IN RE: AMENDMENTS TO FLORIDA RULES OF JUVENILE PROCEDURE. (2025)

The Florida Bar's Juvenile Court Rules Committee filed a report proposing amendments to Florida Rules of Juvenile Procedure 8.040 (Process); 8.060 (Discovery); 8.085 (Prehearing Motions and Service); 8.104 (Testimony by Closed-Circuit Television or Audio-Video Communication Technology); 8.105 (Waiver of Jurisdiction); 8.110 (Adjudicatory Hearings); 8.145 (Supersedeas on Appeal); and 8.225 (Process, Diligent Searches, and Service of Pleadings and Papers).¹ The Florida Bar's Board of Governors voted unanimously to recommend approval of the amendments. After the Committee filed its report, the Court published the proposed amendments for comment. One comment was received from the Florida Public Defender Association. In response to the comment, the Committee withdrew its proposal to amend rule 8.104.

After considering the proposals, we amend the Florida Rules of Juvenile Procedure as proposed by the Committee. We discuss some of the more specific rule amendments below.

The amendment to rule 8.040 clarifies who must be served with a summons for petitions for delinquency proceedings, specifically identifying “the child, the parents of the child, and any legal custodians.”

The amendment to rule 8.060 moves the procedures for motions to take depositions to perpetuate testimony from subdivision (e) of the discovery rule to a new prehearing motions subdivision in rule 8.085(a). This change will provide better alignment with the procedural stages of litigation.

Additionally, rule 8.085 is amended to delete the procedures for service of pleadings and papers, and to instead generally reference the Florida Rules of General Practice and Judicial Administration. Also, the amendment requires that the attorney signing the pleading be “duly licensed to practice law in Florida.”

The amendment to rule 8.105 clarifies that subdivision (c) does not apply to non-bondable offenses by including language expressly limiting the provision to where the right to bail exists, thus aligning with Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.121(a)(7)

Rule 8.110, as amended, clarifies that if a child offers no testimony other than his or her own, the child is entitled to both the first and last closing arguments.

Rule 8.145, as amended, removes subdivision (b), titled “Preeminence of Rule,” which states that this rule takes precedence over other court rules regarding supersedeas on appeal. This revision is necessary because, in the event of a conflict, the Florida Rules of Appellate Procedure govern, according to rule 2.130.

Lastly, rule 8.225 as amended clarifies in subdivision (a)(4)(B) that a notice for a hearing conducted remotely only requires 72 hours’ notice. This change aligns with the 72-hour notice requirement under subdivision (a)(1) for participants located in Florida.

Accordingly, we amend the Florida Rules of Juvenile Procedure as reflected in the appendix to this opinion. New language is underscored; deleted language is stricken through. The amendments become effective on January 1, 2026, at 12:01 a.m.

It is so ordered.

APPENDIX

FOOTNOTES

1.   We have jurisdiction. See art. V, § 2(a), Fla. Const.; see also Fla. R. Gen. Prac. & Jud. Admin. 2.140(b).

PER CURIAM.

MUÑIZ, C.J., and CANADY, LABARGA, COURIEL, GROSSHANS, FRANCIS, and SASSO, JJ., concur.