTION 11. Vacancies.—
   58         (a) Whenever a vacancy occurs in a judicial office to which
   59  election for retention applies, the governor shall fill the
   60  vacancy by appointing for a term ending on the first Tuesday
   61  after the first Monday in January of the year following the next
   62  general election occurring at least one year after the date of
   63  appointment, one of not fewer than three persons nor more than
   64  six persons nominated by the appropriate judicial nominating
   65  commission.
   66         (b) The governor shall fill each vacancy on a circuit court
   67  or on a county court, wherein the judges are elected by a
   68  majority vote of the electors, by appointing for a term ending
   69  on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in January of the
   70  year following the next primary and general election occurring
   71  at least one year after the date of appointment, one of not
   72  fewer than three persons nor more than six persons nominated by
   73  the appropriate judicial nominating commission. An election
   74  shall be held to fill that judicial office for the term of the
   75  office beginning at the end of the appointed term.
   76         (c) The nominations shall be made within thirty days from
   77  the occurrence of a vacancy unless the period is extended by the
   78  governor for a time not to exceed thirty days. The governor
   79  shall make the appointment within sixty days after the
   80  nominations have been certified to the governor.
   81         (d) There shall be a separate judicial nominating
   82  commission as provided by general law for the supreme court,
   83  each district court of appeal, and each judicial circuit for all
   84  trial courts within the circuit. The judicial nominating
   85  commission for each district court of appeal must have at least
   86  one member from each judicial circuit in the court’s territorial
   87  jurisdiction. Uniform rules of procedure shall be established by
   88  the judicial nominating commissions at each level of the court
   89  system. Such rules, or any part thereof, may be repealed by
   90  general law enacted by a majority vote of the membership of each
   91  house of the legislature, or by the supreme court, five justices
   92  concurring. Except for deliberations of the judicial nominating
   93  commissions, the proceedings of the commissions and their
   94  records shall be open to the public.
   95  
   96         A new section is added to Article XII of the State
   97  Constitution to read:
   98                             ARTICLE XII                           
   99                              SCHEDULE                             
  100         District courts of appeal.—The amendments to Sections 4 and
  101  11 of Article V, relating to the district courts of appeal and
  102  the judicial nominating commissions thereof, shall take effect
  103  January 1, 2020.