Supreme Court of Florida

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No. SC04-1139____________

AMENDMENTS TO THE FLORIDA RULES OF APPELLATEPROCEDURE, THE FLORIDA RULES OF CIVIL PROCEDURE, THE

FLORIDA RULES OF CRIMINAL PROCEDURE, THE FLORIDAFAMILY LAW RULES OF PROCEDURE, THE FLORIDA RULES OFJUVENILE PROCEDURE, AND THE FLORIDA PROBATE RULES

[September 30, 2004]

PER CURIAM.

The Florida Bar's Appellate Court Rules Committee, Civil Procedure Rules

Committee, Criminal Procedure Rules Committee, Family Law Rules Committee,

Juvenile Court Rules Committee, and Probate Rules Committee (collectively,

"Rules Committees") collectively propose amendments to their respective bodies

of rules based on a request from this Court to examine the rules and suggest

emergency amendments to them in light of the 2004 Florida Legislature's

amendment of various Florida Statutes to redesignate "magistrates" as "trial court

1. We have jurisdiction. See art. V, 2(a), Fla. Const.; Fla. R. Jud. Admin.2.130(e).

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judges" and "masters" and "general or special masters" as "general or special

magistrates." See ch. 2004-11, 2-103, Laws of Fla.1 The legislation will take

effect on October 1, 2004. See ch. 2004-11, 104, Laws of Fla.

The Rules Committees propose amending various rules of procedure and

forms to change references from "magistrates" to "judges" and "masters" to

"magistrates" in order to conform the rules of procedure to the new legislation.

The Rules Committees further propose amending the instructions to four of the

Florida Supreme Court Approved Family Law Forms. The proposals were

published for comment in the August 1, 2004, edition of The Florida Bar News.

No comments were received.

Having considered the Rules Committees' report, we adopt the amendments

as proposed. We hereby amend the following rules of procedure and forms:

Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.200, Pretrial Procedure; Florida Rule of Civil

Procedure 1.490, Masters; Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.111, Providing

Counsel to Indigents; Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.120, Committing

Magistrate; Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.121, Arrest Warrant; Florida Rule

of Criminal Procedure 3.125, Notice to Appear; Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure

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3.130, First Appearance; Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.131, Pretrial

Release; Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.133, Pretrial Probable Cause

Determinations and Adversary Preliminary Hearings; Florida Rule of Criminal

Procedure 3.220, Discovery; Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.852, Capital

Postconviction Public Records Production; the Committee Notes to Florida

Probate Rule 5.150, Order Requiring Accounting; Florida Probate Rule 5.697,

Masters' Review of Guardianship Accountings and Plans; Florida Rule of Juvenile

Procedure 8.060, Discovery; Florida Rule of Juvenile Procedure 8.625, General

Provisions for Hearings; Florida Rule of Appellate Procedure 9.190, Judicial

Review of Administrative Action; Florida Rule of Appellate Procedure 9.200, The

Record; Florida Family Law Rule of Procedure 12.015, Family Law Forms; Florida

Family Law Rule of Procedure 12.200, Case Management and Pretrial

Conferences; Florida Family Law Rule of Procedure 12.490, General Masters;

Florida Family Law Rule of Procedure 12.492, Special Masters; Florida Family

Law Rules of Procedure, Section II, Family Law Forms, Commentary, and

Instructions, General Information for Self-Represented Litigants; Family Law Form

12.920(a), Motion for Referral to General Master; Family Law Form 12.920(b),

Order of Referral to General Master; Family Law Form 12.920(c), Notice of

Hearing Before General Master; and the Instructions for Family Law Rules of

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Procedure Forms 12.920(a)-(c).

With regard to the Rules Committees' proposed amendments to the Florida

Supreme Court Approved Family Law Forms, this Court maintains responsibility

for reviewing, revising and maintaining these forms, and these forms have been

removed from the standard rule-making procedure. See Amendments to the

Florida Family Law Rules of Procedure and Family Law Forms, 810 So. 2d 1, 14

(Fla. 2000). We have reviewed the Rules Committees' proposals to amend these

forms, and we accept the proposed changes. Accordingly, we hereby amend the

instructions to the following Florida Supreme Court Approved Family Law Forms:

Florida Supreme Court Approved Family Law Form 12.921, Notice of Hearing

(Child Support Enforcement Hearing Officer); Florida Supreme Court Approved

Family Law Form 12.923, Notice of Hearing (General); Florida Supreme Court

Approved Family Law Form 12.960, Motion for Civil Contempt/Enforcement; and

Florida Supreme Court Approved Family Law Form 12.961, Notice of Hearing on

Motion for Civil Contempt/Enforcement.

In summary, we amend the Florida Rules of Civil Procedure, the Florida

Rules of Criminal Procedure, the Florida Probate Rules, the Florida Rules of

Juvenile Procedure, the Florida Rules of Appellate Procedure, and the Florida

Family Law Rules of Procedure as reflected in the appendix to this opinion. New

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language is indicated by underscoring; deletions are indicated by struck-through

type. The committee notes are offered for explanation only and are not adopted as

an official part of the rules. The forms are adopted as set forth in the appendix to

this opinion, fully engrossed. The amendments shall become effective October 1,

2004, at 12:01 a.m. This opinion and the forms discussed herein may be accessed

and downloaded from this Court's website at www.flcourts.org.

It is so ordered.

PARIENTE, C.J., and WELLS, ANSTEAD, LEWIS, QUINCE, CANTERO andBELL, JJ., concur.

THE FILING OF A MOTION FOR REHEARING SHALL NOT ALTER THEEFFECTIVE DATE OF THESE AMENDMENTS

Original Proceedings - The Florida Rules of Appellate Procedure, The FloridaRules of Civil Procedure, The Florida Rules of Criminal Procedure, The FloridaFamily Law Rules of Procedure, The Florida Rules of Juvenile Procedure, and TheFlorida Probate Rules

John F. Harkness, Jr., Executive Director, the Florida Bar, Tallahassee, Florida,

for Petitioner

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APPENDIXRULE 1.200. PRETRIAL PROCEDURE

(a) Case Management Conference. At any time after responsivepleadings or motions are due, the court may order, or a party by serving a noticemay convene, a case management conference. The matter to be considered shall bespecified in the order or notice setting the conference. At such a conference thecourt may:

(1) schedule or reschedule the service of motions, pleadings, andother papers;

(2) set or reset the time of trials, subject to rule 1.440(c);

(3) coordinate the progress of the action if complex litigationfactors are present;

(4) limit, schedule, order, or expedite discovery;

(5) schedule disclosure of expert witnesses and the discovery offacts known and opinions held by such experts;

(6) schedule or hear motions in limine;

(7) pursue the possibilities of settlement;

(8) require filing of preliminary stipulations if issues can benarrowed;

(9) consider referring issues to a mastermagistrate for findings offact; and

(10) schedule other conferences or determine other matters that mayaid in the disposition of the action.

(b) Pretrial Conference. After the action is at issue the court itself mayor shall on the timely motion of any party require the parties to appear for a

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conference to consider and determine:

(1) the simplification of the issues;

(2) the necessity or desirability of amendments to the pleadings;

(3) the possibility of obtaining admissions of fact and of documentsthat will avoid unnecessary proof;

(4) the limitation of the number of expert witnesses; and

(5) any matters permitted under subdivision (a) of this rule.

(c) Notice. Reasonable notice shall be given for a case managementconference, and 20 days notice shall be given for a pretrial conference. On failureof a party to attend a conference, the court may dismiss the action, strike thepleadings, limit proof or witnesses, or take any other appropriate action. Anydocuments that the court requires for any conference shall be specified in the order.Orders setting pretrial conferences shall be uniform throughout the territorialjurisdiction of the court.

(d) Pretrial Order. The court shall make an order reciting the actiontaken at a conference and any stipulations made. The order shall control the sub-sequent course of the action unless modified to prevent injustice.

Committee Notes

1971 Amendment. The 3 paragraphs of the rule are lettered and givensubtitles. The present last paragraph is placed second as subdivision (b) becausethe proceeding required under it is taken before that in the present secondparagraph. The time for implementation is changed from settling the issues becausethe language is erroneous, the purpose of the conference being to settle some andprepare for the trial of other issues. The last 2 sentences of subdivision (b) areadded to require uniformity by all judges of the court and to require specification ofthe documentary requirements for the conference. The last sentence of subdivision(c) is deleted since it is covered by the local rule provisions of rule 1.020(d). Thereference to the parties in substitution for attorneys and counsel is one of style

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because the rules generally impose obligations on the p