RULE 6.040. DEFINITIONS

The following definitions apply:

(a) “Cancellation” means the act of declaring a driver license
void and terminated.

(b) “Clerk” means clerk of the initiating court or trial court.

(c) “Counsel” means any attorney who represents a
defendant.

(d) “Court” means any circuit or county court to which these
rules apply and the judge thereof or any civil traffic hearing officer
program and the traffic hearing officer thereof.

(e) “Charging document” means any information, uniform
traffic citation, complaint affidavit, or any other manner of charging
a criminal traffic offense under law.

(f) “Criminal traffic offense” means a violation that may
subject a defendant upon conviction to incarceration, within the
jurisdiction of a court to which these rules apply.

(g) “Department” means the Department of Highway Safety
and Motor Vehicles, defined in section 20.24, Florida Statutes, or
the appropriate division thereof.

(h) “Disqualification” means a prohibition, other than an
out-of-service order, that precludes a person from driving a
commercial motor vehicle.

(i) “Infraction” means a noncriminal traffic violation that is
not punishable by incarceration and for which there is no right to a
trial by jury or a right to court-appointed counsel.

(j) “Infraction requiring a mandatory hearing” refers to an
infraction listed in section 318.19, Florida Statutes, which requires
an appearance before a designated official at the time and location
of the scheduled hearing.

(k) “Judge” means any judicial officer elected or appointed
by the governor authorized by law to preside over a court to which
these rules apply.

(l) “Law” includes the constitutions of the United States and
the State of Florida, statutes, ordinances, judicial decisions, and
these rules.

(m) “Oath” includes affirmations.

(n) “Officer” means any enforcement officer charged with and
acting under authority to arrest or cite persons suspected or known
to be violating the statutes or ordinances regulating the operation of
equipment or vehicles or the regulation of traffic.

(o) “Official” means any state judge or traffic hearing officer
authorized by law to preside over a court or at a hearing
adjudicating traffic infractions.

(p) “Open court” means in a courtroom as provided or
judge’s or traffic hearing officer’s chambers of suitable judicial
decorum.

(q) “Out-of-service order” means a prohibition issued by an
authorized local, state, or Federal Government official that
precludes a person from driving a commercial motor vehicle.

(r) “Prosecutor” means any state attorney or any attorney
who represents a state, state or local agency, county, city, town, or
village in the prosecution of a defendant for the violation of a
statute or ordinance.

(s) “Revocation” means the termination of a licensee’s
privilege to drive.

(t) “Suspension” means the temporary withdrawal of a
licensee’s privilege to drive a motor vehicle.
(u) “Suspension or revocation equivalent status” is a
designation for a person who does not have a driver license or
driving privilege but would qualify for suspension or revocation of
his or her driver license or driving privilege if licensed. The
department may designate a person as having suspension or
revocation equivalent status in the same manner as it is authorized
to suspend or revoke a driver license or driving privilege by law.

(v) “Traffic hearing officer” means an official appointed under
the civil traffic infraction hearing officer program who shall have the
power to adjudicate civil traffic infractions subject to certain
exceptions.

(w) “Victim” is any person who suffers direct or threatened
physical, psychological, or financial harm as a result of the
commission or attempted commission of a crime or delinquent act
or against whom the crime or delinquent act is committed. The term
“victim” includes the victim’s lawful representative, the parent or
guardian of a minor, or the next of kin of a homicide victim, except
upon a showing that the interest of such individual would be in
actual or potential conflict with the interests of the victim.

(x) “Warrant” includes capias.

Committee Notes
1990 Amendment. In order to accommodate both the court and hearing
officer program as alternative sources for the adjudication of civil infractions,
the definition of court has been expanded. The term judge has been redefined
to limit its reference to only county court judges and the reference to official
has been expanded to include the traffic magistrate. In addition, a separate
definition for traffic magistrate has been added.

1992 Amendment. Defines charging document and more precisely
defines criminal traffic offense.

1996 Amendment. Enactment of chapter 94-202, Laws of Florida,
necessitated the deletion of all references in the rules to traffic “magistrates” in
favor of the term traffic “hearing officers.”

2019 Amendment. The Committee amended the definitions to effectuate
the amendment to article I, section 16 of the Florida Constitution and chapter
2019-167, Laws of Florida. Further amendments place the definitions in
alphabetical order.