For the third election cycle in a row, no circuit judge will face voters at the ballot box this year.
All 10 circuit judges who were up for election were automatically swept back into office for another six years. No one had filed to run against them when the qualifying period ended on Friday.
While there will be a contested race for a seat on the county bench, no sitting judge faces the ignominy of ouster. Two criminal defense attorneys 鈥� solo practitioner Jake Noble and Assistant Public Defender Schnelle Tonge 鈥� will vie to replace Judge Debra Moses Stephens, who opted not to seek a fifth term.
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Like their brethren who handle felony cases, divorces and big-dollar legal disputes, three county court judges were also reelected because they, too, had no opponents.
Veteran West Palm Beach attorney Jack Scarola called the reasons behind the trend disturbing.
Judges are rarely ousted
There has long been an unwritten rule that attorneys shouldn鈥檛 challenge sitting judges. Those who defied the rule typically haven鈥檛 been successful.
Circuit Judge Arthur Wroble in 2006 became the first county jurist in 22 years to get tossed off the bench by voters. Since then, there have been two others: Richard Wennet in 2008 and Diana Lewis in 2014.
Judge John Kastrenakes could have joined the list in 2022 when two attorneys filed to run against him. Instead, he dropped out of the race and returned to the bench as a senior judge.
In recent years, the trend to let sitting judges be has become the new normal.
鈥淩unning a countywide judicial race in Palm Beach County is a very expensive proposition,鈥� Scarola said. 鈥淏ecause there are alternatives for those with judicial aspirations, those with judicial aspirations have used them.鈥�
The alternative is to seek gubernatorial appointment. Scarola said he objects to the process because under the last two Republican governors 鈥� Rick Scott and Ron DeSantis 鈥� it has become politicized.
鈥淧artisan politics are influencing the selection of the judicial candidates,鈥� he said. 鈥淭here are litmus tests being applied in the selection process that are clearly political.鈥�
As a result, the quality of the county鈥檚 once highly regarded judiciary is being compromised, he said.
鈥淲ithout getting into specific candidates, many who are seeking a judicial appointment are individuals who lack private law and trial experience and are seeking the power and prestige of a judicial position that has not been earned,鈥� he said.
Since many veteran judges have retired in the past decade, Scott and DeSantis have had an outsized impact on the county鈥檚 judiciary.
Together, the two governors have appointed 20 of the county鈥檚 37 circuit court judges. Two other recent vacancies will increase that number to 22.
In county court, where misdemeanor cases, evictions and small-stakes civil suits are decided, DeSantis has appointed nine of the 20 judges, most recently on Friday Assistant State Attorney Marci Rex to fill a vacancy.
鈥榃e don鈥檛 have a litmus test鈥�
Attorney Gordon Dieterle, who is chair of the local commission that interviews attorneys who apply to fill judicial vacancies, disputed Scarola鈥檚 claims that politics drives the selection process.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e unfortunate and they are wrong in every respect,鈥� said Dieterle, who was appointed to the county鈥檚 Judicial Nominating Commission by Scott in 2015. 鈥淲e don鈥檛 have a litmus test.鈥�
Attorney Eric Levine, who is vice chair of the commission, agreed. 鈥淚 have never asked an applicant their political party affiliation,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 want them to be faithful to the law, have a good temperament and a good work ethic.鈥�
Both said they are well aware of the governor鈥檚 judicial philosophy. DeSantis has made no secret that he disdains what he calls 鈥渁ctivist judges鈥� who he claims legislate from the bench instead of following the law.
Still, Dieterle said the governor has never told the commission which lawyers to put on a short list to send to him for consideration. 鈥淲e don鈥檛 screen out applicants,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e don鈥檛 judge applicants by political affiliation. There is no partisan politics.鈥�
If an aspiring judge feels shut out of the process because they don鈥檛 think their political views mesh with the governor鈥檚, 鈥淭hat would be unfortunate,鈥� Levine said.
Like Scarola, Dieterle said he would like to see more seasoned lawyers apply to become judges. But, he said, they鈥檙e not interested.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e making too much money,鈥� Dieterle said. Becoming a circuit judge, making roughly $197,000 a year, would be a pay cut, he said.
That鈥檚 why many of the recently appointed judges have come from state agencies, particularly mid-career prosecutors from the state attorney鈥檚 office.
The county judiciary is the youngest it has been in decades, Dieterle said. On average, most judges in the county are in the mid-40s, he estimated.
But, he insisted, the quality is high. 鈥淭he process works and we are getting highly qualified people on the bench,鈥� he said.
Whether the quality would be better if they had to face voters is debatable. Even Scarola acknowledges as much.
Ethics rules prohibit judicial candidates from telling voters how they would rule if elected. They can鈥檛 make promises or stake out positions because it would violate rules that they must remain impartial. As a result, voters often don鈥檛 know how to judge the wannabe judges and sit out elections.
Scholars for years have debated whether judges should be appointed or elected and whether Florida鈥檚 hybrid approach is the best option.
For Scarola, the ultimate solution is at the ballot box. 鈥淚 hope that there will be someone sitting in the chief executive position who will recognize that this should not be a political process,鈥� he said.
Most of the 10 circuit judges who were automatically reelected on Friday have been on the bench for years. They are: longtime Chief Judge Glenn Kelley, Rosemarie Scher, Joseph Curley, James Nutt, Carolyn Bell, Jaimie Goodman, Samantha Schosberg Feuer, Karen Miller and Charles Burton. The exception is James Sherman, who was appointed by DeSantis in 2023.
County court judges who will remain on the bench are: Reginald Corlew, who was appointed to the bench in 2006, and Mary Katherine Mullinax and Santo DiGangi, who were both appointed in 2024.
This story was originally published by , a SA国际传谋 News partner.
