Florida First District Court of Appeal

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The Florida First District Court of Appeal, also known as the First DCA, is headquartered in Tallahassee, Florida, the state capital. It is unique among the six Florida District Courts of Appeal in that, much like the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit at the federal level, it handles most of the appeals in state administrative law matters. It is also solely responsible for handling appeals in workers' compensation cases. It is the Court of Appeals for 29 Florida counties, covering the Panhandle as well as the north-central parts of the state. The First DCA includes the following: First Circuit (Escambia, Okaloosa, Santa Rosa & Walton); Second Circuit (Franklin, Gadsden, Jefferson, Leon, Liberty & Wakulla); Third Circuit (Columbia, Dixie, Hamilton, Lafayette, Madison, Suwannee & Taylor); Eighth Circuit (Alachua, Baker, Bradford, Gilchrist, Levy & Union); and Fourteenth Circuit (Bay, Calhoun, Gulf, Holmes, Jackson & Washington).

Contents

Florida DCA map Florida District Courts of Appeal map.jpg
Florida DCA map

Controversy over new courthouse

The "Taj Mahal" courthouse Firstdca.jpg
The "Taj Mahal" courthouse

Before December 2010, the First DCA had been located two blocks from the Supreme Court of Florida in downtown Tallahassee. During December, the First DCA moved into a new courthouse on the southeastern outskirts of the city. The $48.8 million construction cost of the new courthouse generated considerable controversy, particularly given that the new building allegedly contained details and amenities such as "miles" of African mahogany-like sapele, granite top desks, and a sixty-inch flat screen television in each judge's chamber. The opulence of the new building led many critics to dub the new courthouse as the "Taj Mahal," and eventually led to the forced resignation of Paul M. Hawkes as the court's chief judge. [1]

Investigation into the building's construction revealed that after receiving an initial $1.8 million appropriation in the 2006 state budget, then-Governor Jeb Bush threatened to veto the appropriation unless the judges considered remodeling and expanding their existing facility. After receiving letters containing such assurances, the governor left the money in the budget. In 2007, judges on the court had the Florida Legislature appropriate an additional $7.9 million toward construction of a new courthouse. In the final days of that year's legislative session, judges had lawmakers slip an amendment into a transportation bill authorizing a $33.5 million bond issue for the new building. [2]

Sixth DCA

When the Florida Sixth District Court of Appeal was established in 2023, the caseload for the Fourth Circuit, including the counties of Duval, Nassau and Clay was shifted from the 1st DCA to the Florida Fifth District Court of Appeal. [3] The Jacksonville metropolitan area has a population of 1.6 million people. [4]

Former Chief Judges

Judges who have served as Chief Judge of the First DCA include:

Active Judges

Name [5] AppointedTerm expiresAppointing Governor
Lori S. Rowe Chief JudgeSeptember 15, 20092022Rick Scott, Republican
Stephanie W. Ray June 27, 20112024 Rick Scott, Republican
Joseph Lewis, Jr. 20012020 Jeb Bush, Republican
Bradford L. Thomas 20052024Jeb Bush, Republican
L. Clayton Roberts January 18, 20072020 Charlie Crist, Republican
Timothy D. Osterhaus May 20, 20132020Rick Scott, Republican
Ross L. Bilbrey January 6, 20152022Rick Scott, Republican
Susan L. Kelsey April 20152022Rick Scott, Republican
Thomas D. Winokur July 6, 20152022Rick Scott, Republican
M. Kemmerly Thomas June 20, 20162024Rick Scott, Republican
Rachel E. Nordby 20192020 Ron DeSantis, Republican
Adam S. Tanenbaum 20192020Ron DeSantis, Republican
Robert E. Long, Jr. June 10, 20202024Ron DeSantis, Republican

See also

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References

  1. ↑ Morgan, Lucy (Jan 18, 2011). "Supreme Court Chief Justice Charles Canady imposes order to prevent another 'Taj Mahal'". St. Petersburg Times . Archived from the original on 2011-01-20. Retrieved 2011-01-21.
  2. ↑ Morgan, Lucy; Katie Sanders (Jan 15, 2011). "Judge behind lavish courthouse "lied" in his testimony, legislator says". St. Petersburg Times . Archived from the original on 2011-01-18. Retrieved 2011-01-21.
  3. ↑ "District Courts of Appeal". Flcourts.gov. State of Florida. Retrieved 8 May 2023.
  4. ↑ "Metropolitan and Micropolitan Statistical Areas Totals: 2010-2020". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved November 7, 2021.
  5. ↑ Succession of Justices of Supreme Court of Florida Archived 2016-12-06 at the Wayback Machine Florida First District Court of Appeal
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