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.

Minimum Requirements for Florida Judges

Judges in Florida are subject to numerous requirements including the minimum requirements for continuing judicial educational requirements in Rule 2.230 including;

• Each judge and justice shall complete a minimum of 30 credit hours of approved judicial education programs every 3 years.
• Beginning January 1, 2012, 4 hours must be in the area of judicial ethics; prior to that date, 2 hours in the area of judicial ethics are required.
• Approved courses in fairness and diversity also can be used to fulfill the judicial ethics requirement.
• In addition to the 30-hour requirement, every judge new to a level of the trial court must complete the Florida Judicial College program in that judge’s first year of judicial service following selection to that level of court.
• Every new appellate court judge or justice must, within 2 years following selection to that level of court, complete an approved appellate-judge program.
• Every new appellate judge who has never been a trial judge or who has never attended Phase I of the Florida Judicial College as a magistrate must also attend Phase I of the Florida Judicial College in that judge’s first year of judicial service following the judge’s appointment.
• Credit for teaching a course for which mandatory judicial education credit is available will be allowed on the basis of 2 1/2 hours’ credit for each instructional hour taught, up to a maximum of 5 hours per year.

Additional Resources

Florida Code of Judicial Conduct – Visit the website of the Florida Supreme Court to download a pdf document explaining the judicial code of conduct in the state of Florida. In Florida, the Judicial Code of Conduct was adopted on September 29, 1994, and became effective on January 1, 1995. The judicial code of conduct in Florida was amended through May 10, 2018 (2018 WL 2146549). Among other things, the code of judicial conduct requires a judge to uphold the integrity and independence of the judiciary, to avoid impropriety and the appearance of impropriety in all of the judge’s activities, and to perform duties impartially and diligently.

This article was last updated on Wednesday, April 8, 2026.