(a) Creation and Responsibilities. There is hereby created the Judicial Management Council of Florida, which shall meet at least quarterly, and be charged with the following responsibilities:
(1) identifying potential crisis situations affecting the judicial branch and developing strategy to timely and effectively address them;
(2) identifying and evaluating information that would assist in improving the performance and effectiveness of the judicial branch (for example, information including, but not limited to, internal operations for cash flow and budget performance, and statistical information by court and type of cases for (i) number of cases filed, (ii) aged inventory of cases — the number and age of cases pending, (iii) time to disposition — the percentage of cases disposed or otherwise resolved within established time frames, and (iv) clearance rates — the number of outgoing cases as a percentage of the number of incoming cases);
(3) developing and monitoring progress relating to long- range planning for the judicial branch;
(4) reviewing the charges of the various court and Florida Bar commissions and committees, recommending consolidation or revision of the commissions and committees, and recommending a method for the coordination of the work of those bodies based on the proposed revisions; and
(5) addressing issues brought to the council by the supreme court.
(b) Referrals. The chief justice and the supreme court shall consider referring significant new issues or problems with implications for judicial branch policy to the Judicial Management Council prior to the creation of any new committees.
(c) Supreme Court Action on Recommendations by the Judicial Management Council. The supreme court may take any or all of the following actions on recommendations made by the Judicial Management Council:
(1) adopt the recommendation of the council in whole or in part, with or without conditions, including but not limited to:
(A) directing that action be taken to influence or change administrative policy, management practices, rules, or programs that are the subject of the recommendations;
(B) including the recommendation in the judicial branch’s legislative agenda or budget requests;
(2) refer specific issues or questions back to the council for further study or alternative recommendations;
(3) reject the recommendation or decision in whole or in part;
(4) refer the recommendation to other entities, such as the Florida Legislature, the governor, the cabinet, executive branch agencies, or The Florida Bar, as the supreme court deems appropriate; or
(5) take alternative action.
(d) Membership.
(1) The council shall consist of 15 voting members, including the chief justice, who shall chair the council, an additional justice of the supreme court, representatives from each level of court, and public members.
(2) All voting members shall be appointed by the supreme court. Each member, other than the chief justice, will initially be appointed for a 2- or 4- year term, with the terms staggered to ensure continuity and experience on the council and for 4-year terms thereafter.
(3) The state courts administrator shall be a nonvoting member. The council may request other nonvoting persons to participate on an as-needed temporary basis to gain expertise and experience in certain issues on review.
(e) Staff Support and Funding. The Office of the State Courts Administrator shall provide primary staff support to the Judicial Management Council. Adequate staffing and other resources shall be made available to the Office of the State Courts Administrator to ensure the effective and efficient completion of tasks assigned to the Judicial Management Council. Sufficient resources shall also be provided for meetings of the Judicial Management Council and its committees or subcommittees, and other expenses necessary to the satisfactory completion of its work.