Filing Trends (FY 2010-11 to FY 2020-21)

Florida County Courts

County courts reported a 5.1% filings increase during FY 2020-21. This was mostly influenced by the 57.8% increase in eviction filings followed by the 51.4% increase in small claims filings. Also, the county criminal division reported a 55.0% filing increase in driving under the influence cases followed by a 1.2% decrease in criminal traffic cases.

Florida Circuit Courts

Florida circuit courts showed a statewide increase of 0.4% in filings from FY 2019-20 to FY 2020-21. Circuit civil courts reported an increase of 14.6% in other circuit civil filings, 8.7% in professional malpractice filings, and 4.8% in contract and indebtedness cases. Family courts reported an increase of 12.0% in dissolution cases, 11.0% in simplified dissolution cases, and an 8.8% increase in child support cases. Circuit criminal courts showed an increase of 65.2% in capital murder cases, 12.8% in other crimes against property, and 12.4% in non-capital murder cases.

Florida District Courts of Appeal

In FY 2020-21, district court filings decreased statewide by 9.4%. Specific case types driving the total decrease include other criminal cases at 30.7% and post-conviction cases at 25.2%. However, worker’s compensation cases showed an increase of 21.9%.

Florida Supreme Court

The Florida Supreme Court reported a 3.4% decrease in overall filings. The majority of this decrease was driven by a 72.2% filings decrease in initial death penalty appeals cases. In addition, an 47.4% increase was also reported in other mandatory review cases during the FY 2019-20 to FY 2020-21.