LibGuides: Discover Florida Resources: Florida Government

Executive Office of the Governor

46th Governor of Florida

Executive Office of the Governor
A guide to Florida Governors and the Florida Cabinet (Historically)
Introduction: This finding aid provides a timeline of the Florida governors from the territorial governors to the present. The guide includes links to relevant gubernatorial and executive collections in the State Archives of Florida, the State Library of Florida, and other repositories.

State Agencies in the Florida Government

Full list of State Agency pages
This link will take you to a list of every state agency in the Florida State Government.
Florida 411 Online Telephone Directory
The State Directory Assistance Center is open Monday-Friday 8 AM-5 PM EST.
more...less...
- by agency
- by city or county
- by school, community college or university
- by subject
- by employee
- by phone number
"Should you need additional assistance finding state information, please call the State Information Center at 1-866-693-6748 or locally at 850-488-1234."
MyFlorida - The Official Page for Sunshine State Government

The Florida Legislature

The Florida Legislature is the legislature of the U.S. State of Florida. It is organized as a bicameral body composed of an upper chamber, the Senate, and a lower chamber, the House of Representatives. Article III, Section 1 of the Florida Constitution, adopted in 1968, defines the role of the legislature and how it is to be constituted. The legislature is composed of 160 state legislators (120 in the House and 40 in the Senate). The primary purpose of the legislature is to enact new laws and amend or repeal existing laws. It meets in the Florida State Capitol building in Tallahassee.

For more information on Florida Statutes, Florida Laws, and the Florida State Constitution see:

Florida Statues and Laws of Florida
Welcome to the Florida Statues and Laws Subject Guide. This guide will provide you the research access to links to the current Florida Legislature, Florida Statues, Florida Laws, and the Florida Constitution. You will also find links to historical Florida Documents to provide a historic perspective on the evolution of Florida Law.

Senate House of Representatives

The 2023 Regular Session runs from March 7th to May 5th, 2023

Online Sunshine - The Florida State Legislature
The Florida Senate
The Senate is composed of 40 members, each elected from single-member districts across the state. The Florida Legislature meets in session every year for sixty consecutive days. A regular session of the legislature shall convene on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in March of each odd-numbered year, and on the second Tuesday after the first Monday in January of each even-numbered year. There are other ways in which the Legislature may be convened as outlined in Article III, Section 2, of the Florida Constitution, including special sessions, which may be called either by the Governor; or by a joint proclamation issued by the Senate President and House Speaker.
Senate Broadcast Schedule
Florida Senators by County
The Florida House of Representatives
The Florida House of Representatives is the lower house of the Florida Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Florida, the Florida Senate being the upper house. Article III, Section 1 of the Constitution of Florida, adopted in 1968, defines the role of the Legislature and how it is to be constituted.[2] The House is composed of 120 members, each elected from a single-member district with a population of approximately 157,000 residents. Legislative districts are drawn on the basis of population figures, provided by the federal decennial census. Representatives terms begin immediately upon their election.
House Broadcast Schedule
Florida Representatives

Additional Important Links:

Bill Citator
Current session reports are updated several times daily. All reports are in PDF format. House and Senate bills are numbered in serial order, with House bills odd-numbered and Senate bills even-numbered.
Florida Statutes
Provides links to the current state statutes and archived back to 1997 online.
Florida Constitution
This link provides access to an online copy of the Florida State Constitution.
Laws of Florida (Florida Department of State website)
A verbatim publication of the general and special laws enacted by the Florida Legislature in a given year and published each year following the regular session of the legislature. It presents the laws in the order in which they are numbered by the Secretary of State, as well as resolutions and memorials passed by the legislature. Source: Florida Senate Glossary
Lobbyist Information
There is ONE portal for BOTH lobbyist registrations and compensation reports.

Florida State and Federal Courts

Supreme Court of Florida
The highest appellate court in Florida, the Florida Supreme Court’s 170+ years span a time when the state was the least populated (1845) to the present when it ranks third nationwide. Decisions stemming from Florida’s highest court have helped shape, certainly, the state itself, and the nation as well. (You can also access other courts through this page.)
Florida Courts
The Florida court system is currently comprised of the Supreme Court, five district courts of appeal, 20 circuit courts and 67 county courts. Beginning January 1, 2023, a sixth district court of appeal will be added to the system. Each layer of the Florida judicial system has a distinct role in providing justice across the state.
Florida Court Locations
A map of court locations and you can browse by city or county.
District Courts of Appeal
There are currently five District Courts of Appeal in Florida, located respectively in Tallahassee, Lakeland, Miami, West Palm Beach and Daytona Beach. The new, Sixth District Court of Appeal will be located in Polk County, beginning January 1, 2023. As a general rule, decisions of the district courts of appeal represent the final appellate review of litigated cases.

Trial Courts:

Trial Courts - Circuit
There are 20 judicial circuits in the Florida court system. Circuit courts have general trial jurisdiction over matters not assigned by statute to the county courts and also hear appeals from county court cases. Some circuits are made up of multiple counties.
Trial Courts – County
The Florida Constitution establishes that there is ONE county court in each of Florida’s 67 counties. The county courts are sometimes referred to as "the people's courts," as a large portion of the courts' work involves a myriad of citizen disputes, such as traffic offenses, less serious criminal matters (misdemeanors), and relatively small monetary disputes.

Florida Federal Courts

11th Circuit Court of Appeals
Established by Congress in 1981, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Judicial Circuit has jurisdiction over federal cases originating in the states of Alabama, Florida, and Georgia. The circuit includes nine district courts with each state divided into Northern, Middle, and Southern Districts.
Florida Northern District Court (Tallahassee, Gainesville, Panama City, Pensacola)
The Northern District of Florida is comprised of twenty-three counties, ranging from Escambia County in the west to Alachua County in the east. The District serves approximately 1.75 million people in North Florida.
Florida Middle District (Orlando, Ft. Myers, Jacksonville, Ocala, Tampa)
The Middle District of Florida is one of the country's 94 United States District Courts. These courts are an integral part of the country's justice system, serving to resolve both civil and criminal matters. The Middle District of Florida stretches over 350 miles from the Georgia border on the northeast to south of Naples on Florida's southwest coast. Made up of 14 district judges, 14 senior judges, and 17 magistrate judges, the district has five divisions in Fort Myers, Jacksonville, Ocala, Orlando, and Tampa. The Clerk's Office is headquartered in the Orlando Division. The district includes 35 of Florida’s 67 counties. In 2017, the United States Census Bureau(link is external) estimated that 57.7 percent of the state's population resides in the district. In 2020, 10,324 cases were filed in the district.
Florida Southern District (Miami, Ft. Lauderdale, Ft. Pierce, Key West, West Palm Beach)
The United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida is the federal United States district court with territorial jurisdiction over the southern part of the state of Florida
United States Bankruptcy Court Northern District of Florida (Tallahassee, Pensacola)
“Our Mission: To administer justice fairly while providing excellent assistance to those we serve."
United States Bankruptcy Court Middle District of Florida (Orlando, Ft. Myers, Jacksonville, Ocala, Tampa)
"Our Court serves the public by processing and deciding bankruptcy cases with fairness, impartiality, and excellence, while treating everyone with dignity, integrity, and respect. "
United States Bankruptcy Court Southern District of Florida (Miami, Ft. Lauderdale, West Palm Beach)
To promote public trust and confidence in the administration of bankruptcy cases: through easy access to comprehensible, accurate information about the court, its procedures, and records; by the efficient, respectful, and dignified conduct of business at all levels of the court – clerk’s office, chambers, and courtroom; through adjudication of bankruptcy cases by a fair and impartial tribunal that is designed to provide relief to the honest debtor; equitable distribution of available assets to creditors; and preservation of jobs and value through successful business reorganizations.