Thirteenth Judicial Circuit of Florida, Hillsborough County Filing Rules

When the arrest or surrender occurred outside Hillsborough County, the documentation must state the transportation cost back to the county or note that the defendant could post a new bond at the arrest or surrender location.

The submitting party must consult all parties and make a genuine, good-faith effort to agree on the proposed order's language.

A motion or proposed order generally extending all deadlines by a set number of days will be rejected unless it includes a proposed amended DCM order or CMO.

The caption of an agreed or jointly sought proposed order should begin with the words “Agreed Order.”

The remotely appearing individual must have all exhibits that may be referenced at the hearing, and the appearing party or calling party is responsible for ensuring this.

A hearing canceled within 24 hours must be reported to the judicial assistant by email with a copy of the Notice of Cancellation.

Parties needing an ADA accommodation are asked to contact the ADA Coordinator at least seven days before the scheduled court appearance.

A party or attorney receiving proposed hearing dates by email must respond with availability within two business days.

A party unable to obtain time on a motion docket may email the judicial assistant, copying all parties, to request alternative hearing times.

Substantive communications sent to the judicial office will be forwarded to all relevant parties and entered on the public docket.

Cancellation of a judicial sale and payment of the clerk's sale fee must occur no later than 8:00 a.m. on the scheduled sale day.

The court will consider any materials submitted no later than 5 days before any evidentiary proceeding.

A motion to amend the DCMO must be filed before the applicable deadline in accordance with Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.200(e)(3).

A motion must be filed with the clerk before the party asks for a hearing date.

Documents responding to an order to show cause must be filed no later than five business days before the hearing.

Exhibits exceeding the 50-megabyte single-submission limit must be divided into multiple submissions.

In the majority of cases, the court will prepare orders to be entered. If the parties are required to prepare an order they may be uploaded through the Florida e-filing portal or provided to the judge in hard copy, with copies and addressed and stamped envelopes for all parties to the case and one extra for the clerk’s file.

Division A requires all orders to be uploaded through the E-Portal.

Within 48 hours after all parties agree on the trial date, the Uniform Order Setting Trial and Pre-Trial must be uploaded through the E-Portal as a proposed order.

A motion or memorandum of 10 pages or fewer may be e-mailed, but a copy of the notice of hearing must accompany it.

Each electronically filed exhibit must include an Exhibit Cover Sheet and be stored in its own uniquely identified PDF or PDF/A file.

The proposed order and its cover letter must each be submitted in PDF format.

Attorneys and self-represented litigants must bring sufficient copies of each exhibit for the clerk, court, and each party.

Exhibits must be placed in hearing binders that are indexed and tabbed.

Each jury instruction must be on a separate sheet, numbered and titled consistently with the approved Supreme Court jury instructions, and submitted in Bookman Old Style 14-point font.

The remission application and supporting documents must be served on the state and the clerk's legal counsel.

Both parties must email the witness list to each other, the court, and deputy clerk and file it through the E-Portal with the jury instructions.

When a self-represented party has no email address associated with the case, the person filing the proposed order through the E-Filing Portal must mail a copy to that party.

A copy of the notice of hearing must be emailed to the judicial assistant.

Service of a notice of hearing must occur immediately after hearing time is reserved.

If the DCM Order/CMO is inactive or the case is exempt from it, a courtesy copy of the filed stipulated notice or motion must be emailed to the judicial office with all parties copied.

Courtesy copies of case law or evidence must reach the Court at least five days before the proceeding.

The moving party must mail or hand deliver (no e-mail) to the judicial assistant a courtesy copy of the notice of hearing and motion(s), response(s), and any other documentation to be considered by the court. These documents must be received at least three business days prior to the hearing unless otherwise directed by the court.

For a settlement before the pretrial conference, trial, or final hearing, a party must file a notice of settlement, joint stipulation, or dismissal and email a courtesy copy to the judicial office while copying all parties.

Exhibits, motion responses, and case-law copies must reach chambers at least three business days before the hearing or they will not be reviewed.

A hearing may be canceled only with every party's consent, court approval, and notice to the clerk.

A motion to continue trial after entry of an Order Setting Pretrial Conference and Trial must comply with Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.460.

A calendar-conflict continuance motion and notice email must each be submitted at least five business days before the pretrial conference, absent an emergency, accident, hospitalization, or other good cause.

To stipulate to a new deadline, the parties must file an agreed motion alleging good cause and upload an agreed proposed amended DCM order to the judge’s queue.

A continuance motion must state whether a prior continuance motion was filed, be in writing, and be set and heard before the trial date; a disposition sheet may not be used for a case set for pretrial.

Before filing a motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim, counsel must give written notice, identify the alleged reasons, and stipulate to an amended complaint if requested.

If requested, counsel must agree to the filing of an amended complaint instead of filing the motion.

Good-faith consultation is required for nondispositive motions and encouraged for dispositive motions before setting a hearing.

Attorneys and parties must make genuine good-faith efforts to resolve discovery disputes before filing a motion to compel.

After three documented attempts to coordinate a non-emergency hearing, deposition, or motion, and after waiting at least 72 hours, the moving party may unilaterally set the issue for hearing no less than 30 days after the third attempt.

Prior determinations of indigency may support waiver of fees and fines under Administrative Order S-1997-085.

Cross-noticing or piggy-backing motions onto hearing time is prohibited unless the docket can accommodate the additional matters, the original scheduling party agrees after being contacted, or the court has already approved the addition.

Otherwise, do not send any paper documents to Chambers.

Cross-noticing is prohibited; agreed additions must be cleared with chambers through an amended notice, while unilaterally cross-noticed motions will not be heard and may be denied without prejudice.

Orders may not be uploaded until all required documents are filed and three business days have passed to allow the Clerk to docket them.

Attorneys must not upload an order until all required documents have been filed in the court file.

Documents of 10 pages or fewer may be emailed to the judicial assistant, while documents over 10 pages must be delivered by mail or hand delivery.

Photographs, charts, diagrams, and caselaw are excluded from the 10-page limit.

Briefs should not exceed ten pages absent good cause or leave of court.

Support and opposition memoranda are encouraged but may not exceed 25 pages.

Case-law submissions by attorneys may not exceed five pages.

The arbitration decision remains under seal if a timely request for trial de novo is filed.

Documents for which confidentiality is requested must be emailed to the judicial assistant for in-camera judicial review.

Documents subject to a confidentiality request must be emailed to the Judicial Assistant for in-camera judicial review.