Muñiz pledges to maximize court resources, including 39 new judges
Judicial branch will prioritize technology upgrades, uniform practices, and safety
"When it comes to the resources that we’ve been given by the Legislature…we really want to focus on things that are going to have tangible, concrete results that help you do your job better," Chief Justice Carlos Muñiz told the judges at the Annual Florida Bar Convention's Judicial Luncheon.
Chief Justice Carlos Muñiz pledged Thursday to make the best possible use of a significant increase in court resources, including 39 new judges, that lawmakers included in a $115.1 billion budget proposal for FY 2025-26.
“When the Legislature makes that kind of investment in the branch, I think they, and the people, have a right to expect results.”
Muñiz was careful to note that Gov. Ron DeSantis has yet to exercise his full or line-item veto authority, but he said if the funding for new judges survives, the courts will do all they can to make the investment pay off for the Floridians they serve.
“[W]e’re going to do our part to make sure that things like hearing times, and processing cases…that there’s an increase on that front that is commensurate with the new resources that we have been given.”
Addressing hundreds of lawyers and judges attending the Judicial Luncheon at the 2025 Annual Florida Bar Convention in Boca Raton, Muñiz referred to recent landmark civil justice reforms that, among other things, require judges to manage cases more actively.
The reforms, he reiterated, are “a work in progress.”
“The court is very cognizant of that fact that we’ve been making a lot of demands of trial judges,” he said. “And we think that’s for the greater good….”
To that end, Muñiz said, the Supreme Court will continue asking lawmakers for more resources to help judges make the courts function as efficiently as possible.
“So, this coming year, we’re going to be prioritizing trying to make the best case possible to the Legislature to get some technological help that we need,” he said.
Justice Meredith Sasso will be overseeing an enhancement of judicial training programs, a responsibility she recently inherited from Justice Jorge Labarga, who faces a Constitutional mandate to retire in 28 months, Muñiz said.
“When it comes to the resources that we’ve been given by the Legislature…we really want to focus on things that are going to have tangible, concrete results that help you do your job better.”
Muniz referred to a Judicial Management Council “Reconvened Workgroup on Judicial Practices in the Trial Courts,” that issued a final report in September.
Among other things, the report recommended ways to standardize certain judicial practices, “improve communication with judicial offices, and ensure adequate hearing time availability across the state.”
The rise of remote practice has been a boon to practitioners, but it has also created a greater awareness of “inconsistency, not necessarily a bad thing, but just sort of the diversity of practices,” across Florida’s 20 judicial circuits, Muñiz said.
One of the workgroup’s primary recommendations is a template for judicial procedures and instructions. The template is voluntary, Muñiz stressed.
“But it’s definitely a best practice that we encourage,” he said. “Just to make each judge’s individual requirements for scheduling things, or communicating with the court, just to kind of make that as easily digestible and findable, and if not uniform in terms of the content, standardized in terms of how it’s presented to the people.”
The Supreme Court also recently posted on its website the circuit administrative orders and related resources linked to the Supreme Court’s procedural rule amendments in opinions SC2023-0962 and SC2024-0662, Muñiz noted.
Another Judicial Management Council Workgroup, chaired by Fourth Judicial Circuit Chief Judge Lance Day, is studying judicial security, Muñiz noted.
Unfortunately, Muñiz said, the workgroup was formed in the light of recent surveys of state judges, and federal Marshal Service figures that show a rise in credible threats against judges.
The workgroup will spend the next year assessing how to improve the “personal safety” of judges, he said.
“Maybe it’s resources that we might need, maybe it’s more communication between the circuits and local law enforcement, maybe it’s helping judges educate themselves about the kind of common sense, but maybe not intuitively obvious things, to protect themselves,” he said.
Yet another Judicial Management Council workgroup is studying the ABA’s role in the Bar admissions process, Muñiz noted.
Supreme Court rules limit eligibility for the Florida bar exam to candidates who have graduated from an ABA-accredited law school.
“The one thing I want to make clear to everybody is that the point of that project isn’t for the court to directly be involved in the regulation of law schools, or for us to sort of meddle in whatever the ABA’s own accreditation decisions might be, or a law school’s choice who might want to be accredited by the ABA,” he said.
Instead, Muñiz said, “We sort of delegated some of our authority…so I think it’s fair for us to look into that and see if that’s a wise thing to be doing.”
The Supreme Court recently halted the practice of voluntary appointment of Bar members to the ABA House of Delegates, over the objection of some Board of Governors members, Muniz noted.
That decision was based on a concern about controversial stances that the ABA takes, and a respect for Bar members who may disagree with them, he said.
The decision was also based on consistency, Muñiz said. Florida Bar membership is required to practice law in the state, and as an arm of the Florida Supreme Court, the Bar is prohibited from taking stands on controversial issues.
“We think that one of the things that you don’t sign up for when you become a member of The Florida Bar, is to basically sign on to controversial public policy issues with which you may not agree.”
Turning to the “bigger picture,” Muñiz noted that the courts once again find themselves at the center of controversy as various groups challenge White House policies.
The spotlight may be intense, but controversy is nothing new for the courts, Muñiz said.
He urged judges to ignore it and instead aspire to the qualities of a judge as described by former U.S. Chief Justice William Howard Taft.
“In every particular his conduct should be above reproach, he should be conscientious, studious, thorough, courteous, patient, punctual, just, impartial, fearless of public clamor, regardless of public praise, and indifferent to private political or partisan influences,” Muñiz quoted.
“I find it very inspirational and very daunting at the same time,” Muñiz said. “But I think that that’s part of what makes being a judge not just a professional adventure, but a moral adventure as well, because it demands a lot of a person.”
