RULE 2.225. JUDICIAL MANAGEMENT COUNCIL

(a) Creation and Responsibilities. There is hereby created
the Judicial Management Council of Florida, which shall meet at
least quarterly, and be charged with the following responsibilities:

(1) identifying potential crisis situations affecting the
judicial branch and developing strategy to timely and effectively
address them;

(2) identifying and evaluating information that would
assist in improving the performance and effectiveness of the judicial
branch (for example, information including, but not limited to,
internal operations for cash flow and budget performance, and
statistical information by court and type of cases for (i) number of
cases filed, (ii) aged inventory of cases — the number and age of
cases pending, (iii) time to disposition — the percentage of cases
disposed or otherwise resolved within established time frames, and
(iv) clearance rates — the number of outgoing cases as a percentage
of the number of incoming cases);

(3) developing and monitoring progress relating to long-
range planning for the judicial branch;

(4) reviewing the charges of the various court and
Florida Bar commissions and committees, recommending
consolidation or revision of the commissions and committees, and
recommending a method for the coordination of the work of those
bodies based on the proposed revisions; and

(5) addressing issues brought to the council by the
supreme court.

(b) Referrals. The chief justice and the supreme court shall
consider referring significant new issues or problems with
implications for judicial branch policy to the Judicial Management
Council prior to the creation of any new committees.
(c) Supreme Court Action on Recommendations by the
Judicial Management Council. The supreme court may take any
or all of the following actions on recommendations made by the
Judicial Management Council:

(1) adopt the recommendation of the council in whole
or in part, with or without conditions, including but not limited to:

(A) directing that action be taken to influence or
change administrative policy, management practices, rules, or
programs that are the subject of the recommendations;

(B) including the recommendation in the judicial
branch’s legislative agenda or budget requests;

(2) refer specific issues or questions back to the council
for further study or alternative recommendations;

(3) reject the recommendation or decision in whole or
in part;

(4) refer the recommendation to other entities, such as
the Florida Legislature, the governor, the cabinet, executive branch
agencies, or The Florida Bar, as the supreme court deems
appropriate; or

(5) take alternative action.

(d) Membership.

(1) The council shall consist of 15 voting members,
including the chief justice, who shall chair the council, an
additional justice of the supreme court, representatives from each
level of court, and public members.

(2) All voting members shall be appointed by the
supreme court. Each member, other than the chief justice, will
initially be appointed for a 2- or 4- year term, with the terms
staggered to ensure continuity and experience on the council and
for 4-year terms thereafter.
(3) The state courts administrator shall be a nonvoting
member. The council may request other nonvoting persons to
participate on an as-needed temporary basis to gain expertise and
experience in certain issues on review.

(e) Staff Support and Funding. The Office of the State
Courts Administrator shall provide primary staff support to the
Judicial Management Council. Adequate staffing and other
resources shall be made available to the Office of the State Courts
Administrator to ensure the effective and efficient completion of
tasks assigned to the Judicial Management Council. Sufficient
resources shall also be provided for meetings of the Judicial
Management Council and its committees or subcommittees, and
other expenses necessary to the satisfactory completion of its work.