Background
The Florida Bar’s Rules of General Practice and Judicial Administration Committee proposed amendments to Florida Rule of General Practice and Judicial Administration 2.270, which governs the Supreme Court’s committees on standard jury instructions, and to the Judicial Branch Records Retention Schedule for Administrative Records.
The Committee and the Florida Supreme Court each published the proposals for public comment. No comments were received.
The Court’s Holding
The Florida Supreme Court adopted the proposed amendments. Amended rule 2.270 continues to require publication of proposed new and amended standard jury instructions on The Florida Bar’s website, but makes publication in the print edition of The Florida Bar News optional. If the proposals are also published in print, the comment deadline must be the same as for the website publication.
The Court also amended the retention schedule’s “Search Warrants” section to eliminate ambiguity concerning unexecuted warrants and changed the retention period to one year after issuance of the search warrant. The amendments take effect January 1, 2027, at 12:01 a.m., and a motion for rehearing will not alter that effective date.
Key Takeaways
- Proposed standard jury-instruction changes must still be published for comment on The Florida Bar’s website.
- Publication of those proposals in the print edition of The Florida Bar News is now optional rather than mandatory.
- Administrative search-warrant records covered by the schedule must be retained for one year after the warrant’s issuance, including where the warrant was not executed.
Why It Matters
The amendments modernize the publication process for proposed jury instructions by treating online publication as mandatory while allowing, but not requiring, duplicate print publication.
They also establish a clearer retention trigger for the covered search-warrant records. Beginning January 1, 2027, the retention period runs from issuance rather than return, removing uncertainty when a warrant is unexecuted.