Florida Statutes
Fla. Stat. § 318.32 (2025)
Jurisdiction; limitations.
✓ 2025 Florida Statutes — current through the 2025 Regular Session
Find cases:
SyfertCases citing this section
FL-LEGleg.state.fl.us
JustiaFla. Statutes
CornellLII Search
CasesGoogle Scholar
318.32 Jurisdiction; limitations.—
(1) Hearing officers shall be empowered to accept pleas from and decide the guilt or innocence of any person, adult or juvenile, charged with any civil traffic infraction and shall be empowered to adjudicate or withhold adjudication of guilt in the same manner as a county court judge under the statutes, rules, and procedures presently existing or as subsequently amended, except that hearing officers shall not:
(a) Have the power to hold a defendant in contempt of court, but shall be permitted to file a motion for order of contempt with the appropriate state trial court judge;
(b) Hear a case involving a crash resulting in injury or death;
(c) Hear a criminal traffic offense case or a case involving a civil traffic infraction issued in conjunction with a criminal traffic offense; or
(d) Have the power to suspend or revoke a defendant’s driver license pursuant to s. 316.655(2).
(2) This section does not prohibit a county court judge from exercising concurrent jurisdiction with a civil traffic hearing officer.
(3) Upon the request of the defendant contained in a Notice of Appearance or a written plea, the case shall be assigned to a county court judge regularly assigned to hear traffic matters.
History.—s. 3, ch. 89-337; s. 1, ch. 91-152; s. 4, ch. 94-202; s. 255, ch. 99-248; s. 51, ch. 2005-236; s. 26, ch. 2006-290.
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 3
cases (2 in the last 5 years), 2011–2026 · leading case: City of Aventura v. Masone, 89 So. 3d 233 (Fla. 3d DCA 2011).
City of Aventura v. Masone, 89 So. 3d 233 (Fla. 3d DCA 2011). “30, and they are authorized to accept pleas and determine guilt, see § 318.32, unless the accused requests that the matter be heard by a judge, the hearing officer must be a member in good standing of The Florida Bar, have completed a forty-hour training course approved by the…”
James Nelson Obo Minor Child, N.N. v. The State of Florida (Fla. 3d DCA 2021). “” § 318.32(1), Fla. Stat. (2021). The circuit court also has appellate jurisdiction over civil traffic determinations made by hearing officers.”
Christopher Michael Lewis v. Dep't of High. Saf. & Motor Vehs. (Fla. 4th DCA 2026). “Substantively, petitioner argued on appeal that the hearing officer violated Florida Rule of Traffic Court 6.”
— 318.32(1) — 1 case
James Nelson Obo Minor Child, N.N. v. The State of Florida (Fla. 3d DCA 2021). “” § 318.32(1), Fla. Stat. (2021). The circuit court also has appellate jurisdiction over civil traffic determinations made by hearing officers.”
— 318.32(1)(c) — 1 case
Christopher Michael Lewis v. Dep't of High. Saf. & Motor Vehs. (Fla. 4th DCA 2026). “Substantively, petitioner argued on appeal that the hearing officer violated Florida Rule of Traffic Court 6.”
— 318.32(3) — 1 case
City of Aventura v. Masone, 89 So. 3d 233 (Fla. 3d DCA 2011). “30, and they are authorized to accept pleas and determine guilt, see § 318.32, unless the accused requests that the matter be heard by a judge, the hearing officer must be a member in good standing of The Florida Bar, have completed a forty-hour training course approved by the…”
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the
Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and
treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.