Budget boosts courts with 39 new judges
The $115.1 billion austerity budget that lawmakers approved in an overtime session includes a hefty increase in new judgeships — but not the 50 the Supreme Court certified in December.
The FY 2025-26 budget deal reduces current spending by $3.5 billion, but still has room for a $945 million increase for K-12 schools, a 2% state worker pay raise, and $1.3 billion in tax cuts, most of which — $904 million — would eliminate a business rent tax.
House Speaker Daniel Perez, a Miami lawyer, said “mom and pop” shops would be the biggest winners.
“You’re helping small businesses create jobs, grow, and help their communities,” he said.
Despite salting away $750 million in the Budget Stabilization Fund in the event of an economic downturn, lawmakers made a substantial investment in the state courts.
A final compromise over SB 2508 calls for establishing 22 new circuit court judgeships, 15 county court judgeships, and two new appellate judgeships for the Sixth DCA.
At the same time, lawmakers agreed to reduce the Second District Court of Appeal by two appellate judgeships, from 15 to 13 — but only by not filling future vacancies.
Under the circuit judge agreement, the Second, Eighth, 14th, and 19th judicial circuits would each receive one additional judgeship. The Fourth, Seventh, Ninth, 10th, 12th, and 15th judicial circuits would each receive two additional judgeships. The Fifth and the 11th circuits would each receive three additional judgeships.
Under the county court judge agreement, Bay, Clay, Hernando, Lake, Manatee, Marion, Nassau, Osceola, Palm Beach, Polk, and Sumter counties would each receive one additional judgeship. Miami-Dade County would receive four additional judgeships.
Effective July 1, 2025, the budget would give all justices and judges a 2% pay increase. In addition, all circuit and county court judges assigned to Miami-Dade County would receive a $15,000 “critical market pay additive,” to offset South Florida’s high cost of living.
Chief deputy marshals, deputy marshal supervisors, and deputy marshals in Florida’s appellate courts would be eligible for the same 8% to 13% pay increase that lawmakers earmarked for state law enforcement officers.
The budget would also continue paying the annual fees and CLE costs of any state worker whose Florida Bar membership is a condition of his or her employment.
A $115.6 billion “Focus on Fiscal Responsibility” budget proposal that Gov. Ron DeSantis released in February called for 44 new judges. DeSantis’s proposal would spend $830 million to pay down state debt, and calls for trimming 741 vacant positions, and reducing university spending by $200 million.
Because sharp disagreements over tax-cutting proposals delayed a final budget deal by six weeks, DeSantis will have less time to exercise his line-item veto authority.
In a December order, the Supreme Court certified the need for 50 new judgeships, including 23 circuit judges, 25 county court judgeships, and two judgeships for the Sixth District Court of Appeal.
“To arrive at our certifications, the Court accounted for the relative needs of each circuit and county court as reflected in the weighted caseload methodology, but we have not certified the need for the full complement of judges indicated by that methodology,” the order stated. “Instead, based on several considerations, the Court has chosen to adopt an approach that is more incremental but still reasonable and fair.”
In addition to recognizing that new judicial positions require a significant investment, the justices also noted that the court system’s capacity to absorb additional judges at one time is limited by factors such as courthouse space, with expansion of courtrooms and chambers subject to the availability of county funding.
