FL 19th Circuit (Indian River, Martin, Okeechobee, St. Lucie): Nineteenth Judicial Circui…

No longer in force

This order was rescinded effective 2026-06-15 by AO 2026-06, signed 2026-06-16. Florida Rule of General Practice and Judicial Administration 2.515(d)(2), effective 2026-06-15, now governs filings statewide, and companion order AOSC26-12 bars Florida courts from imposing AI disclosure or certification requirements “whether through local administrative orders, court policies, judicial practices and procedures, or other means.”

Everything below describes what this order required while it was operative. It is retained because filings made in that window are still judged against it. It does not state current practice, and a filing workflow should not be built from it.

What the order required

Chief Judge Charles A. Schwab of Florida’s Nineteenth Judicial Circuit signed Administrative Order 2025-10 on December 17, 2025, effective the same day. The order brings the 19th Circuit (Indian River, Martin, Okeechobee, and St. Lucie Counties) into line with the Florida circuit-court trend of disclosure-plus-certification AI orders.

1. Disclosure on the face of the filing. Any filing drafted in whole or in part with AI must include a face-of-the-document disclosure naming the function (drafting, editing, citing, cite-checking).
2. Certification. Each AI-assisted filing must also include a certification that the attorney or pro se filer has personally reviewed the filing and verified the accuracy of all factual statements, legal arguments, and case citations.
3. Required certification text. Exhibit A prescribes a four-paragraph certification beginning “I hereby certify that I am the attorney of record or pro se party in this matter.”
4. Florida Bar Rules cross-referenced. Order paragraph 3 explicitly invokes Rules 4-1.1 (Competence), 4-1.6 (Confidentiality), 4-3.3 (Candor to Tribunal), 4-5.1 (Supervision), and 4-5.3 (Nonlawyer Supervision).
5. Sanctions toolkit. Striking filings, dismissal, monetary fines, attorneys’ fees, contempt, mandatory CLE, referral to The Florida Bar.
6. Pro se equally bound. A dedicated paragraph confirms the order applies equally to pro se litigants.

Notable distinctions from sister Florida circuits

The 19th Circuit’s order had two notable features compared to the 11th, 15th, and 17th Circuit orders:

• Whereas-clause guidance for pro se litigants. Unique among Florida circuit AI orders, AO 2025-10 includes a whereas clause specifically warning that pro se litigants who use AI “must be aware of the technology’s ability to generate outputs containing fictitious and unfounded legal arguments and/or citations to legal authority” and must ensure such content does not appear in filings.
• Broader “AI technology” framing. The disclosure trigger is “AI technology” generally, not “generative AI” specifically (though the certification refers to “generative artificial intelligence (AI) technology”). While the order applied, the safe reading was to disclose whenever any AI tool had been used in any phase of drafting.

Practitioner workflow while the order was in force

While AO 2025-10 applied, firms with matters in Indian River, Martin, Okeechobee, or St. Lucie counties built the Exhibit A certification into their filing templates: the disclosure was a single sample-language line on the cover page, the certification a separate block tied to the signature page, and pro se clients were advised in writing that the order reached them. None of that is required now. Filings in the 19th Circuit are governed by Rule 2.515(d)(2), and a filing made while the order was in force is still judged against it.

Scope

Nineteenth Judicial Circuit only (Indian River, Martin, Okeechobee, and St. Lucie Counties). For neighboring Florida circuits, see Eleventh Circuit AO 26-04 (Miami-Dade), Fifteenth Circuit AO 2.109-4/26 (Palm Beach), and Seventeenth Circuit AO 2026-03-Gen (Broward).

Primary source

Administrative Order 2025-10 (PDF): https://www.circuit19.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/2025-10.pdf