In the interest of promoting professionalism, a Bench/Bar Committee permits the bench and the bar to express concern for the personal and professional capabilities of any lawyer or judge in the Eighth Judicial Circuit. In furtherance of this ideal, on behalf of the Eighth Judicial Circuit, and as directed by the Chief Justice of the Florida Supreme Court in Administrative Order dated April 29, 1998, a Bench/Bar Committee for the Eighth Judicial Circuit is hereby established.

    It is therefore ORDERED that the Eighth Judicial Circuit Bench/Bar Committee is established pursuant to the following rules:

    1. Committee members. The Bench/Bar Committee shall consist of not less than 9 nor more than 12 members in addition to the chair. The Chief Judge of the Eighth Judicial Circuit shall be the Chair of the Committee. The next most senior circuit judge shall be the Vice-Chair of the Committee; if there is no other circuit judge on the Committee, then the most senior county judge shall be the Vice-Chair of the Committee. The Committee shall consist of members selected and appointed by the Chief Judge of the Eighth Judicial Circuit. The Chief Judge shall take care to select members that represent a cross-section of the circuit. The Chief Judge shall consider such matters as geographic location, discipline, reputation, and bar activities.

    2. Terms. Members shall serve for a term of 3 years. The Bench/Bar Committee has existed since 1990, and the terms of the members have been staggered. Henceforth, approximately 1/3 of the members of the Committee shall end their terms each year. The President-Elect of the Eighth Judicial Circuit Bar Association shall have a one year membership on the Committee

    3. Confidentiality. The names of members of the Bench or Bar, and matters discussed regarding their professional behavior, shall not be discussed by any member of the Committee except at Committee meetings, and in conducting necessary investigation, and as required to communicate concerns of the Committee to the subject of Bench/Bar Committee report.

    4. Meetings. The Bench/Bar Committee shall meet at 1:30 P.M. after the monthly Eighth Judicial Circuit Bar Association luncheons. The Chairman of the Committee shall request that the time and place of meetings of the Bench/Bar Committee shall be published in the Eighth Judicial Circuit Bar Association's Newsletter, and shall be announced at the Eighth Judicial Circuit Bar meetings and luncheons.

    5. Access. All attorneys, judges, and other interested parties, shall have the right to bring matters of "professional behavior" to the attention of the Bench/Bar Committee. The term "professional behavior" shall include, but not be limited to, matters of professional behavior, physical or mental disabilities which affect the ability of the member of the Bench or Bar to render professional service in his or her capacity as a lawyer or judge, and any other matter which might be of assistance to any lawyer or judge.

    6. Reports. Any matters made known to the Bench/Bar Committee shall be rendered in the form a "report" rather than in the form of a complaint. Reports may be made to any member of the Bench/Bar Committee, or to the Committee as a whole. It is not necessary that reports be made in writing. A member of the Committee to whom a report is made may call the attention of the Committee to any matter disclosed to a member of the Committee of professional concern to a member of the Bench or Bar. Attendance at a Bench/Bar Committee meeting by any concerned member of the Bench, Bar, or any interested person, shall be sufficient to call the attention of the Committee to a concern regarding the professional behavior of a lawyer or judge.

ORDERED on August 24th, 1998.

/s/
ROBERT P. CATES, CHIEF JUDGE