A list of six names was sent to Gov. Rick Scott for consideration to fill a judicial opening in Duval County Court.
The Fourth Circuit Judicial Nominating Commission met Friday to interview 12 candidates, after 10 candidates had been interviewed Aug. 29 for an opening in the Circuit Court.
Six names were chosen from the pool of 22 candidates to be sent to Scott for consideration.
They are: Suzanne Bass of the Law Offices of Suzanne Bass; Assistant Public Defender for the Eighth Circuit Alan Chipperfield; Fourth Circuit Magistrate Joanna Houser; Assistant State Attorney Mose Floyd; Scott Mitchell of Scott Mitchell, P.A.; and Barry Newman of Spohrer & Dodd.
Chipperfield was selected for consideration for both openings.
The commission included Chairman Wayne Alford of the Alford Law Group, Vice Chairman Richard Alexander of the Alexander Law Practice, Chip Bachara of the Bachara Construction Law Group, Dexter Van Davis of the Davis Law Group, Kyle Gavin of Liles Gavin, Deno Hicks of Southern Strategy Group, Robert O’Quinn of Cole, Scott & Kissane and William Prichard of Moseley Prichard.
Its newest member, Melissa Nelson of McGuireWoods, was unable to attend because of a prior commitment made before she was appointed Aug. 19.
The appointment of Nelson also reduced the number of non-lawyers on the commission to one, Hicks. Alexander didn’t see it as a drastic change.
“Greg Strickland was a police officer and worked at the Public Defender’s Office, so he knew the legal community. It wasn’t a drastic change when the governor appointed a lawyer to replace him,” said Alexander.
Before Nelson’s appointment, Gavin was the newest member of the commission. He discussed his experiences with recommending candidates for the bench.
“As a trial lawyer it is very important to me that we have good judges in the Circuit,” said Gavin. “The Fourth Circuit has good judges and we want to keep it that way. So we have the responsibility to send up good candidates.
“It has been rewarding, because we have contributed to that,” said Gavin.
The governor has until the end of October to decide on a replacement for the Circuit opening and the second week in November for the County opening.
The County Court opening was created when Scott appointed Judge Kevin Blazs to the circuit bench, replacing the late Judge Jefferson Morrow. The Circuit opening was created by the upcoming Dec. 31 retirement of Circuit Judge Haldane Taylor.
The official date for interviews for Circuit Judge Fred Tygart’s seat will be set after the application deadline of Sept. 20.
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