The 7th Circuit Judicial Nominating Commission is extending the deadline to 5 p.m. Oct. 6 to apply for two new vacancies on the circuit bench funded by the state Legislature.
The 7th Circuit comprises Flagler, Putnam, St. Johns and Volusia counties.
Interviews for all applicants will be scheduled Oct. 17 at the Richard O. Watson Judicial Center, Courtroom Annex at 4010 Lewis Speedway in St. Augustine.
Applicants must meet the qualifications for circuit court judges as described in Article V, Section 8 of the Florida Constitution.
Applications must be delivered by email to Travis Mydock, commission chair, at [email protected]. Incomplete or late applications will not be considered.
The current version of the application, “Judicial Appointment Application 2025,” is available at tinyurl.com/yc7yrv4c.
Applicants must deliver by email a PDF version of the complete 2025 application with all attachments; and a PDF redacted version of the complete 2025 application with all attachments, excluding all exempt information under Chapter 119, Florida Statutes or other applicable law.
Each PDF file should be titled so that the applicant’s full name and “original” or “redacted” is readily apparent before opening the attachment. The application and all attachments should be combined into a single PDF file.
All proceedings of the commission are open to the public, except for deliberations. Applicants should expect that their application will not remain confidential.
Members of the judiciary, Bar and public are encouraged to contact the commission regarding any applicant for judicial appointment. All written correspondence regarding an applicant should be sent by email to [email protected].
Seven applications were received by the original Sept. 15 deadline.
• Christopher DelBene is a shareholder at Kubicki Draper in Jacksonville where he practices insurance defense and real estate law.
A 2011 graduate of Florida Coastal School of Law, he was admitted to The Florida Bar in 2012.
• Hugh Daniel McKillop is a partner in the McKillop Law Firm in Jacksonville.
A 2007 graduate of the University of Florida Levin College of Law, he was admitted to The Florida Bar in 2008.
While in law school, McKillop was a captain in the Florida Air National Guard 290 Joint Communication Support Squadron and was deployed to Iraq in 2005.
• Katherine Hurst Miller is a Volusia County judge.
She finished in the top 25% of her class at Stetson University College of Law and was admitted to The Florida Bar in 2006.
Miller was in private practice and board certified in condominium and planned development law before she was appointed to the bench in 2003 and began her term in January 2024.
• Kaitlyn Mairs Payne is an associate attorney with The Law Office of Shorstein and Lee in St. Augustine.
She graduated from Florida Coastal School of Law and was admitted to The Florida Bar in 2012. Payne began her legal career as a tax attorney, then became an assistant state attorney in the 7th Circuit in 2013.
Payne received the President’s Award for Leadership and was the 2009 commencement speaker at Flagler College.
• Ann Phillips is a professor and associate department chair of Securities & International Affairs at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, where she has worked since 2015.
She graduated from the University of Florida Levin College of Law in 1992 and was admitted to The Florida Bar in 1993.
Phillips was an assistant attorney general in Florida from February 1994 to May 2015.
• Jeanne Stratis is an assistant state attorney in the 7th Judicial Circuit.
She received a J.D. from Florida Coastal School of Law and was admitted to The Florida Bar in 2001.
Stratis practices in the Career Criminal Unit in Deland. She is responsible for prosecuting prison release reoffenders, sex crimes and traffic and other homicides.
• Cyrus Zomorodian is an assistant state attorney in the 4th Judicial Circuit and chief of the Circuit Court Division.
He graduated from Cumberland School of Law at Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama, and was admitted to the Florida Bar in 2001.
Before joining the 4th Circuit State Attorney’s Office, Zomorodian was a special assistant U.S. Attorney in the Middle District of Florida and an adjunct professor at Florida Coastal School of Law.