Rule 3.926.Use of court facilities

Rule 3.926 runs in the opposite direction from rule 3.907's default for stipulated references. Because a court itself ordered the section 639 reference, sometimes over a party's objection, the parties are entitled to use of court facilities and court personnel to the extent the order of reference provides. Rule 3.922(g) already requires that order to state how much use is available, so the two rules work together: the order sets the extent, and this rule confirms the parties can rely on it.

The rule also anticipates that a section 639 reference might still be held somewhere other than a courthouse. Proceedings may take place at a private facility, but if the reference moves there, the facility has to remain open to the public the way rule 3.931 requires. Shifting a case out of the courthouse and into a private conference room does not turn a proceeding that would otherwise be open to the public into a closed one.