Hillsborough County family court

The strongest in-the-wild confirmation of the 2026 statewide AI rule: Judge Bantner's page expressly states his prior AI requirements are REMOVED because of the May 28, 2026 amendment of Rule 2.515 — signing a filing now itself certifies the authorities exist and are accurately cited.

Court procedures change without notice. Verify urgent deadlines or unusual requirements with the court, the clerk, or a Florida attorney.

Judge Gutman's practices PDF (mod. June 2026): the county-civil template applies — late materials not considered, Zoom by motion for in-person-noticed hearings, good cause for remote requests.

Court procedures change without notice. Verify urgent deadlines or unusual requirements with the court, the clerk, or a Florida attorney.

Judge Baggé-Hernández runs the fullest county-civil template (13 sections) including dedicated Small Claims and Landlord/Tenant-Eviction procedures — courtesy copies go digitally to the division, JAWS is the scheduling default, and unsolicited non-party communications are disregarded.

Court procedures change without notice. Verify urgent deadlines or unusual requirements with the court, the clerk, or a Florida attorney.

Judge Chandler's Division R sheet demands metadata on every notice — filing date, document index number of the motion, and time reserved — with 30-minute-plus contested evidentiary matters in person at Plant City and exhibits/case law mailed 5 days ahead.

Court procedures change without notice. Verify urgent deadlines or unusual requirements with the court, the clerk, or a Florida attorney.

Judge Chandler's Division U sheet: East Probate is paperless (orders only via ePortal to EAST CIRCUIT PROBATE DIVISION U), and probate hearings share Division R's JAWS docket for 30-minutes-or-less settings.

Court procedures change without notice. Verify urgent deadlines or unusual requirements with the court, the clerk, or a Florida attorney.

Judge O'Brien's practices PDF (mod. Nov. 2025): materials after the deadline are not considered, unclaimed binders are recycled within 3 days, and Zoom at an in-person-noticed hearing takes a motion.

Court procedures change without notice. Verify urgent deadlines or unusual requirements with the court, the clerk, or a Florida attorney.

Judge Saba's practices PDF (mod. Jan. 2026): hearing materials received after the deadline will not be considered, binders not retrieved within 3 days of the proceeding are recycled, and Zoom requests for in-person-noticed hearings go by motion.

Court procedures change without notice. Verify urgent deadlines or unusual requirements with the court, the clerk, or a Florida attorney.

Judge Chandler's Division S sheet is unambiguous: all protective-injunction hearings happen in person at Plant City, and you may not participate by Zoom unless the Court specifically directs it.

Court procedures change without notice. Verify urgent deadlines or unusual requirements with the court, the clerk, or a Florida attorney.

Judge Henderson's practices PDF (mod. May 2026): UMC dockets run on Zoom, other remote appearances require good cause from the requesting party, and unclaimed binders are recycled after 3 days.

Court procedures change without notice. Verify urgent deadlines or unusual requirements with the court, the clerk, or a Florida attorney.

Judge Edwards's practices PDF: the Uniform Motion Calendar is conducted via Zoom only, remote-appearance credentials die with a cancelled hearing, and Zoom appearances for in-person settings require an uploaded Order to Appear Via Zoom in the Division I queue.

Court procedures change without notice. Verify urgent deadlines or unusual requirements with the court, the clerk, or a Florida attorney.

Judge Giardina: 15-minutes-or-less schedules through JAWS, over 30 through the JA — and a unilaterally-set notice of hearing must attach a cover letter detailing at least three attempts to coordinate; hearings in person since February 14, 2022.

Court procedures change without notice. Verify urgent deadlines or unusual requirements with the court, the clerk, or a Florida attorney.

[PREEMPTED effective June 15, 2026 by Rule 2.515(d)(2) and AOSC26-12.] Judge Felix's page still displays his own AI disclose-and-certify mandate for any document, materials, or exhibits.

Court procedures change without notice. Verify urgent deadlines or unusual requirements with the court, the clerk, or a Florida attorney.

[PREEMPTED effective June 15, 2026 by Rule 2.515(d)(2) and AOSC26-12.] Judge Black's page still imposes her own AI rule — disclosure on the face of the document plus a personal-review certification, citing Fla. Bar Ethics Op. 24-1 — alongside 5-business-day case-law notebooks and new County Civil AO S-2026-024.

Court procedures change without notice. Verify urgent deadlines or unusual requirements with the court, the clerk, or a Florida attorney.

Judge DePaul's matrix: non-evidentiary ≤30 minutes on Zoom (pro se CMCs in person); evidentiary or >30 minutes in person, with evidentiary set at 60 minutes; Zoom-noticed evidentiary hearings without permission may be cancelled; phone appearances risk rescheduling.

Court procedures change without notice. Verify urgent deadlines or unusual requirements with the court, the clerk, or a Florida attorney.

Judge Tompkins requires each side's final financial affidavit 5 days before trial with ONLY contested entries highlighted, and a single jointly-prepared equitable-distribution worksheet in Excel color-coding agreed vs. disputed items.

Court procedures change without notice. Verify urgent deadlines or unusual requirements with the court, the clerk, or a Florida attorney.

Judge Costello's AI section simply restates amended Rule 2.515(d)(2) — the post-AOSC26-12 statewide standard — a compliance model, not a local mandate: signers certify cited authorities exist and are accurately cited, with the rule's own sanctions.

Court procedures change without notice. Verify urgent deadlines or unusual requirements with the court, the clerk, or a Florida attorney.

Judge Martin's practices PDF (mod. 1/23/2026, recovered from the portal vein): DCF is responsible for arranging remote appearances, witnesses appear by Zoom only with Court permission, and status conferences require a filed notice of hearing.

Court procedures change without notice. Verify urgent deadlines or unusual requirements with the court, the clerk, or a Florida attorney.

Judge Kiser requires all parties and counsel in person at the first CMC; post-judgment matters come off the first case-management docket and reschedule appropriately; the JA answers no legal questions.

Court procedures change without notice. Verify urgent deadlines or unusual requirements with the court, the clerk, or a Florida attorney.

Judge Fuson's practices PDF (mod. June 25, 2026): evidentiary hearings never happen on Zoom regardless of length, and all temporary-relief hearings are in person; scheduling impasses go to the JA.

Court procedures change without notice. Verify urgent deadlines or unusual requirements with the court, the clerk, or a Florida attorney.

Judge Ayers will not schedule a final hearing or trial unless mediation occurred within the past six months (or new counsel appeared since) — and the Order Setting Final Hearing must hit JAWS 15 days before the date.

Court procedures change without notice. Verify urgent deadlines or unusual requirements with the court, the clerk, or a Florida attorney.

Judge Hooi does not usually allow hybrid hearings (one side in person, one virtual); if both sides prefer, everyone may appear in person instead; emergencies route through the clerk to a judge-entered handling order.

Court procedures change without notice. Verify urgent deadlines or unusual requirements with the court, the clerk, or a Florida attorney.

The Delinquency B/F division publishes unusually granular order-formatting rules: PDFs created from Word (not scans), no signature line or ORDERED-AND-ADJUDGED text alone on a page, Mother/Father capitalized, descriptive titles, "number of number" pagination — with orders in the JAWS queue presumed shared and unobjected.

Court procedures change without notice. Verify urgent deadlines or unusual requirements with the court, the clerk, or a Florida attorney.

Judge Johnson's practices PDF: hearing binders must be picked up within 3 days after the proceeding or they are recycled; anything over 15 minutes schedules by e-mail only; materials and continuances run on 5-day clocks.

Court procedures change without notice. Verify urgent deadlines or unusual requirements with the court, the clerk, or a Florida attorney.

Judge Felix's scheduling protocol: the JA offers at least two dates; if the responding side stays silent for two business days after a documented good-faith attempt, the movant may pick the hearing time.

Court procedures change without notice. Verify urgent deadlines or unusual requirements with the court, the clerk, or a Florida attorney.

Judge Tompkins orders counsel to study Smith v. Crider before filing an emergency motion, files it with the Clerk only (never deliver to the judge), and runs UMC at 7–10 minutes per case.

Court procedures change without notice. Verify urgent deadlines or unusual requirements with the court, the clerk, or a Florida attorney.

Judge Cuellar-Stilo's Civil Traffic division takes no Zoom absent a court order, presumes motions pending 60+ days without a hearing denied without prejudice, and treats unwarranted "emergency" labels as sanctionable — with counsel expected available nights and weekends for real ones.

Court procedures change without notice. Verify urgent deadlines or unusual requirements with the court, the clerk, or a Florida attorney.

Judge Rich's practices PDF (recovered from the portal vein; mod. Dec. 2, 2025): the responding side has two business days to answer availability; only after Court confirmation — or documented silence — does the movant file the Notice of Hearing.

Court procedures change without notice. Verify urgent deadlines or unusual requirements with the court, the clerk, or a Florida attorney.

Judge Bauman: PTCs, trials, and evidentiary hearings require counsel AND clients at the courthouse; the Court will not schedule on WebEx; no piggybacking matters onto set hearings; and proposed orders must NOT enter the queue before the hearing happens.

Court procedures change without notice. Verify urgent deadlines or unusual requirements with the court, the clerk, or a Florida attorney.

Judge Catlin: all case-law authority AND all hearing/trial exhibits due at least five business days ahead — exhibits in an indexed, tabbed binder — with mediation mandatory before any 2-hour-plus hearing on pain of cancellation.

Court procedures change without notice. Verify urgent deadlines or unusual requirements with the court, the clerk, or a Florida attorney.

Judge Catlin's paperless order regime: PDF only (never Word), the hearing date in the opening paragraph, uploaded no more than 2 days before the hearing (early uploads rejected and removed), 3-business-day docketing wait, and "no hanging signatures."

Court procedures change without notice. Verify urgent deadlines or unusual requirements with the court, the clerk, or a Florida attorney.

Judge Scionti's specialty-docket practices PDF (Mental Health M, Veterans V, Adult Drug Treatment W): proposed orders submitted in what the document memorably calls "Microsoft Adobe Acrobat™" format, exhibits to the clerk on paper — and no standing Zoom ID (access is provided upon approval only).

Court procedures change without notice. Verify urgent deadlines or unusual requirements with the court, the clerk, or a Florida attorney.

Judge Lefler's practices PDF (mod. June 30, 2026 — which also confirms his division as Felony C): proposed orders submit in PDF format, and exhibits go to the clerk in paper, single-sided.

Court procedures change without notice. Verify urgent deadlines or unusual requirements with the court, the clerk, or a Florida attorney.

Judge Fernandez's practices PDF (mod. 6/24/2026, covering Circuit Criminal B and the Jimmy Ryce Act T docket): proposed orders upload in PDF, and Zoom-decorum violators "may be subject to sanctions."

Court procedures change without notice. Verify urgent deadlines or unusual requirements with the court, the clerk, or a Florida attorney.

Judge Tibbals: good cause must be established to appear remotely in his criminal division, and in-custody defendants are not transported to arraignment.

Court procedures change without notice. Verify urgent deadlines or unusual requirements with the court, the clerk, or a Florida attorney.