2019 Amendments to the Florida Rules of Appellate Procedure

Although 2019 was an out-of-cycle year for amendments to the Florida Rules of Appellate Procedure, a significant change concerning appellate jurisdiction of district courts of appeal and circuit courts was adopted and is now effective. This post will briefly explain the change.

Amendments to Florida Rule of Appellate Procedure 9.030.

As you may know, the Florida Legislature recently amended the jurisdictional amounts separating county and circuit court jurisdiction. Before 2020, county courts retained jurisdiction of cases with amounts in controversy less than $15,000. As of 2020, the jurisdictional amount has been raised to $30,000 and is set to raise again in 2023. See 34.01(c), Fla. Stat. (2020).

What you may not know is that the legislature also changed the appellate jurisdiction of district courts of appeal. Before 2020, circuit courts heard appeals from county courts except in two circumstances: (1) if a county court order declared a state statute or provision of the Florida Constitution invalid, or (2) if a county court order certified the decision as one of great public importance, and a district court of appeal accepted jurisdiction. As of 2020, the Florida Legislature added a third category of cases that go straight from county courts to district courts of appeal: (3) appeals from county court orders when the amount in controversy is greater than $15,000. See § 26.012(1), Fla. Stat. (2020).

In response to this legislative change, the Florida Supreme Court amended Florida Rule of Appellate Procedure 9.030(b)(1)(B), which had previously provided that Rule 9.130 governed nonfinal of circuit courts, by removing the reference to circuit courts. Thus, Rule 9.030 now provides that all nonfinal appeals to district courts of appeal, including those from county courts, are governed by Rule 9.130. The reason is simple: if district courts have jurisdiction over orders from county courts where the amount in controversy exceeds $15,000, the appellate rules should should not limit jurisdiction over nonfinal orders to those coming from circuit courts.

These changes became effective January 1, 2020.