Florida District Courts of Appeal

The Florida District Courts of Appeal (DCAs) are the intermediate appellate courts of the Florida state court system. There are five DCAs:

The District Courts of Appeal were created by the Florida Legislature in 1957 to provide an intermediate level of appellate review between the trial courts (the county courts and circuit courts) and the Florida Supreme Court. This was done, as in other parts of the United States, to relieve the state supreme court's ever-increasing appellate docket; the lobbying effort by Florida Supreme Court Justice Elwyn Thomas played a large role in the DCAs' creation.

Three DCAs were initially created, with the Third District Court of Appeal was given jurisdiction over cases arising from Dade and Monroe counties. Later, the Fourth and Fifth District Courts of Appeal were created.

The existence of the DCAs was provided for in the Florida Constitution, which now requires the Legislature to divide the State into appellate court districts, providing each with a DCA.

At the time, Florida was the second state to have "District Courts of Appeal," as California had created its own District Courts of Appeal in 1904. However, in 1966, California dropped the word "District" from the names of the California Courts of Appeal, thus leaving Florida as the sole state with DCAs.

District Court of Appeal judges, like Florida Supreme Court justices, are first recommended by the Florida Judicial Nominating Commission. They are then appointed by the governor of Florida, but have retention elections every six years, in which voters are asked on the ballot to vote whether the judge should be retained in office. (Retention rates are very high).

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