(1) Mediation and arbitration should be accessible to all parties regardless of financial status. A filing fee of $1 is levied on all proceedings in the circuit or county courts to fund mediation and arbitration services which are the responsibility of the Supreme Court pursuant to the provisions of s. 44.106. The clerk of the court shall forward the moneys collected to the Department of Revenue for deposit in the State Courts Revenue Trust Fund.
(2) When court-ordered mediation services are provided by a circuit court’s mediation program, the following fees, unless otherwise established in the General Appropriations Act, shall be collected by the clerk of court:

(a) One-hundred twenty dollars per person per scheduled session in family mediation when the parties’ combined income is greater than $50,000, but less than $100,000 per year;

Terms Used In Florida Statutes 44.108

  • Arbitration: means a process whereby a neutral third person or panel, called an arbitrator or arbitration panel, considers the facts and arguments presented by the parties and renders a decision which may be binding or nonbinding as provided in this chapter. See Florida Statutes 44.1011
  • Chief judge: The judge who has primary responsibility for the administration of a court but also decides cases; chief judges are determined by seniority.
  • Clerk of court: An officer appointed by the court to work with the chief judge in overseeing the court's administration, especially to assist in managing the flow of cases through the court and to maintain court records.
  • Family mediation: which means mediation of family matters, including married and unmarried persons, before and after judgments involving dissolution of marriage; property division; shared or sole parental responsibility; or child support, custody, and visitation involving emotional or financial considerations not usually present in other circuit civil cases. See Florida Statutes 44.1011
  • Fiscal year: The fiscal year is the accounting period for the government. For the federal government, this begins on October 1 and ends on September 30. The fiscal year is designated by the calendar year in which it ends; for example, fiscal year 2006 begins on October 1, 2005 and ends on September 30, 2006.
  • Mediation: includes :
    (a) "Appellate court mediation" which means mediation that occurs during the pendency of an appeal of a civil case. See Florida Statutes 44.1011
  • person: includes individuals, children, firms, associations, joint adventures, partnerships, estates, trusts, business trusts, syndicates, fiduciaries, corporations, and all other groups or combinations. See Florida Statutes 1.01
(b) Sixty dollars per person per scheduled session in family mediation when the parties’ combined income is less than $50,000; or
(c) Sixty dollars per person per scheduled session in county court cases involving an amount in controversy not exceeding $15,000.

No mediation fees shall be assessed under this subsection in residential eviction cases, against a party found to be indigent, or for any small claims action. Fees collected by the clerk of court pursuant to this section shall be remitted to the Department of Revenue for deposit into the State Courts Revenue Trust Fund to fund court-ordered mediation. The clerk of court may deduct $1 per fee assessment for processing this fee. The clerk of the court shall submit to the chief judge of the circuit and to the Office of the State Courts Administrator, no later than 30 days after the end of each quarter of the fiscal year, a report specifying the amount of funds collected and remitted to the State Courts Revenue Trust Fund under this section and any other section during the previous quarter of the fiscal year. In addition to identifying the total aggregate collections and remissions from all statutory sources, the report must identify collections and remissions by each statutory source.

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