Hernando AO H-2025-56-C: Third Amended Caseload Assignment CY2026 — full table (eff. June 22, 2026, 12:01 a.m.)
Summary
The current Hernando assignment order, amended to add the Truancy docket. BenchPath parsed the full 13-page body (which prior research could not extract): Merritt (Chief) 50% felony C/D + delinquency + Baker/Marchman; Toner 50% felony A/B + all dependency; Scaglione 100% jury civil; Barbee 100% non-jury civil/probate/guardianship + all three treatment courts; Eineman UFC/50% DR/truancy; Fritton 50% DR + all RPOs/injunctions; county courts split by percentage; blind-draw assignment bars judge shopping.
Requirement
Signed by Chief Judge Merritt June 2026; effective 12:01 a.m. Monday June 22, 2026 (verbatim). ¶1 Merritt: 50% felony (C+D dockets); 25% Jimmy Ryce; all Baker Act/Marchman Act + habeas per F.S. 394.459(8)(a); all juvenile delinquency; 50% felony bond estreature; Chief/Administrative Judge duties. ¶2 Toner: 50% felony (A+B); 25% Ryce; 50% bond estreature; ALL juvenile dependency (GM coordination) + Parental Notice of Abortion. ¶3 Scaglione: 100% jury civil incl. ALL eminent domain; 50% Ryce. Barbee: 100% non-jury civil incl. 100% foreclosure; all probate; all guardianship/incapacity/mental health (except Baker/Marchman) incl. IPEVA injunctions, firearms-disability relief, habeas per F.S. 394.459(8)(b); Veterans/Drug/Mental-Health treatment courts. ¶4 Eineman: UFC; CINS/FINS; 50% DR; child-support oversight (UIFSA/IV-D/DCF-DOR via SEHO); ALL truancy (the -C amendment); Administrative Family Law Judge. ¶5 Fritton: 50% DR; ALL RPO petitions; ALL injunctions/TROs incl. domestic, repeat, sexual, stalking, dating violence. ¶10-13 county courts — Hitzemann: 50% misdemeanors, 50% civil traffic + red-light, 1/3 ordinances, 100% Ch. 82/83 civil, writ of bodily attachment; Bell and Smith: 25% misdemeanors, 25% civil traffic, 1/3 ordinances, 50% small claims + non-82/83 civil, writ, each; first appearances rotate among the three. ¶6 felony recusal cascade; ¶7 grand jury rotates among felony judges; ¶8 ALL circuit judges designated UFC judges per H-2018-27; ¶9 county judges act as circuit judges in emergencies without separate order; ¶14 GM Romagnolo duties; ¶15 CSHO under Rule 12.491 with Eineman oversight; ¶17 felony dockets A/B weeks 1+3, C/D weeks 2+4, Rule 2.550 conflict procedure; ¶18 verbatim: "In no event will attorneys be able to request a specific judge; and all assignments will be made in a blind draw method by the Clerk of the Court. Every effort will be made to avoid any possibility of a practice commonly referred to as 'judge shopping' in any manner." ¶19-21 injunction/emergency-guardianship/shelter routing via assigned judge then duty judge.
Source of truth
It is HEREBY ORDERED AND ADJUDGED that effective at 12:01 a.m., Monday June 22, 2026, the following caseload assignments shall be in effect for Hernando County
- Source health
- Pending verification
- Effective date
- June 21, 2026
- Last verified
- July 19, 2026fable5-livefetch-2026-07-20
Reviewer note: BenchPath fetched the 2.0MB scanned order, rasterized all 13 pages and transcribed the full table 2026-07-20 (sha256 36b0acd0…) — closes the prior pass's BODY_NOT_PARSED + effective-date-UNVERIFIED gaps. Superseded H-2025-56-A now 404s on the site (removed); historical text preserved in research corpus only.
Related rules
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Every attorney-generated notice of hearing and every proposed order must list the docket index number / motion identifier of the motion at issue.