Ninja Academy, Inc. d/b/a Champions Unite v. Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Division of Food, Nutrition, and Wellness

Summary

The Florida First District Court of Appeal granted in part the appellant’s motion for rehearing, withdrew its prior opinion, and substituted this opinion. The court held that it lacked jurisdiction over a direct appeal from a Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services hearing officer’s determination concerning Summer Food Service Program reimbursement claims and participation. Treating the notice of appeal as a petition for writ of certiorari, the court transferred the case to the Circuit Court of the Second Judicial Circuit in Leon County.

Holdings

1. The First District lacked jurisdiction to review the hearing officer's final determination by direct appeal because no statute conferred such jurisdiction; an agency rule cannot create district-court appellate jurisdiction.
2. The notice of appeal could be treated as a petition for writ of certiorari under Florida appellate rules, but the First District lacked corresponding writ authority because it lacked jurisdiction over the underlying administrative action.
3. Ninja Academy may pursue first-tier certiorari review in the circuit court because circuit-court review of a quasi-judicial administrative decision is available as a matter of right when no other method of judicial review is provided.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the First District had statutory or constitutional jurisdiction to hear a direct appeal from the Department hearing officer's final determination under the federal and Florida Summer Food Service Program appeals regimes.
2. Whether the notice of appeal should be treated as a petition for writ of certiorari when direct appellate review was unavailable.
3. Whether first-tier certiorari review of the quasi-judicial agency decision was available in the circuit court.

Disposition

remanded