05-21-S IN RE: JUDGES - CREATION OF FOURTH CRIMINAL DIVISION IN SEMINOLE COUNTY - ORDERED 3/9/2005 BY JAMES E.C. PERRY
EXCERPT: “WHEREAS, the original filings in the criminal division has progressively increased over the last several years; and WHEREAS, the Florida Legislature has routinely elevated misdemeanor crimes to felony offenses, including many traffic offenses, thereby contributing to the increased caseload; and WHEREAS, the Department of Corrections has taken a “zero tolerance” policy on probation violations, including purely technical violations, and this policy has significantly increased the number of violations of probation being processed in the criminal division; and WHEREAS, the legislature created an additional circuit judge position in the Eighteenth Circuit in 2003 and that position has been assigned permanently in Seminole County, and
WHEREAS the Circuit Judges in Seminole County have met and determined that the best use of available judicial resources is to assign a fourth judge to the criminal division in Seminole County, IT IS ADJUDGED: (Open AO for more information.)”