Court panel to examine DCAs: workload, jurisdiction, and structure to be reviewed.

The Florida Supreme Court has established a committee to examine the operations of the state's district courts of appeal.

"The court finds that it would be beneficial to once again examine district court of appeal workload and jurisdiction for purposes of Art. V., Section 9 of the Florida Constitution," said Chief Justice Barbara Pariente in an September 22 administrative order creating the Committee on District Court of Appeal Workload and Jurisdiction.

Chief Justice Pariente appointed Second DCA Chief Judge Chris Altenbernd to chair the panel, which has been charged with developing recommendations for the Supreme Court "on uniform criteria as a primary basis for a determination of the need to increase, decrease, or redefine the appellate districts."

The committee also may make recommendations concerning district court structure and jurisdiction.

The committee was ordered to submit its recommendations to the court by November 1, 2005.

The legislature broached the subject of Florida appellate court last year when the House passed a bill, introduced by Appropriations Committee Chair Bruce Kyle, R-Ft. Myers, that would have created a Sixth District Court of Appeal based in Polk County and redefined a number of the existing appellate districts. The proposed legislation also was tied to the creation of 51 new judgeships. While the Senate indicated it is willing to authorize some new judges, it would not go along with a new sixth DCA, and the bill died at the end of the session.

Kyle said he made his decision to propose the new DCA based on a 1999 report of the Judicial Management Council's Committee to Study the Need for Additional...