Judges in Hillsborough County, FL

The judicial directory for the Thirteenth Judicial Circuit in Hillsborough County, FL, can be found at https://www.fljud13.org/JudicialDirectory.aspx. The directory contains the judge’s name, phone number, courtroom number, office number, and judicial assistant’s name.

Each judge has a profile page that contains additional contact information, the judge’s procedures/preferences, forms, schedules, orders, related links, and announcements.

If available, the court’s link for Zoom virtual hearings can be found on the profile page. Most judges have eliminated the option of appearing via Zoom. Make sure you have written permission from the clerk’s office or your criminal defense attorney before failing to appear in person in court.

At the Sammis Law Firm, we appear in court each time, but often waive our client’s appearance to many of the initial court dates with permission from the court after filing a waiver of appearance. Of course, for any evidentiary motion hearings or trial date, our client must appear in person and arrive to court early.

Judicial Assignments in Hillsborough County, FL

Administrative Order A-2025-060 (Judicial Assignments) became effective January 1, 2026. The judicial assignments for judges that handled criminal cases and cases related to criminal accusations are listed below:

County Court Judges in Hillsborough County, FL

Except for domestic violence criminal offenses, the clerk assigns all misdemeanor offenses and criminal traffic offenses to a county criminal division according to the first letter of the defendant’s last name. This rule applies to all cases going to the courthouse in Tampa, FL, because cases assigned to the Plant City Courthouse use a different procedure.

For non-domestic violence cases based in Tampa, FL, if the notice to appear, criminal report affidavit, or information is filed, then the clerk will assign the case according to the following alphabetical distribution:

• Division “A” with The Honorable Matthew A. Smith
• Division “B” with The Honorable Margaret R. Taylor
• Division “C” with The Honorable Miriam Valkenburg
• Division “D” with The Honorable Lisa A. Allen
• Division “E” with The Honorable Monique M. Scott

The Honorable Frances M. Perrone, who is assigned to County Criminal Domestic Violence Division “F.” All domestic violence cases go to this division.

If you are charged with a felony, your case will be assigned to a felony judge in Circuit Court in Hillsborough County, FL, the criminal division.

This article was last updated on Tuesday, January 27, 2026.