26-26-B IN RE: CLERK OF COURT – ADMINISTRATIVE CLOSURE OF REOPENED CIVIL CASES - ORDERED 6/11/2026 BY MELANIE CHASE
WHEREAS, Chief Justice Charles T. Canady issued AOSC20-23 as amended and as ordered in Florida Supreme Court No. SC2023-0962, corrected on December 5, 2024, which provides for case management of all civil cases;
WHEREAS, Florida Rule of General Practice and Judicial Administration 2.250 establishes reasonable time standards for the completion of original actions filed in the trial courts;
WHEREAS, pursuant to the foregoing, this Court issued Administrative Order No. 25-08 regarding Implementation of Civil Differentiated Case Management to provide effective, early, and continuous control of case processing to ensure faire and prompt resolution of original actions as required by Florida Rule of General Practice and Judicial Administration 2.545;
WHEREAS, the implementation of active case management pursuant to Administrative Order 25-08 has been effective in managing docket size and progressing original actions to a fair and prompt conclusion;
WHEREAS, upon the conclusion of an action either by final judgment, settlement, or dismissal, and after the time for rehearing and appeal has passed, the matter is disposed, and the Clerk of the Court closes the action on the Clerk’s case management system;
WHEREAS, after the action is closed, if a party files a post-disposition motion in the action, the record activity triggers the reopening of the action in the Clerk’s system without any mechanism to actively case manage the reopened matter;
WHEREAS, when a post-disposition motion reopens an action and the filing party fails to take any action to proceed on the motion, the action will remain open and languish, unmanaged without any case management guidelines;
WHEREAS, these reopened and unmanaged actions unnecessarily burden the resources of the Court and the Clerk of the Court; and
WHEREAS, the procedures provided herein are intended to assist the participants to proactively manage their time and resources and to avoid unnecessarily burdening the resources of the Court and the Clerk of the Court;
NOW, THEREFORE, pursuant to the authority vested in me as Chief Judge of the Eighteenth Judicial Circuit of Florida under Article V, section 2(d) of the Florida Constitution, sections 40.001 and 43.26, Florida Statutes, Florida Rule of General Practice and Judicial Administration 2.215, and Florida Rule of Civil Procedure Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.200,
IT IS ORDERED:
I. This Administrative Order governs all civil actions that have been previously disposed of and closed, but in which a post-disposition motion for relief has been filed, and as a result thereof, the record reflects that the action has been “reopened” on or after the effective date of this Order.
II. For any such reopened action where a post-disposition motion remains on the record for more than 60 days and said motion has not been resolved by an agreed order, or no notice of hearing on said motion has been filed, the Court will determine that said motion has been abandoned and enter an order denying the motion.
III. Upon the denial of such post-disposition motion, the Clerk of the Court will administratively close the case without further order of the Court.
IV. This Administrative Order shall take effect immediately and remain in effect until modified or rescinded.
DONE AND ORDERED this 11th day of June 2026.
MELANIE CHASE
CHIEF JUDGE