Thirty of Broward County's 90 judges are relatively new to the bench.

Seventeen circuit judges and 13 of their counterparts in County Court have less than three years' experience, according to Chief Circuit Judge Jack Tuter.

And beginning in 2019, at least nine new judges will be filling open seats and upcoming vacancies as Judges Peter Weinstein, Paul Backman, Ilona Holmes, Mark Speiser and Michael Gates retire from the circuit bench and Judges Jane Fishman and Sharon Zeller depart the county bench.

“We are a circuit in transition,” Tuter told other judges, attorneys, courthouse staff, elected officials and other guests Friday at the 2018 Judicial Procession and State of the Circuit Address. “We're all kind of learning together.”

One of the newest jurists is Broward Circuit Judge Thomas J. Coleman, a veteran prosecutor who was appointed by Gov. Rick Scott in June to replace retired Judge Marc H. Gold.

“After 20 years of working in criminal and seeing death and destruction everywhere I turn, you've given me the opportunity to help people,” said Coleman, who serves in the court's dependency division.

Among other changes are the opening of $197 million courthouse a year ago, a clerk of courts elected in November 2016 and a new chief circuit judge, who stepped into the role in July after about 12 years as a jurist.

Since taking over as chief judge, Tuter updated the court's administrative orders and issued new ones for handling high-risk drug evidence, expert witness fees, status quo orders in newly filed family cases and electronic communications in courtrooms, among other issues. On Friday, he signed an anti-sexual harassment policy to govern the circuit.

It was the latest initiative in a circuit that in recent months arranged a clinic to help drivers reinstate suspended licenses, held a free public event one evening to accommodate about 400 divorcing couples, assigned an additional judge to the dependency division, and expanded the use of senior judges to help clear a backlog of foreclosure and domestic-violence cases.

Some of the efforts kept judges and staff working in the courthouse until 10 p.m. Judge Jose Izquierdo traveled to an Indian reservation to hold court for children in the dependency division.

Among the jurists who received special recognition in the last year were: Robert Diaz was given the Harvey Ford Award, the highest recognition by the Conference of County Court Judges; Hope Tieman Bristol received the statewide William Gladstone Award for lifelong work in dependency courts; David Haimes and Raag Singhal were nominated for federal judgeships; John Bowman was recognized by the governor on National Adoption Day; Speiser received an award from the Broward County Crime Commission for his work in mental health and probate court; and Michael Robinson was given the Judicial Distinguished Service Award by the Florida Council on Crime and Delinquency.

“A lot of you in the audience don't realize what the judges do after hours or when they're not in the building,” Tuter said.

And now the chief judge wants to turn his attention to several new initiatives with Broward Clerk of Courts Brenda Forman, Public Defender Howard Finkelstein and State Attorney Michael Satz, despite what he called “malicious and anonymous blogs” that falsely depict a rift among the public officials.

The agenda for 2018 includes a program to reduce jail populations through several approaches, including an alternative sentencing initiative that would empower probation officers to recommend punishment other than incarceration for violators.

Another effort would implement electronic dispositions in criminal court to reduce processing time for inmates and immediately inform jail staff of court rulings.

A third initiative would eliminate arrest warrants dating back to the 1970s and '80s, while another would involve assigning a judge full-time to use risk-assessment tools to release low-level offenders without cash bonds after their first court appearance.

“That's the state of the circuit, and I hope you all will help me accomplish all of those goals,” Tuter said.