S. Court revamps court governance.

The Florida Supreme Court has clarified and strengthened its oversight of the court system and enhanced the authority of the chief justice and the chief judges of the circuits and district courts of appeal in amendments to the Rules of Judicial Administration.

On February 9, the court acted on recommendations of the Judicial Branch Governance Study Group, submitted to the court in January 2011. The study group was created by then-Chief Justice Peggy Quince in 2009 to look at the how the court system is governed.

The approved changes specify that the Supreme Court sets policy for and speaks for the court system and prohibits any other court entity, including the judicial conferences, from espousing a position or policy contrary to that set by the court.

The rule amendments also affect chief justice terms and revive the Judicial Management Council.

Justice Fred Lewis dissented from the court's ruling, saying the changes are unnecessary. Chief Justice Charles Canady and Justice Quince also dissented from specific parts of the revised rules. The new rules, with one exception, are effective immediately, although the court will accept comments for 60 days.

One of the major changes concerns selection of the chief justice. The former RJA 2.205 specified only that the chief justice would be elected for a two-year term in even-numbered years. The court tradition for more than a generation is the chief justice is the most senior justice who has not previously served as chief justice, and no justice has served for more than two years.

The new rule keeps the two-year term but also adds that the chief justice can serve successive terms not to exceed a total of eight years. Also, the opinion said, "As suggested by the study group, we further amend that subdivision to provide that the chief justice should be selected based on managerial, administrative, and leadership abilities, without regard solely to seniority and that the chief justice may be removed by a vote of four justices."

The study group had suggested that the chief justice serve a four-year term, without term limits, to promote continuity in court leadership.

The revised rules reiterate that the chief justice is the top administrative officer of the court system and carries out the policies and priorities set by the full court. He or she also assigns new duties, including being the primary spokesperson for the judicial branch, directly informing all judges regularly on budget issues, court...