34.01 Jurisdiction of county court.

474 words·~2 min read·/fl/title-v/chapter-34/34-01

A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.

(1)County courts shall have original jurisdiction:

(a)In all misdemeanor cases not cognizable by the circuit courts.

(b)Of all violations of municipal and county ordinances.

(c)Of all actions at law, except those within the exclusive jurisdiction of the circuit courts, in which the matter in controversy does not exceed, exclusive of interest, costs, and attorney fees:

1. If filed on or before December 31, 2019, the sum of $15,000.

2. If filed on or after January 1, 2020, the sum of $30,000.

3. If filed on or after January 1, 2023, the sum of $50,000.

Effective July 1, 2030, and every 10 years thereafter, the $50,000 jurisdictional limit in subparagraph 3. must be adjusted and increased by the percentage change in the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers, U.S. City Average, All Items, 1982-1984=100, or successor reports, for the preceding 10 calendar years as initially reported by the United States Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics. The adjusted jurisdictional limit must be rounded to the nearest $5,000.

However, the jurisdictional limit may not be lower than $50,000. The Office of Economic and Demographic Research must calculate the adjusted jurisdictional limit and certify the adjusted jurisdictional limit to the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court beginning January 31, 2030, and every 10 years thereafter. The Office of Economic and Demographic Research and the Office of the State Courts Administrator must publish the adjusted jurisdictional limit on their websites.

(d)Of disputes occurring in the homeowners’ associations as described in s. 720.311 (2)(a), which shall be concurrent with jurisdiction of the circuit courts.

(2)The county courts shall have jurisdiction previously exercised by county judges’ courts other than that vested in the circuit court by s. 26.012 , except that county court judges may hear matters involving dissolution of marriage under the simplified dissolution procedure pursuant to the Florida Family Law Rules of Procedure or may issue a final order for dissolution in cases where the matter is uncontested, and the jurisdiction previously exercised by county courts, the claims court, small claims courts, small claims magistrates courts, magistrates courts, justice of the peace courts, municipal courts, and courts of chartered counties, including but not limited to the counties referred to in ss. 9, 10, 11, and 24, Art. VIII of the State Constitution of 1885, as preserved by s. (6)(e), Art. VIII of the State Constitution.

(3)Judges of county courts shall also be committing trial court judges. Judges of county courts shall be coroners unless otherwise provided by law or by rule of the Supreme Court.

(4)Judges of county courts may hear all matters in equity involved in any case within the jurisdictional amount of the county court, except as otherwise restricted by the State Constitution or the laws of Florida.

(5)A county court is a trial court.