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Florida Supreme Court Judicial Nominating Commission
| Judicial nominating commissions |
|---|
 |
| Individual nominating committees |
| Select a committee in the dropdown below and click "Submit" to view information about that committee. |
| Methods of judicial selection |
| Partisan elections |
| Nonpartisan elections |
| Michigan method |
| Retention elections |
| Assisted appointment |
| Bar-controlled commission |
| Governor-controlled commission |
| Hybrid commission |
| Legislative elections |
| Gubernatorial appointment |
The Florida Supreme Court Judicial Nominating Commission, is an independent state commission in Florida established by state statute that plays a role in the state's judicial selection process. The governor appoints all nine of the commission's members.[1]
Florida uses the assisted appointment method of judicial selection for its state courts. Using this method, the governor appoints state judges from a list of names submitted by the commission. This selection method is used for all appointments for the supreme court and courts of appeal while being used only for vacancies at the circuit and county court level.
The commission is a governor-controlled commission, which means that there is a majority of members chosen by the governor. As of September 12, 2025, 11 states used this type of commission. To learn more about controlling majorities in judicial selection commissions, click here.
Members
Last updated: April 2025
The Florida Supreme Court Judicial Nominating Commission has nine members. All nine are appointed by the Governor of Florida. Four of the members are appointed from lists of nominees provided by the Board of Governors of the Florida Bar. The other five members are directly appointed by the governor.[1][2]
| Members of the Florida Supreme Court Judicial Nominating Commission, April 2025 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Name | Appointee type | Term-end date |
| Jeanne T. Tate | Bar nominee | July 1, 2023 |
| Vacant | Direct appointment | July 1, 2023 |
| Fred E. Karlinsky | Direct appointment | July 1, 2026 |
| Charbel Barakat | Bar nominee | July 1, 2026 |
| Daniel Nordby | Bar nominee | July 1, 2026 |
| Jesse Panuccio | Direct appointment | July 1, 2027 |
| Harout Samra | Direct appointment | July 1, 2028 |
| Heather Stearns | Direct appointment | July 1, 2028 |
| Timothy Cerio | Bar nominee | July 1, 2028 |
Process
On its website, the commission lays out the following steps for filing a judicial vacancy:[3]
- Upon notification of a vacancy, the governor orders the commission to convene.
- The commission solicits applications for the vacancy from interested individuals.
- The commission interviews eligible applicants.
- The commission selects a list of eligible applicants to submit to the governor for consideration.
- The governor selects a judge to nominate from the list provided by the commission.
The full process and rules of procedure can be found in the commissioner training manual.
Duties
As of April 2025, the Florida Supreme Court Judicial Nominating Commission website did not list specific duties for members of the commission.
Control of judicial selection commissions
Assisted appointment is a method of judicial selection in which a nominating commission reviews the qualifications of judicial candidates and submits a list of names to the governor, who appoints a judge from the list.[4]
At the state supreme court level, this method is further divided into the following three types, based on the makeup of the judicial nominating commissions. Those types are:
- Governor-controlled commission - The governor is either responsible for appointing a majority of the members of the nominating commission or may decline to appoint a candidate from a list provided by the nominating commission.
- Bar-controlled commission - Members of the state Bar Association are responsible for electing a majority of the members of the nominating commission.
- Hybrid - There is no majority of members chosen by either the governor or the state Bar Association. The membership of these commissions is determined by different rules in each state.
Twenty-three courts in 22 states used assisted appointment to select state supreme court justices as of June 2021.[5][6] Florida used a governor-controlled commission. The table below shows the number of courts using each variation of assisted appointment at the state supreme court level.
| Assisted appointment methods in state supreme courts | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Method | Courts (of 23) | ||
| Governor-controlled majority | 10 | ||
| Bar-controlled majority | 1 | ||
| Hybrid | 12 | ||
The map below highlights the states that use each of the three types of assisted appointment.
About judicial selection
Each state has a unique set of guidelines governing how they select judges at the state and local level. These methods of selection are:
Election
- Partisan election: Judges are elected by the people, and candidates are listed on the ballot alongside a label designating political party affiliation.
- Nonpartisan election: Judges are elected by the people, and candidates are listed on the ballot without a label designating party affiliation.
- Michigan method: State supreme court justices are selected through nonpartisan elections preceded by either partisan primaries or conventions.
- Retention election: A periodic process whereby voters are asked whether an incumbent judge should remain in office for another term. Judges are not selected for initial terms in office using this election method.
Assisted appointment
- Assisted appointment, also known as merit selection or the Missouri Plan: A nominating commission reviews the qualifications of judicial candidates and submits a list of names to the governor, who appoints a judge from the list.[4] At the state supreme court level, this method is further divided into the following three types:
- Bar-controlled commission: Members of the state Bar Association are responsible for electing a majority of the judicial nominating commission that sends the governor a list of nominees that they must choose from.
- Governor-controlled commission: The governor is responsible for appointing a majority of the judicial nominating commission that sends the governor a list of nominees they must choose from.
- Hybrid commission: The judicial nominating commission has no majority of members chosen by either the governor or the state bar association. These commissions determine membership in a variety of ways, but no institution or organization has a clear majority control.
Direct appointment
- Court appointment: Judges are selected by judges in the state judiciary.
- Gubernatorial appointment: Judges are appointed by the governor. In some cases, approval from the legislative body is required.
- Legislative election: Judges are selected by the state legislature.
- Municipal government selection: Judges are selected by the governing body of their municipality.
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 The Florida Bar, "Judicial Nominating Commissions," accessed April 11, 2025
- ↑ Governor of Florida, "JNC Member List," accessed April 11, 2025
- ↑ Executive Office of the Governor, "Judicial," accessed April 11, 2025
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 American Bar Association, "Judicial Selection: The Process of Choosing Judges," June 2008 Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; name "ambaroverview" defined multiple times with different content - ↑ As of June 2021, Oklahoma had two state supreme courts: one for civil matters and one for criminal matters.
- ↑ North Dakota uses this method only for vacancies.
Federal courts:
Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals • U.S. District Court: Middle District of Florida, Northern District of Florida, Southern District of Florida • U.S. Bankruptcy Court: Middle District of Florida, Northern District of Florida, Southern District of Florida
State courts:
Florida Supreme Court • Florida District Courts of Appeal • Florida Circuit Court • Florida County Court
State resources:
Courts in Florida • Florida judicial elections • Judicial selection in Florida