Courts and the 18th Judicial Circuit — Brevard County, Florida

The 18th Judicial Circuit is the state trial court district for Brevard and Seminole counties, and it runs every circuit and county courtroom from Titusville and Viera down to Melbourne.

Florida law fixes the pairing: section 26.021 says the eighteenth circuit is composed of Brevard and Seminole Counties (F.S. 26.021). The same section puts Indian River County in the nineteenth circuit, along with Martin, Okeechobee and St. Lucie Counties. The circuit itself is younger than the county: its history page says the legislature created the Eighteenth Judicial Circuit in 1967, and before that Brevard and Seminole were part of the Ninth Judicial Circuit along with Indian River, Martin, Okeechobee, Orange, Osceola and St. Lucie Counties. The circuit's own site describes itself as serving the citizens of Brevard and Seminole counties, with Brevard Court Administration based at the Moore Justice Center in Viera and Seminole Court Administration in Sanford (Eighteenth Judicial Circuit).

Two levels of trial court sit inside the 18th Judicial Circuit. Circuit judges are elected by voters in both counties, while Brevard's county judges are elected countywide in Brevard alone, according to the Brevard County Supervisor of Elections. Statute sets the bench size: 26 circuit judges for the eighteenth circuit (F.S. 26.031) and 11 county court judges for Brevard (F.S. 34.022). The circuit describes the split: county court hears civil actions where the amount in controversy is $50,000 or less, small claims cases and landlord and tenant disputes, while circuit court takes civil actions above $50,000 and matters such as probate of estates, mortgage foreclosures, dissolution of marriage actions and adoptions. The 1972 statewide reorganization left only those two trial courts, and the judges of the abolished courts in Brevard County became Circuit Judges.

Brevard has three courthouses: the Moore Justice Center at 2825 Judge Fran Jamieson Way in Viera, the Melbourne Courthouse at 51 Nieman Ave, and the Titusville Historic Courthouse at 506 South Palm Avenue.

The circuit's locations page lists those three Brevard buildings and three court buildings in Sanford for Seminole (18th Circuit locations). For court-case or jury questions it sends Brevard callers to the Clerk of Court at (321) 637-5413. The Clerk lists offices at the Moore Justice Center / Viera Courthouse, the Melbourne Branch Courthouse and the Historic Titusville Courthouse, all open Monday through Friday from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM (Brevard Clerk hours).

Palm Bay has a Clerk office on Cogan Drive SE but no courthouse on the circuit's list. The Palm Bay Office closes from 11:30 AM to 1:30 PM each weekday, according to the Clerk. Brevard Court Administration keeps shorter hours: Monday to Thursday 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM and Fridays 8:00 AM to 4:30 PM, closed daily from 12:00 to 1:00 PM, at the Moore Justice Center in Viera (18th Circuit).

Brevard voters elect circuit judges for the whole 18th Judicial Circuit and county judges countywide, each to a six-year term, according to the Brevard County Supervisor of Elections.

The Supervisor of Elections in Viera lists each judge by group number with an office address (Brevard Supervisor of Elections, Judges). Counting those addresses, 12 of the 26 circuit judges are seated at the Moore Justice Center, one, Group 9, at the Melbourne Courthouse on Nieman Avenue, three at the Titusville Courthouse and the other 10 in Sanford. Ten of Brevard's 11 county judges list the Moore Justice Center; Group 3 lists the Brevard County Courthouse at 506 South Palm Avenue in Titusville. A county judge must also live in Brevard, and a circuit judge must live in the circuit.

The same Supervisor of Elections page lists the Fifth District Court of Appeal, 300 South Beach St., Daytona Beach, whose judges face retention votes from the 5th Appellate District. Florida Supreme Court justices in Tallahassee appear on Brevard ballots for retention as well.

Chief Judge Melanie Chase leads the 18th Judicial Circuit in 2026, with Judge Charlie Crawford as Deputy Chief Judge, under Administrative Order 26-21 2nd Amended, issued in July 2026.

That order also names the administrative judges who run each division (Administrative Order 26-21 2nd Amended). Circuit-wide, Judge Scott Blaue leads the Civil Division and Judge Christopher Sprysenski the Family Division. For the Brevard side of the circuit, Judge Kathryn M. Speicher heads the Appeals Division, Judge Robert Segal is Deputy Family Administrative Judge, Judge Kelly Ingram sits on the Canvassing Board with Judge Clarissa Harrell as alternate, and Judge Jonathan A. Skinner is administrative judge of the Brevard County court. Judge Thomas J. Brown is the county court's Mental Health Administrative Judge and Judge Kimberly Musselman presides over Veteran's Treatment Court.

The order appoints these Brevard County and circuit-wide administrative judges effective April 1, 2026, and Chief Judge Melanie Chase signed it on the 16th day of July 2026, superseding 26-21 Amended. The circuit posts its administrative orders online in PDF form for orders from 1999 to the present.

The 18th Judicial Circuit lists more than a dozen court programs, including Family Court, Foreclosure Court, Probate and Guardianship, Mediation Programs, an Interpreter Program, Traffic Courts and Veterans Court.

The circuit's home page describes each program in a sentence (18th Circuit court programs). Traffic Court, with separate links for Brevard and Seminole, offers Civil Traffic Infraction hearings in person with an option to appear by video conference. Online Dispute Resolution is a platform for small claims and debt collection cases in which parties negotiate a settlement by messaging. Mediation Programs assign a court-appointed mediator in civil and family cases, and the Interpreter Program provides qualified interpreters for people with limited English and for deaf persons.

The circuit lists Dependency Court for children who are abused, neglected or abandoned, and a Brevard County Early Childhood Court for young children and their families in those cases, alongside Family Court and Probate and Guardianship, which covers estates, wills and guardianship. The circuit's Therapy Dog Program, authorized by the chief judge, places therapy animals in proceedings, and its Represent Yourself pages cover representing oneself without an attorney in civil law matters.

Jury service is handled with the Clerk. The circuit gives the Brevard jury duty number as (321) 637-5413, the same number the Brevard County Clerk of Court lists as its main line. Last verified: October 12, 2026, on the Eighteenth Judicial Circuit and Brevard County Supervisor of Elections websites.