Florida Courts

The Florida Supreme Court is the highest appellate court in Florida and oversees the Florida court system.  

The Florida Supreme Court is composed of seven Justices. At least five Justices must participate in every case and at least four must agree for a decision to be reached. The Court's official headquarters is the Supreme Court Building in Tallahassee.

The Jurisdiction of the Florida Supreme Court is set out in the Florida Constitution.  The Florida Supreme Court has both mandatory and discretionary jurisdiction.

Mandatory Jurisdiction

The mandatory jurisdiction, or those cases that the Florida Constitution requires the Florida Supreme Court to hear include:

• final orders imposing death sentences
• district court decisions declaring a state statute or provision of the state constitution to be invalid
• bond validations
• certain orders of the Public Service Commission on utility rates and services 

Discretionary Jurisdiction

In addition to the Court's mandatory jurisdiction, the Florida Supreme Court, at its discretion, may review:

• any decision of a district court of appeal that expressly declares valid a state statute,
• construes a provision of the state or federal constitution,
• affects a class of constitutional or state officers,
• directly conflicts with a decision of another district court or of the Supreme Court on the same question of law,
• certified as great public importance,
• certified direct conflict,
• certified judgment of trial courts,
• certified question from federal courts.

The Florida Supreme Court can be found online at http://www.floridasupremecourt.org.  

• Florida Supreme Court Opinions can be found here: http://www.floridasupremecourt.org/decisions/opinions.shtml
• Florida Supreme Court Docket can be found here: http://onlinedocketssc.flcourts.org/
• The Clerk of the Florida Supreme Court can be found here: http://www.floridasupremecourt.org/clerk/index.shtml