Starting Tuesday, March 17, 2020, all court facilities will be closed to the public, except for access required for emergency or mission-critical court matters. The Honorable Bertila Soto, Chief Judge of the Miami-Dade Courts, issued an Administrative Order on Monday implementing the courts’ Continuity of Operations Plans and closing all court facilities to the public.
The closure will be in effect from Tuesday, March 17, 2020 through Friday, March 27, 2020.
Mission-critical court matters include:
- First Appearances (Bond Hearings)
- Arraignment hearings for in-custody defendants will be heard, but the defendant’s presence is not needed. If there is a written plea, the case will be set for trial. If there is no written plea, the arraignment hearing will be reset.
- Baker Act & Marchman Act (substance abuse) Hearings
- Juvenile Shelter and Detention Hearings
- Filing of Emergency Petitions for Temporary Injunctions (domestic violence, dating, stalking, repeat and sexual violence and risk protection orders)
- Note: All hearings on final injunctions pursuant to F.S. 741, 784, and 790 will be canceled and re-scheduled to a future date. All temporary injunctions will be extended and will remain in full force and effect until the next hearing date.
- Emergency Hearings set by presiding Judge
- All previously scheduled court proceedings other than those mentioned above will be reset to a future date.
- Trials that were underway before the Florida Supreme Court issued Administrative Order 20-13 on March 13 will continue.
The two-week closure may be extended based on guidance from health and government authorities and in coordination with the Florida Supreme Court. Future updates will be provided as needed.
For more information and updates, visit the Eleventh Judicial Circuit website.
Here are some important websites we recommend monitoring:
- Miami-Dade County‘s webpage for Coronavirus updates;
- Monroe-County‘s webpage for Coronavirus updates;
- Broward County‘s webpage for Coronavirus updates;
- Florida Supreme Court’s COVID-19 information page;
- Eleventh Judicial Circuit’s Court Announcements page;
- Southern District of Florida website; and
- Southern District of Florida-Bankruptcy Court webpage.
Conclusion
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