HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY HAS A JUDICIAL OPENING

Gov. Ron DeSantis has convened the 13th Circuit Judicial Nominating Commission to select and submit the names of qualified candidates to fill one Hillsborough County court vacancy created by the appointment of Judge Leslie Schultz-Kin to the circuit bench.

Judicial applications for these vacancies must be received before 5 p.m. on Friday, June 19, c/o Kim Donmoyer, Legal Assistant to Vice Chair Adam Griffin 13th Circuit JNC at [email protected].

Applicants must have been a member of The Florida Bar for the preceding five years and must be a registered voter. The individual appointed must reside in the 13th Judicial Circuit at the time that he or she is appointed.

The “Judicial Appointment Application 2025” may be downloaded from the Office of the Governor (www.flgov.com/eog/info/judicial/appications). Be sure to download and use the current application. Applicants must submit:

● One digital (electronic) signed copy of the application (as a .PDF).

● One digital (electronic) signed copy of the application (as a .PDF) with personal information not subject to public disclosure redacted as permitted by Section 119.071, Florida Statutes, and suitable for production in response to public records requests.

All questions in the application must be fully and completely answered. The submitted application must include the required financial disclosures, a writing sample, and a recent photograph. Applications must also include current contact information, including email addresses, for all judges, co-counsel, opposing counsel, and references to facilitate the background investigation that members of the Commission will conduct. Applications and redacted applications must be in .PDF form. The two .PDF files should be named in a “last name.first name” format. For example: Bob Smith should submit two file names: (1) Smith.Bob.pdf and (2) Smith.Bob-REDACTED.pdf. No paper applications will be accepted.

Interviews are anticipated to take place the week of July 13 at Shumaker, Bank of America Plaza, 101 E. Kennedy Blvd, Suite 2800, Tampa 33602. Applicants selected to be interviewed will be contacted to confirm the time of the interviews. A complete interview schedule will be published in advance of the interviews. The public may attend the interviews and a remote appearance option will be made available for the public to attend the interviews.

All proceedings of the JNC open to the public except for deliberations. Accordingly, applicants should not expect their applications to be kept confidential. If an applicant is nominated, all materials attached to the original application will be submitted to the governor.

Questions about the application or interview process should be directed to Chair Candace Garcia Rich or Vice Chair Adam Griffin.

The members of the JNC are:

Candace Rich, Chair [email protected], 813-274-6000

Adam Griffin, Vice Chair, [email protected], 813-857-0008

Maximillian Amster, [email protected], 813-575-2266

Andrew J. Mayts, Jr., [email protected], 813-227-2248

Matthew Hall, [email protected], 813-227-8479

Charles Reynolds, [email protected], 954-361-6984

Jennie Granahan Tarr, [email protected], 813-956-6760

Samual Salario, [email protected], 813-765-5113

Ella C. Batey, [email protected], 813-204-6477

Members of the bench, the Bar, and the public are urged to contact the members of the Commission concerning applicants for judicial positions.