Florida
Florida Supreme Court By The Numbers:
Justice
Former prosecutor
Former civil rights lawyer
Both a former prosecutor & public defender
- 7 total seats
- 0 current vacancies
- 3 prosecutors
- 1 public defender
- 1 Justice is both a former prosecutor & public defender
- 0 Justices have other indigent defense experience
- 1 civil rights lawyer
How Members of the Florida Supreme Court are Selected:
Appointment, Retention Election
The governor appoints a judge from a shortlist of three to six candidates provided by a judicial nominating commission. The governor also appoints the nine members of the commission to four-year terms. Appointed judges serve a term of one year and then must stand for a yes-no retention election during the next general election. After retention, a judge’s term is six years. Judges must retire at age 75, though a judge turning 75 with less than half of their term remaining may complete that term.
Selection method sources:
Ballotpedia, Judicial Election Methods By State; Brennan Center for Justice, Judicial Selection: An Interactive Map