Florida Municipal Court Information

Florida Municipal Court was abolished in the 1970s. Municipal courts initially had limited power over cases in specific municipality, city, county or community within their jurisdiction. After the structural change in the court systems in 1972, many courts were abolished. This was done to create uniformity in the court system throughout the state.

Florida Municipal Court Jurisdiction

Municipal court was abolished along with other courts and the circuit court and the county court were turned into the only courts. Consequently, the jurisdiction of the municipal courts was that of the circuit and the county courts thereafter.

The circuit courts in the state of Florida are general jurisdiction courts. There are twenty circuits in Florida, served by 599 judges. The circuit courts cover tort cases, contract cases, property cases with a monetary claim of at least $15,001 and various other civil cases. Certain special cases of mental health and civil appeals also fall under the circuit court’s influence as do probate cases, domestic relation cases and felony cases.

The county courts have limited jurisdiction over specific counties. There is one county court in each of Florida’s 67 counties. In Florida, there are 322 judges in total serving the different county courts. County court deals with cases of real estate property but with a monetary claim between $5,001 and $15,000. It also hears civil cases and specific small claim cases not exceeding an amount of $5,000. It holds preliminary hearings of cases, and deals with misdemeanors and traffic violation cases. Traffic violation cases, misdemeanors (or less severe criminal offenses), and small monetary disputes are solved by non-jury trials in the county courts.

Contact Information for Florida Municipal Courts

The official website of Florida courts has a comprehensive list of all the circuits in the state. You can obtain a brief description of the court along with relevant information like the counties under each circuit court, courthouse locations, presiding judges, magistrates, hearing officers, and other related links.

The counties under the First Judicial Circuit Court of Florida are Escambia, Okaloosa, Santa Rosa and Walton. The main courthouse of Escambia County is located at

M.C. Blanchard
190 Governmental Center
Pensacola, FL 32502

The addresses of the annex courthouses are:

Cobb Building
2251 N. Palafox Street
Pensacola, FL 32505

Century Courthouse
7500 N. Century Blvd.
Century, FL

Bruno Building
1800 St. Mary’s Street
Pensacola, FL 32505

The addresses for Santa Rosa County are:

Main Courthouse
Santa Rosa County Courthouse
6865 S. W. Caroline St.
Milton, FL  32570

Annex
Santa Rosa County Courthouse
6865 S. W. Caroline St.
Milton, FL  32570

South Santa Rosa Service Center
5841 Gulf Breeze Pkwy.
Gulf Breeze, FL 32563

The main courtroom addresses and the annex courtroom addresses of Okaloosa County and Walton County are:

Okaloosa County Main Courthouse
Okaloosa County Courthouse
101 James Lee Blvd. East
Crestview, FL 32536

Annex
Okaloosa County Courthouse Annex
1250 N. Elgin Parkway
Shalimar, FL 32579

Walton County Main Courthouse
Walton County Courthouse
571 Hwy. 90 East
DeFuniak Springs, FL 32433

Annex
South Walton County Courthouse
31 Coastal Center Blvd.
Santa Rosa Beach, FL 32549

You can access this information and much more for all the 67 counties in the state of Florida by clicking http://www.flcourts.org/courts/circuit/circuit.shtml. You can also go to the specific county court webpage and access all the information that you need.

Specific Florida Municipal Court Information:

Palm Beach Municipal Court

Sarasota Municipal Court