I have no idea why this keeps coming up. I have handled literally 100’s of dec actions in County and Circuit Court. Every once in a while, the insurance company’s lawyer will insist that dec actions can only be heard in Circuit Court. In United Automobile Insurance Company v. Kendall South Medical Center, ____ So.3d ____ (Fla. 3rd DCA 2011), the District Court once again confirmed that Florida Statute Section 86.011 means what it says when it says “Jurisdiction of trial court — The circuit and county courts have jurisdiction within their respective jurisdictional amounts to declare rights, status, and other equitable or legal relations whether or not further relief is or could be claimed….”
In explaining this, the District Court stated:
[U]nlike other matters in equity, there is no concurrent jurisdiction for section 86.011 claims for declaratory relief. Prior to 1990, circuit courts had exclusive jurisdiction over claims for declaratory relief. In 1990, the Legislature amended the statute to grant jurisdiction in declaratory matters to both the circuit and county courts but only ‘within their respective jurisdictional amounts.’ Therefore, the Miami-Dade Circuit Court has jurisdiction of a declaratory action only if the amount in controversy exceeds $15,000 and only the count court has jurisdiction of any amount in controversy less than $15,000