With the recent retirement of Circuit Judge Don Lester, there is a vacancy on the 4th Judicial Circuit Court.
Gov. Ron DeSantis is directing the 4th Circuit Judicial Nominating Commission to provide him with qualified nominees to succeed Lester.
Complete unredacted and redacted applications for the appointment must be received before 5 p.m. Oct. 13, 2023, via e-mail to: [email protected].
Personal information not subject to public disclosure should be redacted on a separate copy of the application as permitted by Section 119.071 of the Florida Statutes.
The commission prefers that applicants submit two PDF documents containing all application materials, attachments and photographs.
The documents should be styled “Lastname.Firstname.RedactedApplication.pdf” and “Lastname.Firstname.UnredactedApplication.pdf.”
Applications may be downloaded from The Florida Bar’s website at www.floridabar.org or the Office of the Governor at www.flgov.com.
Interviews will be conducted Oct. 26 in Chief Judge Lance Day’s chambers at the Duval County Courthouse.
Applicants must meet the qualifications for judges found in Article V, Section 8 of the Florida Constitution.
Applications must include current contact information, including direct phone numbers, email addresses for judges, co-counsel, opposing counsel and references to facilitate the background investigation the commission will conduct.
Proceedings of the commission are open to the public except for deliberations. Applicants, therefore, should not expect their application to be kept confidential.
If an applicant is nominated, all materials attached to the original application will be submitted to the governor’s office.
Applicants with questions may contact commission Chair Helen Peacock Roberson at 904-955-2907.
Applicants shall not initiate contact with the commissioners until the nominees are submitted unless questions pertain to the application process only.