Florida Statute 73.032 | Lawyer Caselaw & Research

The 2024 Florida Statutes

Title VI
CIVIL PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE

Chapter 73
EMINENT DOMAIN

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F.S. 73.032

73.032 Offer of judgment.—

(1) This section shall provide the exclusive offer of judgment provisions for eminent domain actions.

(2) The petitioner may serve a defendant with an offer of judgment no sooner than 120 days after the defendant has filed an answer and no later than 20 days prior to trial.

(3) A defendant may make an offer to have judgment entered against defendant for payment of compensation by petitioner only for an amount that is under $100,000, and such offer may be served on petitioner no sooner than 120 days after the defendant has filed an answer and no later than 20 days prior to trial.

(4)(a) The offer of judgment must:

1. Be in writing;

2. Settle all pending claims with that party or parties exclusive of attorney’s fees and costs;

3. State that the offer is made pursuant to this section;

4. Name the parties to whom the offer is made;

5. Briefly summarize any relevant conditions;

6. State the total amount of the offer; and

7. Include a certificate of service.

(b) The offer of judgment must be served in the same manner as other pleadings upon the parties to whom it is made, but may not be filed with the court unless it is accepted or unless filing is necessary to enforce this section.

(c) The offer of judgment shall be deemed rejected unless accepted by filing both a written acceptance and the written offer with the court within 30 days after service of the offer, or before the trial begins if less than 30 days. Upon proper filing of both the offer and acceptance, the court shall enter judgment thereon. A rejection of an offer terminates the offer.

(d) The party making the offer may withdraw the offer in a writing served on the opposing party before a written acceptance is filed with the court. Once withdrawn in this manner, an offer is void.

(e) An offer of judgment which is rejected or which is withdrawn does not preclude the making of a subsequent offer of judgment; however, any such subsequent offer of judgment shall automatically void the prior offer of judgment as if the same had never been made.

(5) If a defendant does not accept the offer of judgment made by the petitioner and the judgment obtained by the defendant, exclusive of any interest accumulated after the offer of judgment was initially made, is equal to or less than such offer, then the court shall not award any costs incurred by the defendant after the date the offer of judgment was rejected.

(6) If the petitioner rejects the offer of judgment made by defendant and the judgment obtained by defendant, exclusive of any interest accumulated after the offer of judgment was initially made, is equal to or is more than such offer, then the court shall award a reasonable attorney’s fee to the defendant based on the factors set forth in s. 73.092(2) and (3).

(7) At the time an offer of judgment is made by the petitioner, the petitioner shall identify and make available to the defendant the construction plans, if any, for the project on which the offer is based.

(8) Evidence of an offer of judgment is admissible only in proceedings to enforce an accepted offer or to determine the costs to be awarded a defendant pursuant to subsection (5) or a reasonable attorney’s fee pursuant to subsection (6).

History.—s. 53, ch. 90-136; s. 2, ch. 90-303; s. 1, ch. 94-162.

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Amendments to 73.032

Arrestable Offenses / Crimes under Fla. Stat. 73.032

Level: Degree
Misdemeanor/Felony: First/Second/Third

Current data shows no reason an arrest or criminal charge should have occurred directly under Florida Statute 73.032.

Annotations, Discussions, Cases:

Cases Citing Statute 73.032

Total Results: 20

ST. JOHNS RIVER WATER MGMT. DIST. v. Womack

Court: District Court of Appeal of Florida | Date Filed: 2005-09-16

Citation: 914 So. 2d 15, 2005 WL 2253833

Snippet: process incurred expenses in the amount of $17,384.73. 32. The court finds for the Plaintiff Womack on Count

Department of Transportation v. Enterprising Professional Investment Co.

Court: District Court of Appeal of Florida | Date Filed: 2002-01-25

Citation: 809 So. 2d 19, 2002 Fla. App. LEXIS 530

Snippet: the trial court failed to properly apply section 73.032(5), Florida Statutes (1999).1 On February 11, 2000

Dept. of Transp. v. ENTERPRISING PROF. INV.

Court: District Court of Appeal of Florida | Date Filed: 2002-01-25

Citation: 809 So. 2d 19

Snippet: the trial court failed to properly apply section 73.032(5), Florida Statutes (1999).[1] On February 11

Amendments to the Florida Rules of Civil Procedure

Court: Supreme Court of Florida | Date Filed: 2000-10-05

Citation: 773 So. 2d 1098, 2000 Fla. LEXIS 2312, 2000 WL 1472356

Snippet: sections 44.102(6) (formerly 44.102(5)(b)), 45.061, 73.032, and 768.79, Florida Statutes, and the decisions

CSR Partnership v. State, Department of Transportation

Court: District Court of Appeal of Florida | Date Filed: 1999-09-24

Citation: 741 So. 2d 623, 1999 Fla. App. LEXIS 12668, 1999 WL 770722

Snippet: forty-five days before trial. If substantive, section 73.032, Florida Statutes (1997), controls and requires

State, Dept. of Transp. v. Smithbilt

Court: District Court of Appeal of Florida | Date Filed: 1998-06-10

Citation: 715 So. 2d 963

Snippet: section 73.092, chapter 94-162 also amended section 73.032 in order to allow a defendant in an eminent domain

Pierpont v. Lee County

Court: Supreme Court of Florida | Date Filed: 1998-03-12

Citation: 710 So. 2d 958, 1998 WL 107949

Snippet: registry of the court. Thereafter, pursuant to section 73.032, Florida Statutes (1993), the county served A &

State, Department of Transportation v. Hall

Court: District Court of Appeal of Florida | Date Filed: 1998-03-03

Citation: 707 So. 2d 1163, 1998 Fla. App. LEXIS 2234, 1998 WL 85475

Snippet: presented an offer of judgment pursuant to section 73.032, Florida Statutes, in the amount of $126,400 to

Lee County v. Pierpont

Court: District Court of Appeal of Florida | Date Filed: 1997-01-24

Citation: 693 So. 2d 994, 1997 WL 24312

Snippet: See, e.g., § 45.061 (offers of settlement); § 73.032 (offers of judgment in eminent domain actions);

In Re Amend. to Fla. Rules of Civ. Proc.

Court: Supreme Court of Florida | Date Filed: 1996-10-31

Citation: 682 So. 2d 105, 1996 WL 627562

Snippet: 44.102(6) (formerly 44.102(5)(b)), 45.061, *126 73.032, and 768.79, Florida Statutes, and the decisions

State, Department of Transportation v. Daystar, Inc.

Court: District Court of Appeal of Florida | Date Filed: 1996-03-20

Citation: 674 So. 2d 754, 1996 Fla. App. LEXIS 2621, 1996 WL 123158

Snippet: being made “pursuant to Florida Statutes Sections 73.032, 73.092 and the Rules of the Florida Supreme Court

FLORIDA INLAND NAV. DIST. v. Humphrys

Court: District Court of Appeal of Florida | Date Filed: 1993-03-12

Citation: 616 So. 2d 494, 1993 WL 65692

Snippet: judgment made by the petitioner, pursuant to s. 73.032, is rejected and the verdict or judgment is less

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