D and DR Divisional News

This Division is dedicated to following the Florida Supreme Court Administrative Orders and the Administrative Orders of this Circuit posted on the Fifteenth Judicial Website. Please refer to the website for updates regarding COVID-19 and its impact on the courts.

Hearings in this division are being held in-person and are some hearings are still being held electronically, via Zoom.

County Criminal Hearings to be held in-person are:

Prose (defendants not represented by an attorney) arraignments, violation of probation hearings, motions to recall capias (not agreed to by the State), negotiated pleas and "in custody” bond hearings.

*Division "D" Injunction hearings are being conducted IN-PERSON.

County Criminal Hearings that may be held via Zoom are:

As a courtesy to attorneys, all other hearings other than those required in-person listed above who wish to appear via Zoom may do so. Prose defendants who are out of state or due to illness may request to appear via Zoom in writing for hearings other than the required in-person hearings listed above.

Petitions to Expunge/Seal hearings may be held via Zoom, please be sure to file all required documents for Petitions to Expunge and/or Seal and pay the required fee. May be set Monday, Tuesday or Thursday at 9:30 a.m. and may be set without the permission of the JA. Please be sure to check our periodically updated Suspension Calendar when setting short motion hearings and file your notice of hearing with the Clerk of Court, with proper notice to all parties. Please be sure to file a copy of the Order for the Judge with the Clerk along with the petition or email it to the JA PRIOR TO THE HEARING.

*Note: Petitions to Expunge/Seal may be done without a hearing IF the State agrees to expungement in writing. You must email a copy of the filed Petition, all related paperwork and proposed order to the Judge and the State, if the State agrees by reply to the email, no hearing is necessary. If the State does not agree, a hearing must be set.

Our static Zoom link is listed on this page below.

Note: Effective Immediately, The Clerk will begin setting Wednesday Traffic Infraction Trials as follows:

In-Person Hearings- NOT ZOOM:

Any traffic infraction trial (not involving fatality or serious bodily injury) set in open court arising from a pretrial hearing will be set in-person, for a future court date at 9:30 am and all parties will be required to be present in-person.
Traffic Infraction Trials involving serious bodily injury or fatality will be heard at 10:30 am, and set by Court Order, which will indicate that all parties are required to appear in-person, and then will be noticed and subpoenas sent by the Clerk for in-person hearing.
Animal infraction trials are set by the Clerk and will be heard at 10:30 am, and will also be in-person hearings. Please continue to check your notice/subpoena for the location of the hearing

Traffic Zoom Hearings

Traffic Infraction trials (not involving fatality or serious bodily injury) set by the Clerk at 9:00 a.m. and pretrials set by the Clerk at 10:00 am will still be heard via Zoom, please continue to check your notice/subpoena for the location of the hearing.

All Petition for Injunction hearings are to be held in-person, NOT Zoom

Zoom Meeting Information

*ATTENTION: As of June 21, 2021, hearings may be held in-person and/or Zoom, as listed above. This division will still be utilizing Zoom for attorneys and anyone requesting electronic appearance for certain criminal hearings and traffic infractions. The static link below will be used for all hearings conducted via Zoom in this Division, Monday through Thursday, for County Criminal AND Civil Infraction Trials. Please continue to check your notice of hearing for instructions on how to appear for your hearing. Petitions for Injunction hearings are held on Friday and all are required to appear in-person, NOT Zoom.

Join Zoom Meeting

Zoom Meeting Link

Meeting ID: 947 7097 8903

OR
Dial in only: 888 475 4499 US Toll-free
Meeting ID: 947 7097 8903

*PLEASE NOTE: County Criminal Hearings on Mon., Tues., Thurs. - ZOOM HEARINGS BEGIN AT 9:30 AM OR 1:30 PM as the Judge will be handling in-person hearings prior to that time.

Civil Traffic Court on Wednesday- Zoom Hearings begin promptly at 9:00 AM

County Criminal Hearings

(Monday, Tuesday, Thursday) Zoom hearings will start at 9:30 AM

Hearings will be conducted in-person and via Zoom.

Civil Infraction Trials

(Wednesday) Hearings begin promptly at 9:00 AM

As the court continues to hold some hearings via Zoom, parties may view the recurring Zoom Meeting information on the Court's website to appear at Traffic Infraction Trials set by the Clerk on Wednesdays. A recurring Zoom Meeting link is being provided for all hearings. In addition, the Clerk, when scheduling the hearing, will provide the necessary Zoom Meeting information on the subpoena and notice of hearing issued. It will be the responsibility of the parties to appear via Zoom with the Zoom Meeting information provided on the subpoena and available on the Court's website. Please continue to check your notice and/or subpoena for instructions on how/where to appear for your hearing.

Note: Effective Immediately, Wednesday Traffic Infraction Trials to be held in-person are:

1. Any trial arising from pretrial hearing- set at 9:30 am

2. Traffic Infraction Trials involving serious bodily injury or fatality- set at 10:30 am

3. Animal Infraction Trials set by the Clerk- set at 10:30 am

If you have a request regarding your case, please file in writing with the Clerk. You may access the Clerk’s website for online e-filing or for information about your case at: www.mypalmbeachclerk.com

For attorneys, some motions may be settled by agreed order in lieu of setting hearings.
If you need a court date for a petition to expunge hearing, please contact this office and one will be scheduled for you.
Our divisional email address: cad-divisiond@pbcgov.org

THIS INFORMATION SUBJECT TO CHANGE AND WILL BE UPDATED AS NEEDED.

Orders for Division "D/DR" can be found under Divisional Forms & Orders

Traffic Infraction Trials will be held electronically, when feasible, on Wednesday and begin promptly at 9:00 am.

Any motion filed with the Clerk of Court may be resolved by setting the motion for hearing OR by Agreed Order. Please check with opposing counsel for agreement PRIOR to setting a hearing or contacting the Judge's office. (See Divisional Instructions).

Compliance With Local Rule 4

Local Rule 4 has been amended effective July 18, 2017, and now requires attorneys to “make reasonable efforts to actually speak to one another” in a genuine effort to narrow disputes before seeking court intervention.

Scheduling of Hearings

5-10 minute motion hearings, including motions to withdraw capias and petitions to seal and expunge, are heard Monday and Thursday at 9:30 a.m. and may be set without the permission of the JA. Any motion needing more than 10 minutes of hearing time may be set by contacting the JA at the divisional email address at cad-divisiond@pbcgov.org to request hearing time. (See Divisional Instructions). Please be sure to file the proposed Order to Seal/Expunge with the Petition so that the Clerk will have it at the hearing.

Note: Please be sure to check our Suspension Calendar frequently as it is subject to change.

Agreed Orders

Agreed Orders to Continue OR Recall Capias MUST reference the parties' agreement and MUST have a new court date within the order. Please do not leave the new court date blank or the order will be returned. A new court date must be agreed to by the parties and written in the order before submitting the order to the Judge. Agreed Orders may be e-mailed to the divisional e-mail address cad-divisiond@pbcgov.org and MUST be in WORD format.

ALL ORDERS MUST BE RECEIVED IN "WORD FORMAT" ONLY
Orders sent to the Court by email will be served to the parties by e-mail ONLY.
All orders must state a mailing and email address for each party for service.

Motions to Continue

Defendant/Defense Motion for Continuance must be made timely and should be accompanied by a waiver of speedy trial, UNLESS the case is reset for 1-2 weeks AND prior to expiration of speedy trial. Please check with opposing counsel to see if your motion to continue is agreed to before contacting the Judge's office. Motions to Continue that are filed untimely and do not allow time for processing may be addressed in court at the time of the scheduled hearing.

E-service of Orders

Division D/DR is currently e-serving orders to attorneys/parties that have registered their primary and secondary e-mail addresses with the 15th Circuit. Please make sure you are registered for judicial e-service.

Please note: the filing of a "Notice of E-Mail Designation" does not register you for Judicial E-Service. You must register through Online Services.