Florida District Courts of Appeal

The Florida First District Court of Appeal

Jurisdiction of the Florida District Courts of Appeal

The Florida District Courts of Appeal (DCAs) are the intermediate appellate courts in Florida. There are five districts, each encompassing multiple counties. The courts were established in 1957. This marked the first intermediate appellate courts in the state. Prior to their creation, the Florida Supreme Court received all of the appeals from the state trial courts, and the docket was becoming congested.^[1]

There are 64 DCA judges in Florida as of 2015, up from 61 in 2013. In 1972, there were only 20 (five judges each in districts 1 through 4, while the 5th district did not yet exist). When the 5th district was created in 1979, the total number of DCA judges had become 39. The number climbed over the years; there were 46 judges in 1982 and 57 in 1989. From 1999 to 2007, the total was 62. The number of judges in the 3rd district was reduced from 11 to 10 in 2007, bringing the number back to 61.^[2]^[1]

Cases in the DCA are heard by three-judge panels. Each district court has a chief judge, who is selected by the body of judges. In general, the decisions made in the DCA are viewed as final judgments. Further appeals can be made to the Florida Supreme Court, but the state's highest court is not required to accept a case.^[1]

Districts

Five districts make up the District Courts of Appeal.

District	Number of judges	Location	Jurisdiction
First District Court of Appeal	15	Tallahassee	Circuits 1, 2, 3, 4, 8, and 14
Second District Court of Appeal	16	Lakeland with a branch in Tampa	Circuits 6, 10, 12, 13, and 20
Third District Court of Appeal	10	Miami	Circuits 11 and 16
Fourth District Court of Appeal	12	West Palm Beach	Circuits 15, 17, and 19
Fifth District Court of Appeal	11	Daytona Beach	Circuits 5, 7, 9, and 18

Cases

The DCAs take appeals from the lower courts. They also hear administrative law appeals from the executive branch's governmental actions and review decisions from county courts that have overruled the Florida Constitution or state statutes.^[1]^[3]

Number of DCA filings in each case category for fiscal year 2012-2013:

Administrative: 1,084
Civil: 6,102
Criminal: 9,342
Criminal Post Conviction: 5,305
Family: 1,382
Juvenile: 1,185
Probate/Guardianship: 230
Workers’ Compensation: 231^[3]

Budget

According to the 2013-2014 Florida State Courts annual report, the judicial branch accounts for 0.6 percent ($443,416,191) of Florida's total budget for the 2013-2014 fiscal year ($74,152,188,260). Of this, the district courts of appeal make up 9.2 percent, or $40,643,599.^[3]

Judicial selection

Like Florida's supreme court justices, judges of the district courts of appeal are nominated by the state's judicial nominating commission and then appointed by the governor. They serve six-year terms and are re-elected through retention elections.^[1]

Qualifications

To be considered for appointment, a candidate must be:

a qualified elector;
a Florida resident;
admitted to practice law in Florida for at least 10 years;
no more than 75^[4]

Salary

The annual salary for judges of the Florida District Courts of Appeal has been $154,140 since 2013.^[5]

Elections

To see results of district court of appeal elections, visit the individual district pages.

For details about Florida's judicial elections, visit the Florida judicial elections page.

2020

See also: Florida intermediate appellate court elections, 2020

The terms of 25 Florida District Courts of Appeal justices expired on January 5, 2021. The 25 seats were up for retention election on November 3, 2020. A full term on the court is six years. Twenty-four judges filed to run for retention in 2020. One judge did not file to run for retention.^[6]

2018

See also: Florida intermediate appellate court elections, 2018

The terms of nineteen Florida District Courts of Appeal judges expired on January 7, 2019. All stood for retention by voters in 2018 in order to remain on the bench.

Ethics

The Code of Judicial Conduct for the State of Florida sets forth ethical guidelines and principles for the conduct of judges and judicial candidates in Florida. It consists of seven canons:

Canon 1: "A Judge Shall Uphold the Integrity and Independence of the Judiciary"
Canon 2: "A Judge Shall Avoid Impropriety and the Appearance of Impropriety in all of the Judge's Activities"
Canon 3: "A Judge Shall Perform the Duties of Judicial Office Impartially and Diligently"
Canon 4: "A Judge Is Encouraged to Engage in Activities to Improve the Law, the Legal System, and the Administration of Justice"
Canon 5: "A Judge Shall Regulate Extrajudicial Activities to Minimize the Risk of Conflict With Judicial Duties"
Canon 6: "Fiscal Matters of a Judge Shall be Conducted in a Manner That Does Not Give the Appearance of Influence or Impropriety; etc."
Canon 7: "A Judge or Candidate for Judicial Office Shall Refrain From Inappropriate Political Activity"^[7]

The full text of the Code of Judicial Conduct for the State of Florida can be found here.

Removal of judges

Judges in Florida may be removed in one of two ways:

By a two-thirds vote of the senate after a two-thirds vote for impeachment by the house of representatives
By the supreme court after a recommendation from the Florida Judicial Qualifications Commission^[8]

Jurisdiction

Each county in Florida falls within the jurisdiction of one of the five district courts of appeal.

State profile

Demographic data for Florida
	Florida	U.S.
Total population:	20,244,914	316,515,021
Land area (sq mi):	53,625	3,531,905
Race and ethnicity**
White:	76%	73.6%
Black/African American:	16.1%	12.6%
Asian:	2.6%	5.1%
Native American:	0.3%	0.8%
Pacific Islander:	0.1%	0.2%
Two or more:	2.4%	3%
Hispanic/Latino:	23.7%	17.1%
Education
High school graduation rate:	86.9%	86.7%
College graduation rate:	27.3%	29.8%
Income
Median household income:	$47,507	$53,889
Persons below poverty level:	19.8%	11.3%
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2010-2015) Click here for more information on the 2020 census and here for more on its impact on the redistricting process in Florida. **Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here.

Presidential voting pattern

See also: Presidential voting trends in Florida

Florida voted Republican in five out of the seven presidential elections between 2000 and 2024.

Pivot Counties (2016)

Ballotpedia identified 206 counties that voted for Donald Trump (R) in 2016 after voting for Barack Obama (D) in 2008 and 2012. Collectively, Trump won these Pivot Counties by more than 580,000 votes. Of these 206 counties, four are located in Florida, accounting for 1.94 percent of the total pivot counties.^[9]

Pivot Counties (2020)

In 2020, Ballotpedia re-examined the 206 Pivot Counties to view their voting patterns following that year's presidential election. Ballotpedia defined those won by Trump won as Retained Pivot Counties and those won by Joe Biden (D) as Boomerang Pivot Counties. Nationwide, there were 181 Retained Pivot Counties and 25 Boomerang Pivot Counties. Florida had three Retained Pivot Counties and one Boomerang Pivot County, accounting for 1.66 and 4.00 percent of all Retained and Boomerang Pivot Counties, respsectively.

More Florida coverage on Ballotpedia

Recent news

The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Florida District Courts Appeal. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.

Florida District Courts of Appeal - Google News