Third Judicial Circuit of Florida (Columbia, Dixie, Hamilton, Lafayette, Madison, Suwannee, Taylor Counties) Document Format Requirements

CRITICAL

The Court will not accept thumb drives or USB drives or access external links for a hearing.

The Court will not accept thumb drives, USB drives, or click on any external link for any hearing.

CRITICAL

Counsel may waive their clients’ appearance for the first preliminary hearing by: (2) Filing a motion for continuance and submitting a proposed order to the Court in Word format containing the dates for the next preliminary hearing and the final evidentiary hearing;

Counsel may waive their clients’ appearance for the first preliminary hearing by: (2) Filing a motion for continuance and submitting a proposed order to the Court in Word format containing the dates for the next preliminary hearing and the final evidentiary hearing;

CRITICAL

Format

DOCX

Proposed orders must be submitted in Microsoft Word format (.docx).

All proposed orders must be submitted in Microsoft Word format (.docx) and provided to opposing counsel and any self-represented litigant.

CRITICAL

Exhibits must use the specified labeling format, such as “Petitioner/Plaintiff 1” or “Respondent/Defendant A.”

Exhibits must be labeled in the following format: Insert label preference (e.g., “Petitioner/Plaintiff 1” or “Respondent/Defendant A”).

CRITICAL

Courtesy copies must be provided in PDF/A format or in three-hole-punched binders printed on 8.5-by-11-inch paper.

Courtesy copies must be submitted in either (1) PDF/a format, or (2) three-hole punched binders printed on 8.5 x 11-inch paper.

CRITICAL

Proposed orders must be submitted in Word format.

All proposed orders must be submitted in Word format

CRITICALCriminal cases

Motions for continuance must be in writing.

All motions for continuance shall be in writing and be submitted no later than noon the day prior to the scheduled pretrial date.

CRITICALCriminal cases

Proposed orders must be submitted in Word format.

All proposed orders shall be submitted to ginn.connor@jud3.flcourts.org in Word format.

CRITICAL

Proposed orders must be submitted in both PDF and Word format.

Format: All proposed orders must be submitted in PDF and Word format.

CRITICALCriminal cases

Continuance motions must be in writing.

Motions for continuance shall be in writing and filed prior to the pretrial date.

WARNING

Parties must share-screen via Zoom or use another means to show the Court digital media evidence and exhibits.

Video/audio evidence and exhibits cannot be viewed or played by the Court as they may pose a security risk. It is the responsibility of the party to share-screen via Zoom or find another means to show the Court digital media.

WARNING

Format

PAPER

For in-person hearings, exhibits must be submitted to the clerk on paper, attendees must bring enough copies for the clerk, court, and each party, and exhibits must use the stated party-and-number labels.

Format: For in-person hearings, exhibits must be submitted to the clerk of court in paper format. All attorneys and self-represented litigants must bring sufficient copies of each exhibit for the clerk, the court, and each party to review during the hearing or trial. Exhibits must be labeled in the following format: ‘Petitioner/Plaintiff 1.’ ‘Respondent/Defendant 1.’

WARNING

The case-law list must give each case name and reporter citation in one comprehensive Microsoft Word document; individual case copies may also be provided as PDFs.

Format: Provide the case name and reporter citation in a single comprehensive list, using Microsoft Word. Individual copies of the cases may also be provided as a PDF.

WARNING

For Zoom hearings, exhibits must use the stated proposed-party-and-number labels.

Exhibits must be labeled in the following format: ‘Proposed Petitioner/Plaintiff 1’ ‘Proposed Respondent/Defendant 1.’

WARNING

Paper orders must be accompanied by conformed, stamped envelopes for parties who do not use the eportal, except Plaintiff’s counsel.

Envelopes: For all orders submitted in paper format, conformed, stamped envelopes to all parties that do not utilize the eportal shall also be provided. (An envelope for Plaintiff’s counsel is not needed)

WARNING

Format

PDF

PDFs e-filed or submitted to the Court must be searchable; scanned PDFs or images must be converted to searchable PDFs using OCR software.

All PDF’s e-filed and submitted to the Court shall be in a searchable format. If it is a printed and scanned image, you must convert the scanned PDF/image into a searchable PDF by using Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.

WARNING

Format

DOCX

Agreed proposed orders submitted for signature must be in Word (.docx) format.

Proposed orders agreed upon by the parties can be submitted to the Judicial Assistant for signature via e-mail as a Word (.docx) formatted document.

WARNING

Format

DOCX

Unagreed or competing proposed orders submitted to the Judicial Assistant should be in Word (.docx) format.

Proposed orders not agreed upon by the parties or competing Orders should be submitted to the Judicial Assistant by e-mail and attached as a Word (.docx) formatted document, which will be forwarded to the Judge upon receipt of both proposed competing Orders.