by Bradley Parsons
Staff Writer
A vacancy on the Fourth Judicial Circuit has attracted interest from the bench as well as the Bar.
Four Duval County Court Judges have applied for the vacancy. Judge Tyrie Boyer, Judge Mallory Cooper, Judge James Ruth and Judge Brent Shore will interview for the vacancy Oct. 19 along with attorneys Thomas Beverly, Kevin Blazs, Harold Catlin, Robert Cole, Tatiana Salvador and Robert Wood. Turn to page three to read candidate biographies.
The chairwoman of the Fourth Circuit’s Judicial Nominating Commission, attorney Mary Bland Love, said it’s not unusual for a Circuit Court slot to attract interest from the bench. The jump to Circuit Court gives a judge purview over a broad ranging docket and is generally viewed as a good career move, she said.
“We’ve had at least the same amount of interest in this position (as in a previous County Court vacancy) if not more,” said Love. “I think there will be more emphasis on an applicant’s seasoning, their depth and breadth of experience.
“There are very few fresh-faced people in this group, if any.”
For the second time in three months, the task of culling the best candidates from a deep applicant pool falls to Love, a partner at Gobleman, Love, Gavin, Blazs and Mathis, and committee members Joel Toomey, Peter Sleiman, Angela Cory, Michael Stokes, Cleve Warren, Terrance James, David Wells and William Prichard. The state uses the nominating committees to help fill judicial vacancies during non-election years.
The committee’s job is to find the best candidates and advance its recommendations to Gov. Jeb Bush who makes the final decision. Love expects to send Bush the recommendations by Oct. 25. Bush is expected to fill the vacancy in time for his choice to take the bench on Jan. 2.
Gov. Jeb Bush called the committee in July to action to interview candidates for a vacancy in Duval County’s Courts. Once again the committee will interview the candidates individually during a day-long session in Chief Judge Donald Moran’s chambers in the Duval County Courthouse.
Although the County Court judges have the benefit of experience on the bench on their side — County Court judges are often asked to sit temporarily on the Circuit Court — Love said the private practice and state agency experience of the attorney applicants would also reflect well.
“Everybody has different advantages,” said Love. “I would strongly discourage my committee members from looking at judges as having an advantage. Whoever we select is going to have legal experience that’s broad and deep.”