Title: Advisory Opinion to The Governor Re: Appointment or Election of Judges
Citation: N/A
Docket Number: SC02-1213
State: Florida
Issuer: Florida Supreme Court
Date: July 10, 2002

No. SC02-1213
ADVISORY
OPINION TO THE GOVERNOR
RE: APPOINTMENT
OR ELECTION
OF JUDGES
[July 10, 2002]
The Honorable
Jeb Bush
Governor,
State of Florida
The Capitol
Tallahassee,
Florida 32399
Dear Governor Bush:
We have the honor of responding
to your request for our opinion as to the
interpretation
of a constitutional
provision
affecting your executive powers and
duties.
Your request was made, and our opinion is provided
as authorized
by
article IV, section 1(c) of the Florida Constitution.
Upon receipt of your letter, we
issued an order pernlitting
interested
parties to file briefs in order to be heard on an
expedited basis on the question you presented. 1 The pertinent
parts of your letter
read as follows:
Pursuant to Article IV, Section 1(c), Florida Constitution,
I
hereby request your opinion on a question involving
the interpretation
of my executive powers and duties under Article V, Section
11(b),
Florida Constitution.
The basis for this request is set forth below:
1. On May 30, 2002, this Court entered an order declaring
Judge Florence Foster of the Thirteenth Judicial Circuit involuntarily
retired effective as of midnight May 30, 2002, due to a physical
disability which seriously interferes with the performance
of her
judicial
duties.
[~
Inaui ry Concerning
a Judge. No. 02-176 Re:
Florence Foster, SC02-1 110 (Fla. order filed May 30, 2002).]
2. Judge Foster was serving a term of office which would have
ended on January 7, 2003, had her service not been terminated
by
involuntary
retirement.
The judgeship
held by Judge Foster was
designated
as Group 30 of the Thirteenth
Judicial
Circuit.
3. During the period May 13 through May 16,2002,
three
persons qualified with the Division of Elections
of the Department
of
State as candidates
for election to the judgeship
designated
as Group
30 of the Thirteenth
Judicial Circuit.
The persons quali&ing
as
candidates
were:
Martha Cook, Carlos A. Pazos and Ken Whalen.
4. A question has arisen whether the vacancy created by the
involuntary
retirement
of Judge Foster should be filled by
appointment
pursuant
to the provisions
of Article V, Section
11(b),
Florida Constitution.
5. Article V, Section 11(b) provides:
The governor
shall fill each vacancy on a circuit court or
on a county court, wherein the judges are elected by a
majority vote of the electors, by appointing
for a tem
1. Brlels were Illed
Whalen, the three putative
Thirteenth
Judicial Circuit
by Martha J. Cook, Carlos A. Yazos, and Kenneth C.
candidates
who previously
qualified
to succeed
Court Judge Florence Foster.
-2-
1“
ending on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in
January of the year following the next primary and
general election occurring at least one year after the date
of appointment,
one of not fewer than three persons nor
more than six persons nominated
by the appropriate
judicial
nominating
commission.
An election
shall be
held to fill that judicial
office for the term of the office
beginning
at the end of the appointment
term.
6. Under these constitutional
provisions,
if an appointment
is
made to fill the vacancy created by the involuntary
retirement
of
Judge Foster, the person appointed will serve a term ending on the
first Tuesday after the first Monday in January, 2005, and no election
to fill the position will be conducted this year.
7. If no appointment
is made, and an election to fill the
position
is conducted
this year, the judicial
office left vacant by Judge
Foster’s involuntary
retirement
will not be filled until January, 2003.
8. If an appointment
is made, the judicial
office left vacant by
Judge Foster’s involuntary
retirement
will most likely be filled by
September,
2002.
9. In Pincket v. Harris, 765 So. 2d 284 (Fla. 1st DCA 2000),
the Court held that the vacancy created by the resignation
of a circuit
judge effective June 20, 2000, horn a judgeship
for which an election
was scheduled
that year should nonetheless
be filled by appointment.
In Pincket, the statutory qualifying period was scheduled
for a period
after the vacancy had occurred.
In light of the foregoing circumstances,
I respectfully
request
the opinion of the Justices of the Supreme Court on the following
question:
Should an appointment
be made pursuant
to Article V,
Section
11(b), Florida Constitution,
to fill a judicial
vacancy which occurs after candidates
have qualified
for
election to the judgeship
which has become vacant?
-3-
Letter from Governor
Bush to Chief Justice Wells of May31,
2002, at 1-3.2
ANALYSIS
The issue in this case concerns the proper method of selecting circuit and
county judges in the situation where a vacancy occurs in a circuit or county judge
position during an election period.
article V, section 10(b)(1), (2), and
The conflicting
directives
are contained in
(3)c.,3 Florida Constitution,
relating to the
election and retention
of circuit and county judges,
and section
11(b),4 Florida
Constitution,
relating to the filling of vacancies
occurring
in the circuit and county
courts.
The precise issue we address is whether your constitutional
authority and
obligation
to fill a vacancy pursuant to section 11(b) continues
after the election
2. After receipt of the Governor’s
letter but prior to the release of our
opinion, Justice Anstead succeeded Justice Wells as Chief Justice.
3. The last sentence of section 10(b)(3)c. provides:
“The terms of circuit
judges and judges of county courts shall be for six years.”
4. Article V, section 11(b) provides:
The governor
shall fill each vacancy on a circuit court or on a
county court, wherein the judges are elected by a majority vote of the
electors, by appointing
for a term ending on the first Tuesday after the
first Monday in January of the year following
the next primary and
general election occurring
at least one year after the date of
appointment,
one of not fewer than three persons nor more than six
persons nominated
by the appropriate judicial
nominating
commission.
An election shall be held to fill that judicial
office for
the term of the office beginning
at the end of the appointed
term.
-4-
process begins for the specific election of a circuit or county judge for the term
which will begin in January after the impending
election.
We find that the
election process for the election of circuit and county judges mandated
by section
10(b)(1) and (2) and implemented
by section 105.051(l),
Florida Statutes (2001),
begins when a candidate
or candidates have qualified
for the circuit or county
judgeship.
&
ch. 2002-17,
$23, Laws of Fla.
The constitutional
sections do not provide an express answer to this
question but rather do appear to be in conflict in respect to the election section and
the vacancy section.
The election section expressly
states that “the election of
circuit judges shall be preserved
. . . .“ Art. V, $ 10(b)(l),
Fla. Const.
Article V,
section 10(b)(3) required
a referendum
in the year 2000 to be placed before the
voters in each of Florida’s twenty judicial
circuits and sixty-seven
counties
concerning
the method of selection of circuit and county judgeships.
M
generallv Kainen v. Harris, 769 So. 2d 1029 (Fla. 2000).
A majority of the voters
within the territorial jurisdiction
of each judicial
circuit court and county court
voted to retain the election of those judges instead of replacing
the elective system
with a merit-selection
system for those courts.5 An elected circuit or county judge
5. According
to the Secretary of State’s records regarding
this
constitutionally
mandated
referendum
vote in the year 2000, in the Thirteenth
Judicial Circuit,
100,649 persons voted for the merit-selection
system and 225,140
-5-
has a six-year term of office.
&
art. V, $ 10(b)(3)c., Fla. Const.
In contrast, the
vacancy section provides that the “governor shall fill each vacancy on a circuit
court or on a county court.”
Art. V, $ 11(b), Fla. Const.
The term of a judge so
appointed is not for six years, as with elected judges, but rather a limited term
which concludes
“on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in January of the year
following the next primary and general election occurring
at least one year after
the date of the appointment.”
~
In the situation presented
by your
qualified during the statutory quali~ing
lefter, there are three candidates
who
period for election to the circuit judge
position which at that time was held by Judge Foster.G The circuit judge position
in consideration
here became vacant on May 31, 2002, by our approval of the
uncontested
involuntary
retirement
of the incumbent
circuit judge, who had not
qualified for reelection.
&
Inaui”
rv Concerning
a Judge. No. 02-176 Re: Florence
Foster, SC02-1110
(Fla. order filed May 30, 2002).
You advised that in accord
with judicial
nominating
commission
procedures,
an appointment
to fill the
persons voted for the elective system.
6. The Legislature
in the most recent session changed the quali~ing
period
for judicial
office, which historically
had occurred during mid-July.
&
ch. 2002-
17, $23, Laws of Fla. The period of quali&ing
in the instant case was from noon
on May 13, 2002 until noon on May 17, 2002.
-6-
vacancy occurring
on May 31 would likely be able to be
of course, possible
that by the time you are able to make
made in September.
It is,
an appointment
that one
of the candidates
will have received a majority of votes in the judicial
election
scheduled to be held on September
10, 2002.7 If you made an appointment
at that
time, the election would be a nullity,
Moreover,
the person appointed,
even if it
was the person who was selected by majority vote, would then only be entitled to a
term ending in
that an elected
January 2005, as opposed to a six-year term ending in January 2009
circuit judge would haves
In view of this conflict between
that the conflict must be resolved by a
sections of the constitution,
we conclude
construction
which gives effect to the clear
will of the voters that circuit and county judges be selected by election.
We
therefore answer your question by stating that it is our opinion that upon the
7. &
ch. 2001-40,
$46, at 155, Laws of Fla.; $105.05
l(l),
Fla. Stat.
(2001).
If no candidate
receives a majority of the votes cast on September
10,
2002, the two candidates
who receive the most votes are to be on the ballot in
November.
&
$ 105.051(l),
Fla. Stat. (2001).
8. There are other scenarios in which an election would be a nullity if your
constitutional
authority
and obligation
to fill vacancies
by appointment
continued
after candidates
have qualified
for circuit or county court positions.
One such
instance is where an incumbent judge runs for reelection
but the incumbent
judge’s opponent wins the election, and then the incumbent
judge resigns, dies, or
is removed horn office prior the commencement
of the elected term of office.
If
the governor had the authority and obligation
to fill that vacancy by appointment
the election would be a nullity.
-7-
qualification
of a candidate
or candidates
for a circuit or county judgeship
during
the statutory qualification
period, the election method of selection required by
section 10(b)( 1) and (2) takes precedence
over and forecloses
the Governor’s
constitutional
authority
and obligation pursuant to section
11(b) to fill a vacancy
that occurs during the balance of the incumbent judge’s
term of office.9 Once the
election process begins by candidates
quali&ing
for the judge position,
the
election method is the method by which the judicial
position
is to be filled.
Our
opinion, however, is limited to the circumstances
described
in your letter, i.e.,
where a candidate
or candidates
have already qualified
during the statutory
qualifications
period, one of whom will fill the position
by election.
We understand
and are aware that the length of the vacancy in this case will
work a hardship on the workload in the Thirteenth
Judicial
Circuit because the
judgeship
vacated by Judge Foster will not be filled until January 2003.
We are
also aware of the policy concerns previously
raised by our discussion
of the need
to avoid extended judicial
vacancies.
See. e.Q.,In re Advisow
Ouinion to the
9. We have considered
the case from the First District Court of Appeal to
which you refened
in your letter.
&
Pincket v. Harris, 765 So. 2d 284 (Fla. 1st
DCA 2000).
We find the facts of that case to be distinguishable
from the facts set
forth in your letter on the basis that in Pincket no person had qualified
for the
election at the time the vacancy occurred because the qualification
period had not
yet occurred.
See id. at 285; Q 105.031(l),
Fla. Stat. (2000).
-8-
I .
Governor (Judicial Vacancies),
600 So. 2d 460,462
(Fla. 1992).
In light of this
hardship, the Chief Justice of this Court will endeavor to cover this deficiency
with the use of senior judges when requested
to do so by the Chief Judge of the
Thirteenth
Judicial Circuit.
@
art. V, Q2(b), Fla. Const.
Chief Justice Anstead and Justice Shaw concur only in the result reached by
the majority.
Justice Lewis does not join in the opinion of the majority.
Rather, it
is the opinion of Justice Lewis that the majority rewrites
the Florida Constitution.
Justice Lewis finds nothing in the Florida Constitution
that limits the appointment
powers with reference
to the phrase coined by the majority as when “the election
process begins.”
Respectfully,
-9-
I #
Original Proceeding
- Advisory Opinion to the Governor
The Honorable
Jeb Bush, Governor, State of Florida,
Tallahassee,
Florida,
Petitioner
Steven L. Brannock
of Holland & Knight LLP, Tampa, Florida;
and Karol K.
Williams of Karol K. Williams,
P.A., Tampa, Florida,
for Interested
Party,
Martha J. Cook, Candidate
for Circuit Court Judge
Group 30/1 3th Judicial Circuit,
Carlos A. Pazos, pro se, of the Law Offices of Carlos A. Pazos, P.A., Tampa,
Florida,
for Interested
Party, as a Candidate for Circuit Court Judge Group 30/13th
Judicial Circuit
Kenneth C. Whalen, pro se, Tampa, Florida,
for Interested
Party, as a Candidate for Circuit Court Judge Group 30/13th
Judicial Circuit
-1o-