A Republican Florida state legislator has asked the state’s judicial branch to consider consolidating the 20 circuit courts within the state.
While touted by Speaker of the Florida House Paul Renner as a potential way to increase efficiency, save taxpayers money and increase public trust in the courts, others in the state are saying it’s a politically motivated move to redraw judicial circuits and consolidate Republican political power behind Gov. Ron DeSantis while he runs for president.
Renner sent a letter on June 15 asking Florida’s Chief Justice Carlos Muñiz to evaluate the judicial circuits for possible consolidation. Muñiz has since empanelled a 14-member committee to evaluate the possibility. That committee has until December to determine what their recommendation will be.
“The boundaries of Florida’s judicial circuits have been unchanged for decades despite significant population and demographic changes in that timeframe,” Renner wrote. “The size of our judicial circuits varies widely, ranging from approximately 2.7 million people (in the 11th Circuit) to less than 100,000 people (in the 16th Circuit). I believe that the consolidation of the circuits might lead to greater efficiencies and uniformity in the judicial process, thereby increasing public trust and confidence.”
Renner added that he believes consolidation could lead to economies of scale, “leading to substantial cost savings for Florida’s taxpayers.”
But not everyone shares Renner’s belief that consolidation would be a good thing.
If approved, the consolidation could combine Monroe County’s 16th Judicial Circuit with the massively larger 11th Circuit that includes all of Miami-Dade County.
Monroe County would no longer have its own elected state attorney, public defender and would likely lose its locally elected circuit court judges if such elections were to include both Florida Keys and Miami voters.
“Why fix what isn’t broken?” Monroe County’s State Attorney for the 16th Circuit, Dennis Ward, told the Keys Weekly on July 18. “People don’t realize the impact and the disruption that this consolidation would cause. The Miami State Attorney Katherine Rundell doesn’t have any interest in being burdened with Monroe County’s issues, which are different than in Miami because the priorities and crime impacts are different in a major metropolitan area. At what cost would this come to the people of Florida and the people of Monroe County?”
Chief Judge Bonnie Helms, here in the 16th Circuit, also used the term “disruptive” when speaking of the potential consolidation.
“It’s unsettling to have this hanging over us,” Helms told the Keys Weekly on July 17. “If they want to maintain public confidence, they need to keep the courts close to where people live.”
An article by Noreen Marcus in the nonprofit investigative news outlet Florida Bulldog recently questioned the motives for the potential consolidation.
The article quotes judicial historian and author Neil Skene as saying, “It would certainly seem incongruous for Republicans to claim they have no designs to increase their control of the judicial system,” legal historian Neil Skene said.
“‘Consolidation may mean that there are fewer courthouses and reduced availability to people, especially those with transportation challenges,” Skene said.
The article also quotes Andrew Warren, the state attorney from Hillsborough who was suspended for saying he wouldn’t enforce the state’s strict new abortion ban.
“‘This is about concentrating power in Tallahassee, not doing what’s best for Floridians,’” Warren told the Florida Bulldog.
