Monday, July 27, 2015

Florida Uniform Case Numbering System

This actually has nothing to do with Bankruptcy.  This is for Circuits in Florida.  But from time to time, I need to reference a State Case in a bankruptcy, but have trouble finding the state guidelines for numbering.  So I thought it might be helpful if I posted an overview of the numbering system used in the county and circuit courts to hopefully facilitate better understanding of and more universal adoption of this logical system.

The Uniform Case Number is a twenty character sequence that has five components, broken out, it looks as follows: XX-XXXX-XX-XXXXXX-XXXXXX.
For Example, the first felony case filed in Orange County for 2009 would look as follows: 48-2009-CF-000001-OAXXXX
Broken down, the five components are explained as follows:

The first two characters are the county designation code. Florida has 67 counties and the codes are assigned from 01 – 67 in alphabetical order. A listing of each county’s code is provided at the bottom of this post.

The next four characters are the year your case was actually opened in with the clerk of the court, not the year the issue in dispute occurred.
An example would be if you were physically placed under arrest on December 31, 2008, but you were not actually booked into jail until January 1, 2009. As a result the year designation for your case would be 2009. Because this is the year the Clerk actually would open your case, which is because you were not booked into jail and brought to their attention until 2009.
The following two characters are the court case type (or designation). In addition to the brief examples provided here, I have alco provided a complete listing of court case types at the bottom of the post.
Examples are CF = Felony, MM = Misdemeanor, CT = Criminal Traffic.
The following six characters are the case sequence; simply meaning the number assigned to a case as they are opened each year.
The first case of each year in each division is assigned 000001, the second case is 000002, and so on.
The final six numbers are not specifically assigned and are left to the individual counties to use for their own internal management purposes. Two common practices are to use the first of the two digits to assign co-defendant order (usually starting alphabetical by last name) or municipality designation.
For example, Co-Defendant 1 would be assigned A, Co-Defendant 2 would be assigned B, and so forth.
Or, a misdemeanor case initiated by Eatonville Police Department in Orange County, Florida might look as follows: 48-2009-MM-000001-EA. The E indicates an Eatonville PD case and the A indicates Co-Defendant A if there were two people arrested.
In any event, I hope this provides some clarification for the masses out there.
Court Case Type Designation
AP Appeal from County Court
CA Circuit Civil
CF Felony
CJ Delinquency (Juvenile Crime)
CO County Ordinance Violation
CP Probate
CT Criminal Traffic Citation (But also a Misdemeanor Offense)
DP Dependency
DR Domestic Relations
GA Guardianship
IN Non-Traffic Infraction
MH Mental Health
MM Misdemeanor
MO Municipal Ordinance Violation
SC Small Claims
TR Traffic Infraction


County Code Designations
County County Code
Alachua 01
Baker 02
Bay 03
Bradford 04
Brevard 05
Broward 06
Calhoun 07
Charlotte 08
Citrus 09
Clay 10
Collier 11
Columbia 12
Dade (Miami) 13
DeSoto 14
Dixie 15
Duval 16
Escambia 17
Flagler 18
Franklin 19
Gadsden 20
Gilchrist 21
Glades 22
Gulf 23
Hamilton 24
Hardee 25
Hendry 26
Hernando 27
Highlands 28
Hillsborough 29
Holmes 30
Indian River 31
Jackson 32
Jefferson 33
Lafayette 34
Lake 35
Lee 36
Leon 37
Levy 38
Liberty 39
Madison 40
Manatee 41
Marion 42
Martin 43
Monroe 44
Nassau 45
Okaloosa 46
Okeechobee 47
Orange 48
Osceola 49
Palm Beach 50
Pasco 51
Pinellas 52
Polk 53
Putnam 54
Santa Rosa 55
Sarasota 56
Saint Johns 57
Saint Lucie 58
Seminole 59
Sumter 60
Suwannee 61
Taylor 62
Union 63
Volusia 64
Wakulla 65
Walton 66
Washington 67

Monday, July 6, 2015

Bankruptcy Preparation Mistakes

So, you have decided you need to file bankruptcy.  Now what?  How should I plan for the bankruptcy?  What should I do?

Rule Number 1:  The Bankruptcy Code is NOT necessarily logical.  Congress passed it, and Congress does not have to be logical.

Rule Number 2:  If you think you are doing things to help yourself regarding the filing of a bankruptcy, you are probably hurting yourself.

Rule Number 3:  Remember Rules 1 and 2.


Don't make the following mistakes:

1.    The Credit Card Run-Up Mistake
2.    The Repay a Family Member or Friend Mistake
3.    The Liquidate Your Retirement Account Mistake
4.    The Home Equity Line of Credit/Second Mortgage to Pay Debt Mistake
5.    The Pay Off/Down Your Car Loan Mistake
5.    The Transfer Property Out of Your Name Mistake
6.    The Failure to Appear at a Court Hearing Mistake
7.    The Failure to Tell Your Attorney The Truth, The Whole Truth, and Nothing But The Truth Mistake
8.    The Student Loan Mistake


Volumes can be written on the forgoing.  If you are planning to file bankruptcy, make sure to consult with a competent bankruptcy attorney in your area, so you can properly plan for the bankruptcy.