Requirements & Information

Standards of Professionalism

All attorneys and pro se (unrepresented by an attorney) litigants must follow the Twelfth Circuit Standards of Professionalism.

General Information

• Website: Find calendars and additional information about Circuit Juvenile Division K in the Divisions section on the Court’s website. Click on the Manatee tab and look for Circuit Juvenile Division K. Calendars are subject to change. Please check back regularly for possible amended calendars.
• At this time, all proceedings except trials and evidentiary hearings of one hour or more are held via the Zoom platform. Visit Judge Maulucci's Zoom page.
• Your child’s case is confidential; therefore, the Judicial Assistant is prohibited from providing information over the telephone.
• Delinquency cases: Contact your attorney, your child’s attorney or JPO with questions regarding your child’s case.
• Dependency cases: Contact your attorney or the Case Manager with questions regarding your case.

Communication with Judge or Judicial Assistant

The Judge CANNOT speak to a party, attorney or witness over the telephone or anytime outside of the court.

Written communication (letters or email) to the Judge must be copied and sent to all the parties. The written communication must identify all parties who received the written communication, or it will be unread or unopened and returned to the author. No action will be taken by the court.

The Judge CAN speak to a party or attorney in the courtroom in the presence of all the parties or during a properly noticed hearing.

The Judicial Assistant CANNOT provide legal advice which includes:

• Interpreting legal documents such as orders issued by the court, or
• Instructing litigants on their next course of action, such as identifying which motions to file.

Scheduling Hearings

Adding on cases are not permitted without advance permission of the Judge and the approval of the opposing party/parties.

Time Reserved: Hearings are limited to the time reserved in fairness to all litigants. Parties opposing any motion will be given equal time to respond to the motion. Accordingly, the party reserving and scheduling hearing time should either (1) determine how much hearing time is necessary to present his/her case and then double that amount of time (to account for response time); or (2) preferably, confer with opposing counsel and agree to the proper amount of time required. All hearing time must be cleared, in advance, with all parties to the case.

Notice of Hearing: Courtesy copies of all notices of hearings should be emailed to my JA. In the event a hearing is canceled, notices canceling hearings should be emailed to my JA. The party scheduling or canceling a hearing is required to provide advanced written notice to all parties, unless the cancellation is announced in open court and thus documented on the appearance record.

Emergency Hearing Time

Emergency Hearing Time is always available but strict compliance with these rules is required.

• The emergency motion must be filed with the Clerk of Court;
• Provide a courtesy copy to the Judge by email to the Judicial Assistant.
• Please call to notify the Judicial Assistant that the emergency motion is being sent by email. Placing a telephone call to the Judicial Assistant will allow anyone monitoring her emails to be on notice to retrieve the emergency motion.
• The emergency motion shall contain a certification that the moving party has personally spoken to or has made diligent efforts to contact and speak with opposing counsel in an effort to resolve the disputed issue(s).
• A cover letter to the Judge must be included with the emergency motion. The cover letter must contain the opposing party’s position to the emergency motion.
• The cover letter must contain an estimate of time needed to complete the hearing. The parties shall discuss the time for the hearing. (If the moving party needs one (1) hour then it would be reasonable that the opposing party receives equal time.)
• The judge will review all referenced items and decide whether to grant or deny the request for emergency hearing time.
• All parties must agree to the hearing date and time. The unilateral scheduling of hearings is not acceptable, except in unusual circumstances.
• Ex parte emergency motions must be notarized or include a notarized affidavit. The motion must explain why the movant needs ex parte relief, when the relief is needed, and how much time is requested. Such motions are not often granted and absent unforeseen circumstances will not be considered without all of the required information.

Submitting Proposed Orders

Stipulated or Agreed to Orders are acceptable. Include in your email to the Judicial Assistant that all parties have reviewed and consented to the order. Orders that have not been previously agreed to may also be approved by the Judge.

All parties shall be provided five business days to object to the entry of the order. The objection must be made directly to the Judicial Assistant or sent to the Juvenile Division K email address.

Dependency Cases

Except for motions less than one hour, which are scheduled on JACS, the hearing dates and times for dependency cases are scheduled by the court. Adding motions or cross-noticing hearings on the dependency docket is prohibited.

Delinquency Cases

Orders to Show Cause:

• Cut-off time to receive requests to issue Orders to Show Cause and/or VOP is four days prior to the Wednesday delinquency docket requested.
• All requests received with less than four days notice will be carried over to the following Tuesday’s docket.

Changes in Supervision Status

All requests for juvenile release from commitment programs, requests to terminate supervision and/or jurisdiction, and requests related to a youth’s home pass status must be provided to the Office of the State Attorney at the same time the request is provided to the Judge for consideration.

Parents’ Frequently Asked Questions