The circuit courts have general trial jurisdiction over matters not assigned by statute to the county courts.

The Legislature has established 20 judicial circuits, with each circuit comprised of one to seven counties.

There are 601 circuit court judges. The number of judges within each circuit ranges from 4 to 80, based on circuit population and caseload.

To be eligible for the office of circuit judge, a person must be able to vote in a county in the circuit, and must have been a member of the Florida Bar for five years.

Judges are elected to a six-year term in nonpartisan, contested elections by voters in the circuit in which they are seeking to take office. Circuit judges are subject to the same disciplinary standards, and to the jurisdiction of the Judicial Qualifications Commission, as all other judicial officers.

In each circuit, the circuit and county judges choose from among the circuit judges a chief judge to carry out administrative responsibilities for all trial courts (both circuit and county courts) within the circuit. A trial court administrator and support staff in each judicial circuit assist the chief judge in performing administrative duties.

Circuit courts have general trial jurisdiction over matters not assigned by statute to the county courts. The jurisdiction of circuit courts includes, in part, civil disputes not under the jurisdiction of the county courts; cases relating to juveniles; criminal prosecutions for all felonies; family law; probate; and tax disputes.
Within the circuit courts, there are various programs and activities to enhance their effectiveness, including those described below.

• Problem-Solving Courts. These courts offer a specialized court docket and are administered by a problem-solving team using a non-adversarial approach which offers a continuum of individualized treatment services. In Florida, these courts include
  • Drug Courts. Drug Courts place substance abusers entering the criminal court system into treatment under monitoring by a judge and a team of treatment and criminal justice professionals. The program requires defendants to submit to drug-testing and court monitoring. Violation of program rules are met with graduated sanctions, whereas incentives are offered for successful progression and completion. As of August 2019, Florida has 91 drug courts in operation, including 54 adult, 20 juvenile, 13 family dependency, and 4 DUI courts.
  • Early Childhood Courts. As of July 2019, there are 23 early childhood courts in Florida, which are designed to address child welfare cases involving children under the age of three. Through specializing on a type of family law cases, early childhood courts aim to shorten the time to closure, which is the time from the removal to the time the child's case is closed through reunification, adoption, or permanent guardianship.
  • Mental Health Courts. These programs aim to divert defendants with serious mentally ill away traditional criminal justice stations, towards court monitored treatment services. Similar to drug court, these programs offer defendants access to treatment, training, and support services and aim to reduce recidivism and criminal justice related costs. As of August 2019, Florida has 27 mental health courts.
  • Veterans Courts. These courts are designed to assist defendants with the complex treatment needs associated with substance abuse, mental health, and other issues unique to the traumatic experience of war. Veterans courts are based on the drug court/problem-solving court model, where an interdisciplinary team of courtroom personnel, law enforcement, services/treatment providers, and veteran volunteers work to address underlying factors, which contribute to criminal behaviors. As of March 2019, Florida has 31 veterans courts in operation.
• Alternative Dispute Resolution/Mediation. Mediation and dispute resolution programs enable participants to remain the primary decision-makers for their own lives instead of relying on the courts for resolution. Programs are organized based on the needs of the court, the availability of volunteers, and the accessibility of funding sources.
• Self-Help Centers. This court resource provides information for local self-help resources, free and low-cost legal aid, and family law forms for use in dissolution, paternity, child support, name change, and grandparent visitation cases. Self-Help Centers also attempt to connect persons with a civil legal problem who cannot afford to hire a private lawyer to local legal aid organizations, which provide free or low-cost legal services to persons with low incomes.

In Fiscal Year 2018-19, there were 787,955 cases filed and 754,489 cases disposed in circuit courts. Additional statistics are available in the Trial Court Statistical Reference Guide.

Community Court. The 17th Judicial Circuit recently started a new problem solving court, community court. The specialized docket that addresses the needs homeless offenders, the problem of petty crime and municipal ordinance offenders.  Community court aims to focuses on the underlying causes of offender's criminal behaviors and directs participants to community service. Participants must choose to take an active role in their rehabilitation, and agree to give back to the community in the form of community service, once their situation is stable. Community court uses a non-adversarial approach to handling eligible offenses; it relies on a team of justice system stakeholders, and various for-profit and not-for-profit service and treatment centers to provide participants with needed services.

County Pretrial Release Programs: Calendar Year 2018, Report 19-17, December 2019

Florida's Judicial Boundaries and Workload, Report 19-06, August 2019

County Pretrial Release Programs: Calendar Year 2017, Report 18-06, November 2018

County Pretrial Release Programs: Calendar Year 2016, Report 17-12, December 2017

County Pretrial Release Programs: Calendar Year 2015, Report 16-10, December 2016

Other Reports
Florida Courts Technology Commission Yearly Report, Appellate Court Technology Committee, April 2019.
Veterans Resource Guide for the Florida State Court System, Florida Supreme Court Task Force on Substance Abuse and Mental Health Issues in the Courts, June 2014.
Florida Adult Felony Drug Courts Evaluation Report, NPC Research for the Florida Supreme Court Office of the State Courts Administrator, December 2013.
Publications, Office of the State Court Administrator.
Statistics, Office of the State Court Administrator.
The Auditor General reports on the state courts system are available on its website.
Websites of Interest
Florida Rules of Court Procedure
National Center for State Courts
Court Statistic Project
Performance Information
Performance measures and standards for the department may be found in its Long Range Program Plan.

Article V, Constitution of the State of Florida, and Ch. 26, Florida Statutes.

Office of the State Courts Administrator, Supreme Court of Florida, 850-922-5081

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