Requirements & Information

Local Rules & Standards of Professionalism

Local Rules for the Twelfth Judicial Circuit are available on the Circuit’s website, from the Manatee County Bar Association and its website, and in the Bar’s Membership Directories. Magistrate Hudson strictly adheres to Local Rules 5a and 5b regarding discovery motions. Non-compliance could result in the cancellation of your hearing. All attorneys must also adhere to the Twelfth Judicial Circuit Standards of Professionalism, adopted by the circuit on October 20, 2010, in Administrative Order 2010-22.2.

Self-Represented Litigants Please read if you do not have an attorney

The Magistrate must apply the same rules to all parties, regardless of whether you have an attorney. The Magistrate may not talk to you about your case outside of the courtroom, so please do not call to speak with the Magistrate. If you need to schedule a hearing you must file a Form A and motion with the Clerk, for the Pro Se Case Manager to review your case. The Magistrate Assistant may not help you with your case or send information to the other party or attorney for you. The Magistrate Assistant may not “give the Magistrate a message.” Additionally, please do not ask the Magistrate Assistant for the outcome of a hearing or verify that an order has been signed; you may review the Clerk’s website for details about your case. Please remember that whenever you file something with the Clerk or provide the Magistrate a copy, you must send a copy to all of the attorneys or parties at the same time. Please visit the Self Help Center.

Interpreters

If an interpreter is needed, you must provide one at your own expense, or arrange to have one provided by the Twelfth Judicial Circuit. The Twelfth Judicial Circuit provides spoken language court interpreters to limited-English-proficient persons in accordance with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, section 90.606, Florida Statutes, and Rule 2.560, Florida Rules of Judicial Administration. If you require the assistance of an interpreter, please submit your request using the Interpreter Request Form or please call 941-749-3659. Please submit your request as early as possible, requests made with less than 5 business days’ notice may not be accommodated.

El Duodécimo Circuito Judicial provee intérpretes judiciales de la lengua hablada a personas con dominio limitado del inglés seǵun el Título VI de la Ley de Derechos Civiles de 1964, la sección 90.606, los Estatutos de la Florida y la Regla 2.560 de las Reglas de Administración Judicial de la Florida. Si requiere la ayuda de un intérprete, por favor envíe su Formulario de solicitud de intérprete o llame al 941-749-3659. Por favor, envíe su solicitud lo antes posible, las solicitudes hechas con menos de 5 días laborales de preaviso no pueden ser garantizadas.

Orders of Referral

Magistrate Hudson is assigned to hear all Division 3 cases. Please be sure an Order of Referral has been entered 10 days prior to your hearing. Orders of referral are not required for hearings related to child support issues. In instances where a Judge has been recused from a case assigned to their division, it shall remain with the original General Magistrate. However, all subsequent reviews of the Magistrate’s Reports and Recommendations will be completed by the newly assigned Judge.

Requirements for all Hearings

For any hearing scheduled before the Magistrate, the moving party must have submitted though E-Filing or the Clerk at least 10 days prior to the hearing (or at least 24 hours in advance if there is less than 3 days between the motion filing and the hearing, along with emailing to the Magistrate’s Assistant) the following:

• the motion to be heard and any relevant court filing to which the parties may refer during the hearing,
• the order of referral signed by the Judge for the particular motion/issue to be heard,
• the notice of related cases,
• the notice of hearing for the particular motion to be heard, and
• copies of any and all relevant documents from cases in other jurisdictions.
• all evidence and exhibits should be brought to court the day of your hearing along with a copy for the other party and the Magistrate.
• Please note that if this is not done 10 days prior to the hearing the hearing will be cancelled.

Scheduling Hearings

All hearings are to be scheduled through the JACS. If you need more than 60 minutes of hearing time or cannot find adequate time in JACS to schedule your hearing, please email the Magistrate Assistant.

Cross-Noticing

Once a motion is scheduled, subsequent motions may not be added or cross-noticed without prior approval of the original scheduling attorney. Please note that if your motion is permitted to be heard, you must comply with the requirements set forth in the previous paragraph.

Trials

Trials with children, where Timesharing or Parenting Issues are disputed, parties shall file a Proposed Parenting Plan with the Clerk of Court. Failure to provide a Proposed Parenting Plan 10 days prior to trial may result in cancellation.

Both parties shall file their financial affidavits with the Clerk of Court prior to a trial being set.

Pre-Trial Memoranda shall submit a joint pretrial memorandum, located on the circuit’s website, no later than 3 days prior to a final hearing in a dissolution case.

Motions to Vacate

The original Motion to Vacate must be filed with the Clerk and emailed directly to the Judge and Magistrate. An Order for Transcript, which will set forth deadlines to submit a Transcript. Attorney’s shall schedule their motion on JACS with the Judge’s Office to be heard. Pro Se Parties shall file a Form A for the Pro Se Case Manager to set their hearing with the Judge.

Zoom and Hybrid Hearings

All hearings with the exception of non-evidentiary hearings 15 minutes or less will be held in-person. Non-evidentiary hearing times will be listed as Zoom on JACS, all others will be listed as HR1. If you would like to request to appear via Zoom or for a witness you must submit a written request to the Magistrate Assistant with the reasoning you need to appear via Zoom. If any party or witness is to appear via Zoom for a hybrid hearing the Magistrate Assistant must be notified so she can make proper request for the Zoom cart for the day of the hearing. If this is not done, it is possible the hearing may not be able to take place. Please visit the Public Court Hearings page for Zoom login credentials.

Cancellations

Cancellations should be done as soon as the parties are aware that the need for the hearing time no longer exists. If a party is unable to cancel a hearing through JACS, please contact the Magistrate Assistant so that she can make the time available for other cases. If a hearing is cancelled, opposing parties and/or counsel must be notified. If a matter is scheduled in JACS for a hearing before the Magistrate but a notice of hearing is not docketed in the court file at least ten (10) days in advance of the hearing, the hearing will be cancelled by the Magistrate’s office without further notice, unless fewer than ten (10) days exist between the date the motion was filed and the date the motion is scheduled to be heard because the motion is being heard on an expedited basis.

Motion for Rehearing and Reconsideration

All motions for rehearing, reconsideration and new trial are to be submitted directly to the Magistrate’s office, along with filed with the Clerk of Court. The motion shall be detailed and include case law. Magistrate Hudson will first review the motion to determine whether a hearing is required. Pro Se Parties shall file a Form A with their motion.

Emergency and Expedited Hearings

There are no set criteria as to emergency or expedited hearings and the Magistrate Assistant can only give out emergency or expedited hearing time on the Judge’s directions. All motions requesting emergency or expedited hearing time should be emailed to the Judge’s office with an attached cover letter that includes the amount of hearing time requested. The Judge will then review the motion to determine whether an expedited or emergency hearing is warranted.

Mediation

Before mediation can be ordered, both parties shall have filed their financial affidavits with the clerk of court. Failure to provide financial information 5 days prior to mediation may result in sanctions.

Parenting Course

Attendance at the parenting course is required by statute. It is the responsibility of counsel to ensure their client has completed this course and a Certificate of Completion is on file. If one party has not complied at the time of the final hearing by filing a Certificate of Completion, the sanctions may be ordered against the non-complying party. If both parties have not complied, the hearing will be cancelled.

Telephonic Hearings

Magistrate Hudson allows telephonic appearances upon prior written request, and only on hearings 15 minutes or less in length that are non-evidentiary in nature, unless stipulated by the parties. For evidentiary hearings, the requesting party must comply with the requirements of Fla. R. Jud. Admin. 2.530(d). The party appearing by phone should call (941) 749-3648 at the time of the hearing and must email or fax (941-749-3689) a copy of the party’s identification and the notary’s identification. The Court will not initiate the call. If a party appearing telephonically fails to secure the presence of a notary to identify them at the time of the hearing, the party will be permitted to listen to the hearing, but will not be permitted to testify.

Inmate Appearances

The attorney scheduling a hearing is responsible for notifying the bailiff’s office if an inmate needs to be transported from the jail for a hearing.

Submitting Documents via Email

If any documents are to be submitted by email, they shall be submitted to the Magistrate's Assistant.

Any proposed report/recommendation shall be submitted as an email attachment in a format compatible with Microsoft Word (.doc or .docx format) – do not send in PDF format.

Any documents submitted by email shall be copied to the opposing counsel/pro se party, and there shall be an indication in the email that copies have been so provided.