Florida’s court system has reduced the backlog of trial court cases accumulated since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic by nearly 30% as the judiciary moves toward a “new normal,” the state’s chief justice said in an annual address this month.
State Supreme Court Chief Justice Charles Canady mentioned the caseload progress April 7 during an address before the Supreme Court Historical Society in Tallahassee. The state courts are ahead of schedule in discharging the backlog, Canady said.
“Like the rest of the world, we have been through a difficult time, and like the rest of the world, we are trying to figure out what the new normal will look like,” Canady said.
A high court workgroup has also proposed rules for the permanent use of remote court proceedings and online technologies employed during the pandemic, but those rules are still pending.
“The (Supreme) Court’s proposal to the Legislature for the Pandemic Recovery Plan in trial courts contemplates a three-year path to address the pandemic-generated caseload,” Paul Flemming, the court’s spokesman, said in an email to the Florida Record. “The Legislature in its recently concluded regular session approved the second year of funding for this plan.”
But the state’s budget has yet to be forwarded or signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis, Flemming said. A summary of the 2022 budget plan outlined by the Florida House of Representatives indicates that $10 million has been earmarked to pare down the court case backlog.
Through aggressive case management, the backlog of civil cases in circuit and county courts since the COVID-19 pandemic unfolded has been cut in half as judges and attorneys have been working together to resolve those legal disputes, according to Canady.
The chief justice will conclude his third term as the leader of the high court on June 30. Carlos Muñiz will then take over as chief justice from Canady, having been unanimously elected to the position for a two-year term.