Now Reading: 19 seek Florida judgeships, including prosecutor in Adelson trial
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19 seek Florida judgeships, including prosecutor in Adelson trial
19 seek Florida judgeships, including prosecutor in Adelson trial
One applicant is currently prosecuting the high-profile murder trial of Donna Adelson in a Tallahassee criminal courtroom.
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- Nineteen lawyers and judges applied for two judicial openings in Florida’s 2nd Judicial Circuit.
- One vacancy is for a Leon County judge, the other a newly created circuit judgeship.
- The Judicial Nominating Commission will interview candidates on September 15.
Nineteen local lawyers and judges have applied for one or both judicial vacancies in the Big Bend of Florida’s judicial circuit.
One of them is currently prosecuting the high-profile murder trial of Donna Adelson in a Tallahassee criminal courtroom. Adelson, of South Florida, is accused of being one of the masterminds of the 2014 murder-for-hire of Florida State law professor Dan Markel, her ex-son in law.
The 2nd Circuit Judicial Nominating Commission (JNC) announced the list of hopefuls on Aug. 26 for two openings: One for a Leon County judge seat vacated by Jason Jones, who was elevated to the circuit bench, and another for a new circuit judgeship created by the Legislature.
The openings eventually will be filled by conservative Gov. Ron DeSantis, who has said he selects judges who share his originalist, textualist philosophy – interpreting laws as written, not legislating from the bench.
Those who submitted an application are:
Andrea Johnson White, general counsel for the 2nd Judicial Circuit (applied for county and circuit judgeships).
Carlos Rey, general counsel for the Florida Senate (county and circuit).
C. Ian Garland, a lawyer in the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit of the Florida Attorney General’s Office (county and circuit).
Chris Bufano, the county judge for Liberty County. He was named to that post by DeSantis last June to replace a judge who retired amid a judicial misconduct investigation (circuit).
James Beville, an assistant state attorney based in Quincy (county and circuit).
Jeremiah Hawkes, an associate in the Bass Sox Mercer law firm’s Tallahassee office and a former general counsel for the Florida Senate (circuit).
Kaitlin Holmes, general counsel for the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (county and circuit).
Khari James, an attorney with the National Center on Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE) Law Center in Washington, D.C. (county and circuit).
Kirsten H. Matthis, a shareholder in Tallahassee’s Meenan law firm (circuit).
Kyle Sill, a staff attorney with the 1st District Court of Appeal (county and circuit).
Matthew Strenth, also a staff attorney with the 1st District Court of Appeal (county).
Michael Beato, an associate in litigation practice with the firm of Holtzman Vogel, and a former law clerk to Barbara Lagoa, a federal appellate judge on the 11th Circuit and briefly a Florida Supreme Court justice before that (circuit).
Michael Ruff, senior attorney for the Florida Department of Financial Services (county and circuit).
Robert G. Churchill Jr., founder and managing partner of Tallahassee’s Churchill Law Group. He ran unsuccessfully for an open county judge seat in 2024 (county and circuit).
Sarah Kathryn Dugan, an assistant state attorney prosecuting felonies in Tallahassee, including the ongoing murder trial of Donna Adelson (county and circuit).
Sara Hassler, an assistant state attorney based in Quincy (county and circuit).
Shavonne J. McCants, an assistant state attorney based in Tallahassee (county and circuit).
Stefanie Newlin, a county judge for Leon County (circuit).
Steven Sellers, an attorney with Tallahassee’s O’Steen & O’Steen law firm (circuit).
The JNC will next interview the candidates on Monday, Sept. 15, at the Leon County Traffic Court at 1920 Thomasville Road, according to the news release from chair William N. Spicola.
County judges in part handle “traffic offenses, landlord-tenant disputes, misdemeanors” and small claims cases. Among other things, circuit judges handle felony and juvenile cases and civil lawsuits worth $50,000 or more.
Judges who are appointed must run as no party-candidates in the next general election. They then serve six-year terms. The 2nd Judicial Circuit, based in Tallahassee, includes Franklin, Gadsden, Jefferson, Leon, Liberty and Wakulla counties.
The most recent salary information available shows that county judges were last paid $186,034 a year and circuit judges $196,898 a year.
Information on the applicants comes from The Florida Bar and online searches. This story contains previously published material. Jim Rosica can be reached at jrosica@tallahassee.com. Follow him on X: @JimRosicaFL.
