Florida Sixth District Court of Appeal

In early 2021, then Florida Chief Justice Charles Canady established a 15-person District Court of Appeal Workload and Jurisdiction Assessment Committee to look into justifying a new District Court of Appeal.

[1] Blaise Trettis, a public defender in Brevard County, served on the Assessment Committee.

[2] The ten-member majority determined that there were too few lawyers from Jacksonville on district courts and used that fact to justify their decision.

Their opinion stated that adding "at least one" court would “promote public trust and confidence based on geography and demographic composition and help attract a diverse group of well-qualified applicants for judicial vacancies.”[2] In November 2021, the Florida Supreme Court voted 6–1 to add a new DCA.

He commented that adding a 6th DCA “is analogous to rebuilding a ship for what should be swapping out a couple of deck chairs at most.”[2] The Legislature proposed bill HB 7027, based on the committee's recommendation, which was then passed and signed by Governor Ron DeSantis in June 2022, creating the Sixth District Court of Appeal, the first new appellate court since the 1979 creation of the Florida Fifth District Court of Appeal.