County Civil Division 9 - Judge Peacock

Judge Aaron J. Peacock

County Civil Division 9

Location/Contact Information:

Aaron J. Peacock

County Court Judge

Moore Justice Center

2825 Judge Jamieson Way

Viera, Florida 32940

(321) 617-7236

Tina Derwitsch, Judicial Assistant

Email is the preferred method to contact the JA. 

Office hours are 8:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.

Emails after hours will be addressed the next business day.

tina.derwitsch@flcourts18.org. 

Virtual Courtroom – Judge Aaron Peacock

URL Short Link - https://fl18.org/judgepeacock-vc

Policies/Procedures:

Attendance Policies:

Although recommended that parties appear in person for court appearances, remote TEAMS appearances are authorized.  Attorneys/Litigants must request a TEAMS link 24 hours prior to the court date.  Late requests may not be processed timely, and therefore the party must appear in person. 

A Notice of Conflict DOES NOT constitute an automatic continuance.  Parties must file a Motion for Continuance and schedule a hearing – unless the continuance is stipulated.

Evidentiary Hearings/Trials:

All Evidentiary court events require an in-person appearance.  Parties must appear in person or file a written motion requesting remote attendance and have prior approval of the Court for remote appearance.

The parties must exchange exhibits and confer about the admissibility of each exhibit at least five (5) full business days prior to the hearing; The parties are encouraged to reach an agreement as to the admissibility of all evidence. Exhibits shall be delivered to the Court at least three (3) business days before the scheduled commencement date of the hearing. Each party shall provide the Court with hard-copy, printed exhibits.  Media, video, USB or audio requests need to be coordinated through Court Technology and Court Administration.

Emailing the Court:

Please provide the case style and case number in the subject line when emailing the JA.  We also need a complete signature line with phone number.

Opposing side must be copied with the email to the Court.  No ex parte communication is allowed.

Motions:

Stipulated motions must be efiled, copied to the opposing side(s).  A copy of the efiled motion and proposed order are to be emailed to the JA directly.  The email should reflect a stipulation/agreement and copy opposing.

E-Portal Submission of Proposed Orders:

The moving party shall be responsible for preparation of any orders following the hearing, unless otherwise ordered by the Court.  All such orders shall be submitted for review to the opposing party prior to submitting the same to the Court. If the parties agree to the language of an order, it may be submitted to the Court via the E-portal.  Please follow the instructions in the below link regarding the new State mandated codes. The order cannot be signed without them and will be rejected. Brevard e-portal filings require DJMCA codes on proposed orders. Refer to the below link for more information. http://www.brevardclerk.us/?a=Files.Serve&File_id=023197ba-807c-4908-876a[1]246bd18da343

Be sure to include the hearing date in the proposed order if appropriate.  All proposed orders must be e-filed through the Proposed Documents section of the portal in the jurisdictional map; choose Brevard County from the drop-down menu and select Viewer/Judicial.  

Orders must also contain the following language: I HEREBY CERTIFY that copies have been furnished via e-service.  If there is no e-mail/eservice authorization in the record, the moving party is responsible for service of all nonregistered pro-se parties within 5 days from the date of eservice of the Order/Judgment.  The Plaintiff shall: Furnish a copy of this Order/Judgment to each self-represented party by US Mail, first class, postage paid; and file a certificate signed by Counsel that delivery of the Order/Judgment as been made as set forth herein.

Failure to follow the below guidelines may result in your filing being Rejected.

FILING REQUIREMENTS

• Each filing must contain a Cover Letter and only one proposed order.

• Filer must select himself/herself in the e-service list.

• COVER LETTER PDF format

• PROPOSED ORDER Word document (.docx extension). Do not include any specific formatting – text boxes, macros, headers, footers, etc. Use the phrase “Done and Ordered” as the last portion of the order for the Judge’s signature and date codes. The Date and Signature codes must be on their own line and in all capital letters with all four letters in each field. The Signature code, JJJJ, must be aligned left or center or right. There can be no characters or verbiage or use of the tab key or space bar before or after the codes.

There can be attachments to the proposed order. The case style must reference to the Eighteenth Judicial Circuit, i.e., IN THE COUNTY COURT OF THE 18TH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT IN AND FOR BREVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA. Please DO NOT submit proposed orders into the portal until after the respective documents have been accepted by the clerk’s office.   

Emergency orders can be submitted directly to the JA for review/signature, in WORD format, with all parties copied with the email submission.

Hearing times/JACS:

Judge Peacock uses JACS, Judicial Automated Calendaring System, for the attorneys to coordinate and schedule hearings. Attorneys can view available hearing times as well as our daily calendar for Judge Peacock on JACS.  Instructions for JACS are available on the 18^th Circuit Website, www.flcourts18.org, as well as from the Judicial Assistant.

When hearing time is coordinated and confirmed, the moving party must immediately efile the Notice of Hearing and email a copy to the Judicial Assistant.  Failure to timely efile a Notice of Hearing with service upon opposing may result in the cancellation of the hearing.  Be sure to schedule ample time for the hearing and include the duration of the hearing in the Notice.

Please contact the JA directly if there is an emergency hearing request, inadequate available hearing times, lengthy hearing time request, or a case that needs special attention. 

Case Law/Memorandum of Law:

Case law/memoranda must be delivered in paper format to the Court and opposing copied at least 5 days prior to the Court event.  If the Hearing or trial is moved, parties are on notice that the submissions may not be retained by this office and parties may have to resubmit.

Pro Se Litigants:

For Pro Se parties representing themselves, helpful forms regarding civil, landlord/tenant, divorce cases, etc., can be found at: http://www.brevardclerk.us

For Uncontested Dissolution of Marriage hearing requests, pro se litigants must contact the Pro Se Coordinator at the Clerk’s office to review and confirm you have all the needed documents and paperwork required to go forward on the hearing several days prior to the hearing date. The Pro Se Coordinator can be reached at: prosecoordinator@brevardclerk.us.  Failure to do so may result in your hearing being canceled or being reset.

Small claims proceedings are held in-person or via TEAMS.  Prior to the Court date, litigants are requested to contact the Clerk by email (provided below) to obtain the docket for your case(s) that you are appearing on or covering.  The Clerk can be contacted at: VieraCivilCourtClerks@brevardclerk.us

For questions about Mediation please contact: BrevardMediation@flcourts18.org For information regarding the On-line Dispute Resolution (ODR) please go to: flcourts18.org/court-programs/odr

 Mission Statement of the Judicial Branch

To protect rights and liberties, uphold and interpret the law,

And provide for the peaceful resolution of disputes.