tHestars ( anDcourts ) realign : FloriDalauncHessixtHDistrictcourtoFappeal appellate Practice Section
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Circuits ( with the Fourth Judicial Circuit moving to the Fifth district ).
Second district : New Headquarters in Pinellas County , 15 judges ( down from 16 ), drawn from and covering the Sixth , Twelfth , and Thirteenth Judicial Circuits ( with the Twentieth Judicial Circuit and Judge John K . Stargel moving to the Sixth district ).
Third and fourth districts : No change . fifth district : Headquarters remain in daytona Beach , and composed of the Fourth , Fifth , Seventh , and Eighteenth Judicial Circuits . The New Fifth district now has 12 judgeships , four of whom are newly appointed . The new judges are Hon . Adrian Soud , Hon . John MacIver , Hon . Joseph Boatwright II , and Hon . Paige Kilbane . Five judges were reassigned to the new Sixth district , and two judges ( Hon . Scott Makar and Hon . Harvey L . Jay III ) have transferred in from the former First district .
Sixth district : Headquarters in Lakeland , Polk County , and composed of the Ninth , Tenth , and Twentieth Judicial Circuits . The Sixth district has 9 judgeships , which have been filled by Judge John K . Stargel ( formerly of the Second district ), Judges Jay P . Cohen , Meredith L . Sasso , dan Traver , Mary Alice Nardella , and Carrie Ann Wozniak ( formerly of the Fifth district ) and three newly appointed judges . 4 The new judges are Hon . Jared Smith , Hon . Joshua Mize , and Hon . Keith White .
This realignment became law on June 2 , 2022 , leaving just under six months to implement . To make it happen , the Florida Supreme Court created the Workgroup on the Implementation of an Additional district Court of Appeal . 5 Judge Meredith Sasso was tapped to lead the work group as interim chief judge . And a new Sixth Judicial Nominating Commission convened for the first time in September , sending the governor a list of 18 candidates for the three judgeships .
The Sixth quickly hired key roles . The marshal of the Court is Charles R . Crawford , who previously served as Marshal of the Fifth district . Sarah Corbett , a Second district staff member since 2003 , is now the Sixth district ’ s director of central staff . And the Clerk , Stacy Pectol , served as Clerk of the Arkansas Supreme Court before heading to Lakeland .
The legislature went out of its way to state that the district Courts should “ provide opportunities for remote workplaces for judges and staff who may not live near the headquarters of the district .” 6 For now , the Sixth district has taken over the former Second district ’ s building and equipment in Lakeland , and the Second is operating solely out of the Tampa offices at Stetson while their respective new courthouses are being built . The Clerks of the Second and Sixth have both asked that parties take note of their respective new addresses .
The sixth will be hitting the ground running from day one . As of 12:01 a . m . on January 1 , 2023 , the district Courts of Appeal
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Left : Judge Silberman with Judge Khouzam at the new bernie McCabe Courthouse groundbreaking .
Right : Judges Labrit , Rothstein-Youakim and Khouzam at the new Courthouse groundbreaking .
Photos courtesy of Hon . Silberman
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