Swifter [Appellate] Justice is Coming: The Creation of Florida’s Sixth District Court of Appeal
On June 2, 2022, Governor Ron DeSantis signed a bill that paved the way for the creation of a Sixth District Court of Appeal in Florida. While the Third and Fourth District Courts of Appeal will remain unchanged, the First, Second, and Fifth District Courts of Appeal will be re-aligned to make way for the new appellate district. As of January 1, 2023, the new configuration of the district courts of appeal will be as follows:
- The First District Court of Appeals will be composed of the First, Second, Third, Eighth, and Fourteenth Judicial Circuits;
- The Second District Court of Appeals will be composed of the Sixth, Twelfth, and Thirteenth Judicial Circuits;
- The Third District Court of Appeals will be composed of the Eleventh and Sixteenth Judicial Circuits;
- The Fourth District Court of Appeals will be composed of the Fifteenth, Seventeenth, and Nineteenth Judicial Circuits;
- The Fifth District Court of Appeals will be composed of the Fourth, Fifth, Seventh, and Eighteenth Judicial Circuits; and
- The Sixth District Court of Appeals will be composed of the Ninth, Tenth, and Twentieth Judicial Circuits.
Notably, the newly minted Sixth District Court of Appeals will be headquartered in Lakeland in Polk County, whereas the Second District Court of Appeals will relocate its headquarters to St. Petersburg in Pinellas County. Pursuant to the re-alignment, current appellate judges will be reassigned to the District Court that corresponds with their place of residence as of December 22, 2021 – a move that will bring nine judges into the Sixth District Court of Appeal as of January 1, 2023.
Taken as a whole, the creation of a Sixth District Court of Appeal will likely lead to swifter and more efficient resolutions of cases in the state’s appellate courts, ultimately increasing the public’s trust and confidence in the Florida judiciary.
