The County Civil and Small Claims Court of the Eighteenth Judicial Circuit Court, Brevard County, consists of five divisions designated as Divisions 1, 3, 4, 9, and 10. Division 9 is a newly created division within this court to accommodate an additional judge, helping to balance the high volumes of case filings. One of the judges serving in the County Court shall be appointed as Administrative Judge by the Chief Judge of the Eighteenth Judicial Circuit.

B. RESPONSIBILITIES OF JUDGES:

The judge of each County Civil and Small Claims Court Division shall be responsible for the progress and conduct of all cases assigned to that division from inception to conclusion, including, but not limited to, pretrial, trial, and post-trial motions, and shall exercise supervision over the preparation of all calendars and dockets of cases assigned to the division.

C. ASSIGNMENT OF CASES FOR COUNTY CIVIL COURT (EXCLUDING SMALL CLAIMS):

The Clerk of the Court shall assign County Civil cases to the five County Civil and Small Claims Court Divisions as follows:

1. The Clerk of the Court shall establish a system for the assignment of County Civil cases based the on the zip code of the defendant for each case. The zip code assignment method will provide for a geographical distribution of cases among the judges in two distinct jurisdictions within the County (North Jurisdiction and Central Jurisdiction).
2. The objective is for all County Civil Court Division judges to receive an equal, or near equal, number of cases. Upon the filing of a complaint with the Clerk’s Office, the judge assignment shall be made first by determination of an appropriate jurisdiction by breakdown of zip codes as follows: 
   1. NORTH JURISDICTION – Historic Titusville Courthouse Titusville, FL (Division 1 – Judge Baker): 32754, 32775, 32780, 32781, 32782, 32783, 32796, 32923, 32924, 32926, 32927, 32931, 32959
   2. CENTRAL JURISDICTION – Moore Justice Center Viera, FL (Division 3 – Judge Harrell, Division 4 – Judge Silverman, Division 9 – Judge Peacock, Division 10 – Judge Musselman): 32901, 32902, 32903, 32904, 32905, 32906, 32907, 32908, 32909, 32910, 32911, 32912, 32920, 32922, 32925, 32932, 32934, 32935, 32936, 32937, 32940, 32941, 32948, 32949, 32950, 32951, 32952, 32953, 32954, 32955, 32956, 32976
   3. OUT OF COUNTY (All Divisions/Judges): Any case filings with zip codes that do not fall into the North or Central jurisdiction will be considered Out of County. Case filings with Out of County jurisdiction will be programmatically assigned, on a rotation, between all five County Civil and Small Claims Court judges.
3. Upon determination of proper jurisdiction, judge assignment will occur automatically in the Clerk Case Maintenance System (CMS) based on the programmatic round-robin allocation criteria and configuration within the CMS.

D. ASSIGNMENT OF CASES FOR SMALL CLAIMS COURT:

The Clerk of the Court shall assign Small Claims cases as follows: 

1. The Clerk of the Court shall assign all newly filed North Jurisdiction Small Claims cases to Division 1 – Judge Baker.
2. The Clerk of the Court shall assign all newly filed Central Jurisdiction Small Claims cases to Division 9 – Judge Peacock.
3. The objective for assigning all new Central Jurisdiction Small Claims cases in this manner is to establish an initial caseload for the newly created Division 9. Upon Division 9 establishing a reasonable caseload, or upon further order of the court, the clerk will resume assigning Small Claims cases in accordance with the procedure for assigning all other County Civil cases in the programmatic round-robin manner.

E. DUTIES OF ADMINISTRATIVE JUDGE:

The Administrative Judge of both the Circuit and County Court Divisions, in addition to those duties specifically assigned herein, shall be responsible for the general supervision of that department and shall perform those administrative duties necessary to its efficient and effective operation in conformity with the applicable policies, procedures, and rules governing the administration of that department as contemplated by Rule 2.215(b)(5), Florida Rules of General Practice and Judicial Administration.

F. The Clerk of the Court is directed to modify its procedures as necessary to implement this Order.

G. This Administrative Order is effective October 1, 2025.

DONE AND ORDERED this 6^th day of October, 2025.

MELANIE CHASE

CHIEF JUDGE

The following division assignments will be effective April 1, 2026

CIRCUIT CIVIL

Judge Blaue – Moore Justice Center
Judge Bookhardt – Moore Justice Center
Judge C. Jacobus – Moore Justice Center
Judge Paulk – Moore Justice Center                             

CIRCUIT CRIMINAL

Judge Crawford – Moore Justice Center
Judge Henderson – Moore Justice Center
Judge McKibben – Moore Justice Center
Judge Moody – Moore Justice Center
Judge Naberhaus – Moore Justice Center
Judge Speicher – Moore Justice Center

CIRCUIT FAMILY

Judge Dookhoo – Moore Justice Center
Judge Segal – Moore Justice Center
Judge Smith-Rodriguez – Moore Justice Center
Judge Studstill – Moore Justice Center        

 JUVENILE DELINQUENCY

Judge Serrano – Melbourne Courthouse

JUVENILE DEPENDENCY

Judge K. Jacobus – Melbourne Courthouse        

JUVENILE DEPENDENCY

Judge Serrano – Melbourne Courthouse

PROBATE/GUARDIANSHIP

Judge Ballou – Titusville Courthouse

COUNTY COURT CIVIL

Judge Baker – Titusville Courthouse
Judge Harrell – Moore Justice Center
Judge Musselman – Moore Justice Center
Judge Peacock – Moore Justice Center 
Judge Silverman – Moore Justice Center

COUNTY COURT CRIMINAL

Judge Brown – Moore Justice Center
Judge Garagozlo – Moore Justice Center
Judge Ingram – Moore Justice Center
Judge K. Jacobus – Moore Justice Center – Division being dissolved
Judge Koenig – Moore Justice Center
Judge Skinner – Moore Justice Center        

DONE AND ORDERED this 27^th day of March 2026.

MELANIE CHASE
CHIEF JUDGE

I. That qualified county court judges in Brevard and Seminole Counties are authorized and directed to supplement and aid the circuit judges of the Eighteenth Judicial Circuit by sitting as circuit judges in the following matters:

A. Causes of action for injunctions for protection against domestic violence, in violation of section 741.30, Florida Statutes, as amended;
B. Causes of action for injunctions for protection in cases of repeat violence, sexual violence, or dating violence, in violation of section 784.046, Florida Statutes, as amended;
C. Causes of action for injunctions for protection against stalking, in violation of section 784.0485, Florida Statutes, as amended;
D. Causes of action for contempt for failure to pay child support or other violations of a court order;
E. Causes of action for indirect criminal contempt for violation of injunctions;
F. Felony crimes;
G. Temporary and final hearings in DOM cases;
H. Modifications in DOM cases;
I. Shelter, Consequence, and Detention hearings in Juvenile matters; and
J. Probate, guardianship, Baker Acts, and Marchman Acts.
K. Civil Cases
L. Juvenile Dependency and Juvenile Delinquency
M. Causes of actions for risk protection orders, pursuant to section 790.401, Florida Statutes
N. Modifications of sentences pursuant to section 98.0751, Florida Statutes, or Article 6 Section 4 of the Florida Constitution.

II. For purposes of conducting the aforementioned proceedings, I determine the following county court judges to be appropriately qualified:

The Honorable Michelle A. Baker
The Honorable Thomas J. Brown
The Honorable Carsandra Buie
The Honorable Wayne Culver
The Honorable James J. DeKleva
The Honorable Bejamin B. Garagozlo
The Honorable Sylvia Grunor
The Honorable Clarissa Harrell
The Honorable Kelly Ingram
The Honorable Katie Jacobus
The Honorable David C. Koenig
The Honorable Debra L. Krause
The Honorable Kimberly Musselman
The Honorable Aaron J. Peacock
The Honorable David E. Silverman
The Honorable Jonathan A. Skinner

III. When the county court judges listed above conduct any of the circuit court matters listed in subsection I of this Order, the services of the county court judge are to be:

A. Temporary;
B. Directed only to the specific classes of cases listed in subsection I of this Order;
C. Limited to assisting and supplementing the circuit court judges; and
D. Restricted to only a fraction of the pending cases.

IV. No county court judge shall be assigned to perform solely circuit court work absent a special order authorizing and directing said assignment (not to exceed sixty days in duration). Crusoe v. Rawls, 472 So.2d 1163 (Fla. 1985) (footnotes 2, 3).

V. No county court judge shall be given successive and repetitive assignments to hear all circuit court matters in any special district within the circuit, absent a special order of assignment (not to exceed sixty days in duration). Payret v. Adams, 500 So.2d 136 (Fla. 1986).

VI. When any of the county court judges listed above conduct any of the circuit court matters as described in subsection I of this Order, that county court judge shall have all powers and authority of a circuit judge in every respect. This authority includes, but is not limited to, the issuing of orders in the circuit court so assigned, as deemed necessary and appropriate.

VII. This Order shall be in effect on January 1, 2026, and for a period of six months from the date of its rendition.

DONE and ORDERED this 1st day of January 2026.
MELANIE CHASE
CHIEF JUDGE