SANTA ROSA COUNTY JUDICIAL CANDIDATES WHITTLED TO SIX FOR DESANTIS

A pool of eight attorneys vying for a vacant judge's seat in Santa Rosa County has been narrowed down to six.

Now, Gov. Ron DeSantis will decide which of the candidates to appoint to the position.

Throughout the afternoon June 1, a Judicial Nominating Commission (JNC) held interviews with all eight candidates who applied for the open Santa Rosa County judicial spot. After private deliberations, the JNC sent the following names to the governor for potential appointment:

• Andrew Abreu, current shareholder and attorney for Kubicki Draper
• Casey Etheridge, current assistant public defender for the First Judicial Circuit
• Stephen Johnson, current assistant public defender for the First Judicial Circuit
• Patrick King, current assistant state attorney in the First Judicial Circuit
• Molly Snyder, current conflict counsel in the First Region Office of Criminal Conflict
• Jeffrey Sumey, current assistant public defender in the First Judicial Circuit

DeSantis will select one of the six finalists to assume the position of county judge, a position left vacant by the advancement of current Circuit Judge Matt Gordon. Gordon.

Gordon resigned the Santa Rosa judgeship after DeSantis appointed him as one of the replacements following the resignation of former Circuit Judges Linda Nobles and Jan Shackelford from the bench.

How are circuit judges selected in Florida?

According to The Florida Bar, circuit court and county court judges normally are elected in nonpartisan races for six-year terms.

"If a circumstance arises where there is a mid-term vacancy, the governor fills the position by appointment, through a merit selection process, after receiving recommendations from a judicial nominating commission," The Florida Bar website says. "To retain their seats at the end of their terms, judges must be reelected. Judges who were appointed through vacancies must sit for election at the end of the remainder of those terms."

What are judges paid in Florida?

According to an appropriations bill signed into law in 2025, the salaries of Florida judges in fiscal year 2025-26 are:

• County judges: $189,755
• Circuit judges: $200,836
• District Court of Appeal judges: $223,318
• State Supreme Court justices: $264,136