1. (1) License.

   1. (a) No person shall act as a judge in a match held in Florida without first having obtained a judge license.
   2. (b) A judge shall not also be licensed as a booking agent, manager, matchmaker, participant, representative of a booking agent, second, or trainer.
   3. (c) No judge shall have a financial or pecuniary interest in any participant.

2. (2) Applications for a professional judge license will be reviewed, evaluated, and processed in the following manner:

   1. (a) Any person desiring to become licensed for the first time as a professional boxing, kickboxing, or mixed martial arts judge shall submit to the commission the appropriate application using Form BPR-0009-450, entitled “Application for License” (06/23), which is incorporated in Rule 61K1-3.001, F.A.C. The form can be obtained from the Department of Business and Professional Regulation, Florida Athletic Commission, 2601 Blair Stone Road, Tallahassee, Florida 32399-1016, or at the Commission’s website at: http://www.myfloridalicense.com/dbpr/pro/sbc/index.html.

      1. All applicants for a boxing, kickboxing, or mixed martial arts judge license must first be issued a temporary certificate by the executive director. Temporary certificates are required for any person desiring to unofficially score a match for evaluation purposes. A license application shall be submitted with the same information and fee as a judge license.

      2. For boxing and kickboxing, the application shall include a certification from the executive director attesting that the applicant has completed the unofficial scoring of a minimum of 50 rounds of professional boxing or kickboxing held in this state and has been unofficially judging in this state for a minimum of twelve months with a temporary certificate issued by the commission which is in good standing. The applicant must have a demonstrated record and evidence that he/she has the ability to perform the duties outlined below. The executive director may issue a temporary license pending final action by the commission. The commission shall render a decision as to whether or not the application for judge license shall be approved, which decision is solely that of the commission. If a license application is not granted by the commission, the commission shall set forth the reasons for not granting the license.

      3. For mixed martial arts, the application shall include a statement of experience inclusive of any certifications attained as an official in any of the martial arts, grappling, boxing, or kickboxing. If satisfied with the credentials of the applicant, the executive director may cause to be issued a temporary certificate for evaluation purposes, whereby the holder shall unofficially score professional mixed martial arts events held in this state for a period of time to be determined by the executive director; however, under no circumstances shall this period be longer than a total of 50 rounds and 12 months. If the temporary certificate holder has unofficially scored 100 rounds during an 18 month period, the executive director shall present the applicant to the commission for a final decision on licensure.

   2. (b) Foreign licensed officials may be temporarily licensed by the executive director upon demonstrating an ability to perform the duties outlined below. The foreign licensed official’s record and ability shall be verified by obtaining records from a central repository and any such other information as the executive director deems necessary to qualify the official. After issuance of a temporary license, the chairman of the commission shall approve or disapprove the license, in accordance with these rules.
   3. (c) At its first meeting after November 1 of each year, the commission shall review the performance of each licensed professional judge in Florida and shall approve or disapprove any application for renewal or subsequent application.
   4. (d) The executive director shall limit to three the number of unofficial judges at each event. The commission will make arrangements for unofficial judges to enter the premises of the program of matches free of charge and have an appropriate seat from which to judge the contests, provided however that in the case of television and such other events which by their nature severely limit ringside access, permission to sit and judge at ringside will not be authorized. In the case that the event is sold out, authorization will not be granted to attend the event free of charge. Travel and other expenses of the unofficial judge shall be borne solely by the unofficial judge. Unofficial judges must present their scorecards to the commission representative prior to the announcement of the result by the announcer and all contests within one program of matches must be judged by the unofficial judge in order for any contest within that program of matches to be included in the judge’s statistical record.

3. (3) Duties.

   1. (a) The number of judges shall be assigned in accordance with these rules and Section 548.057(9), F.S. In the event that sufficient judges are not available, a referee shall be selected to act as a judge for that specific program of matches.

   2. (b) No match shall begin or continue unless the appropriate number of judges, according to these rules, are in their designated seats.

      1. For boxing, there shall be three judges.

      2. For kickboxing, there shall be three judges for scoring and two judges for kick counts, if so required.

      3. For mixed martial arts, the appropriate number of judges will be contingent upon the conditions of the match approved by the commission for each particular event.

   3. (c) It shall be the duty of each judge to:

      1. Be fully informed of and conversant with the rules, regulations, standards, guidelines and policies of Chapter 548, F.S., the rules set forth herein, with particular attention given to Rule 61K1-3.033, F.A.C., of these rules;

      2. Observe carefully at all times during the match the performance of the participants;

      3. Appraise such performance fairly, accurately and expertly using Chapter 548, F.S., and the rules set forth herein;

      4. Inscribe the result of such appraisal after each round on the round score card or match score card, whichever is appropriate, according to the scoring system adopted herein; and,

      5. Complete and sign the round or match score card and deliver it to the referee, executive director or commission representative at the conclusion of each round.

   4. (d) Judges who are officially scoring a match shall utilize Form BPR-0009-459, entitled “Round Score Card,” (06/23) incorporated herein by reference which may be obtained from the Commission office or HYPERLINK "http://www.flrules.org/Gateway/reference.asp?No=Ref-17236"http://www.flrules.org/Gateway/reference.asp?No=Ref-17236, and Form BPR-0009-457, entitled “Official Scorecard,” (06/23), incorporated herein by reference, which may be obtained from the Commission office or HYPERLINK "http://www.flrules.org/Gateway/reference.asp?No=Ref-17235"http://www.flrules.org/Gateway/reference.asp?No=Ref-17235. The forms can be obtained from the Department of Business and Professional Regulation, Florida Athletic Commission, 2601 Blair Stone Road, Tallahassee, Florida 32399-1016, or at the Commission’s website at: http://www.myfloridalicense.com/dbpr/pro/sbc/index.html.

Rulemaking Authority 548.003 FS. Law Implemented 548.003(2), 548.017, 548.056, 548.057 FS. History–New 2-7-85, Amended 11-24-85, Formerly 7F-1.13, Amended 4-6-89, 5-13-90, 1-9-91, Formerly 7F-1.013, Amended 9-10-95, 4-3-00, 6-21-04, 12-6-10, Formerly 61K1-1.013, Amended 10-14-18, 1-2-25.