JAC has replaced the circuit specific Court Appointed Registry Contract with a statewide Registry/Off-Registry
Contract for 2016-2017. Attorneys will now sign one statewide Registry Contract that is not circuit specific each year.
Any attorney may execute a JAC Registry Contract (Registry Contract). This contract will then apply to any
registry or off-registry appointments received through June 30, 2017. In most instances, an attorney will only need to
execute a single Registry Contract during the course of a fiscal year. Once an attorney signs the statewide Registry
Contract, the attorney may be eligible for compensation for all court appointments, including off-registry appointments,
from any circuit provided they are on the circuit’s court-appointed registry or provide an appropriate off-registry order
of appointment (see below).
Attorneys should be aware that executing the Registry Contract does not automatically result in registry appointments.
An attorney will still need to seek inclusion in one or more circuits’ court-appointed registries in order to receive
appointments. The attorney will need to contact the appropriate local court personnel for information about how to apply
for inclusion in a court-appointed registry. A listing of each circuit court’s registry personnel can be found at:
Circuit Registry Contact List
The Registry Contract will ONLY become valid for a particular circuit when the attorney is approved by the Chief Judge
in that circuit and JAC receives the circuit’s registry, including the attorney’s information, from the circuit’s registry
clerk. To be removed from a circuit registry, attorneys must contact the registry clerk in that circuit.
Please be advised that the current Contracts for Attorney Services (Registry Contracts) will expire at the conclusion of the
State Fiscal Year (June 30) and must be renewed annually by July 1. Pursuant to
s. 27.40, F.S.,
attorneys must enter into a contract with the JAC in order to be included on a circuit registry for appointment as private
court-appointed counsel. JAC does not assign cases to attorneys. Only the court may appoint an attorney pursuant to
s. 27.40, F.S.
A copy of the 2016-2017 Registry Contract and a summary of the contract changes can be found below:
Review Copy of the 2016-2017 Contract for Attorney Services
Points of Interest (JAC's Court-Appointed & IFC Attorneys and Due Process Vendors Newsletter) - Summer 2016
Cases Involving Off-Registry Appointments:
To facilitate combining the Registry and Off-Registry Contracts, language has been added to the Registry Contract requiring
that off-registry orders of appointment include language finding there were no registry attorneys available for representation
or other good cause for an off-registry appointment. This language is pursuant to
s. 27.40(7)(a), F.S.
If an attorney receives a case involving an off-registry appointment, the attorney will be responsible for verifying
there is language justifying the off-registry appointment in the order of appointment. In the event the order is
insufficient to justify an off-registry appointment, payment will be delayed until the attorney provides JAC with an
appropriate order. Cases involving off-registry appointments should be opened in My JAC in the same fashion as registry
appointments.
The JAC Registry Contract will not be available on JAC's public website.
An executable version of the Registry Contract will be available on My JAC (JAC’s secure website) only. First time
attorneys wanting to complete a Registry Contract must contact JAC’s Attorney/Vendor Contracts section via
secure
email form; please include your name, Bar ID, and preferred email address. Once you are added to JAC’s system,
you will receive an email with instructions on how to set up a username and password to access My JAC.
It is the responsibility of the attorney to ensure that the contact/email information on file with JAC is up to date.
Attorneys who have not set up a My JAC account will need to do so before they can execute the Registry Contract.
In addition, prior to executing your contract, please ensure that you have filed your Substitute W-9 and Electronic
Funds Transfer forms directly with Department of Financial
Services (DFS) (not JAC).
New Confidential Vendor Exemption Form:
Under Florida law, JAC’s records are subject to public records requests. JAC maintains and posts on its website attorney and due process
vendor contact information. Florida law exempts certain personal information for some positions and individuals who fill those positions
from disclosure. However, please know that there is no statutory exemption from a public records request for an individual attorney or
due process vendor’s compensation. If you are eligible for a public records exemption, you will need to complete
JAC’s Confidential Vendor Exemption Form
and provide supporting documentation showing you qualify for the exemption. If you intend to claim a public records exemption, JAC must receive your
completed Confidential Vendor Exemption Form
and supporting documents via email at Contracts@justiceadmin.org
prior to your Registry Contract being accepted.
If you have not already executed the new Registry Contract and you
HAVE been approved by the Chief Judge for a circuit registry and you have received an email from
JAC advising you of an available 2016-2017 Registry Contract, please go to
www.justiceadmin.org and log in to
My JAC as
follows:
- On the My JAC login page,
enter your username and password and click “Login”. If you do not recall your username and password, click “Forgot your username or password?”,
follow the prompts and your information will be sent to the email address on file.
- After a successful login to My JAC, click “Attorney Contract”
on the left side navigation menu of the “Welcome to My JAC” page.
-
On the following “Contracts” page, you must certify that you have applied for Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) and
a Substitute W-9 (these are done directly through DFS). (Note:
If you do not check both certification boxes, you will be unable to proceed).
- Once you certify both boxes, you will enable the “Go to Contracts Submission”
link. Click on it.
- On this page, you may choose to change your Tax Identification number by clicking the link in the next box, if applicable.
- The Registry Contract covers all circuits. (Please note: The contract will ONLY become valid in a
circuit once you have been approved for inclusion on the registry by the Chief Judge in that circuit and
the registry is received by JAC).
- On the “Electronic Contract Generation and Submission” page, in the “Attorney Details”
box, you may enter or verify your information, making sure to follow the proper formatting examples. If you need to change your
contact information you may do so here by clicking the box at the top of the page.
- If you intend to claim a public records exemption for certain personal information, please check the
“Confidential Exemption” box. Please be aware that your contract will not be processed until JAC receives
a completed Confidential Vendor Exemption Form
with supporting documentation. Review and verify your name, address, Bar and Tax Identification number, as well
as all other pertinent information. Please update your information. It is the responsibility of the attorney to
ensure that the contact/email information on file with JAC is up to date.
- If the Tax Identification number (Tax ID) information that auto populates is incorrect, click “Click here to change Tax Identification number (Tax ID)/Payee
Information”. If not, do not click this box.
- In the following box on the same page, you will need to choose “Attorney” or
“Legal Entity” and enter your Federal Tax Identification number (Tax ID) or Social Security number (SSN). (If one is already in the JAC system, these
boxes will auto populate).
- Payee Information – You will need to select Attorney or Legal Entity in
order to proceed.
- Next, check the box to certify that you have verified all information on the form.
- Click on “Preview Draft Contract” (open, view and close). You must open, view and
close your contract in order to proceed.
- Click on acknowledgment of contract preview.
- Under “Submission Method”, choose whether you wish to submit the contract electronically.
- If you choose “No”, print the contract, sign it in BLUE ink and mail the entire contract (one-sided)
to the address in the
instructions .
- If you choose “Yes”, execute the contract with your name, (the date will auto populate) and click “Submit”.
- Do not submit by both methods.
- Please be advised that, under Florida law, an electronic signature is deemed
equivalent to a physical signature. For this reason, the attorney rather than an assistant must be the person electronically signing
the contract.
- When JAC receives the contract, you will receive an email confirming receipt
to the email address currently in our system.
- Once the contract has been approved by JAC, an email notification will be sent to you.
- For contracts submitted
electronically, the attorney can then view the contract at
My JAC. For contracts
submitted by mail, a copy will be sent to you via email.
Once the Attorney has executed the current statewide JAC Registry Contract, it will not be necessary for the Attorney to execute an additional contract if approved for additional registries.
Attorney shall execute a new contract if attorney changes their Tax Identification number (Tax ID).
IMPORTANT NOTE:
All vendors obtaining payment from JAC are required to register for Electronic Funds
Transfer/Direct Deposit (EFT) with DFS. Information and the forms to register
for EFT are available on the DFS website. These forms are filed directly with DFS.
All vendors obtaining payment from JAC are required to submit their Substitute Form W-9 directly to DFS. Information
and the form are available on the DFS website. (Please follow these instructions to complete the Substitute Form W-9).
Be aware that upon successful submission of a Substitute Form W-9 you will receive email confirmation from DFS.
Contact information for DFS is available on the DFS website.