Challenge filed to Scott naming Palm Beach judge

BY THE NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA

In the latest in a series of disputes about electing judges across the state, a potential candidate is challenging the authority of Gov. Rick Scott to appoint a Palm Beach County judge. The challenge, filed late Monday in the Florida Supreme Court by attorney Gregg Lerman, stems from a decision by County Judge Laura Johnson to run this year for a circuit-court judgeship. Johnson submitted a letter April 18 to the Palm Beach County supervisor of elections saying she would resign from her current post on the date of taking office as a circuit judge or on the date that her successor as a county judge would take office. As a result, the supervisor of elections said the county judge post would be up for election this year. But in a May 2 letter, Secretary of State Ken Detzner told Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections Susan Bucher that the Florida Constitution requires the county judge seat to be filled by appointment. In part, the letter pointed to the scheduled January 2021 end of Johnson's term on the county court and to a requirement that the governor fill vacancies in office. But in the challenge filed late Monday, Lerman, a potential candidate to replace Johnson on the county bench, seeks a ruling by the Supreme Court about the authority of Scott to fill the position through appointment, rather than holding an election. "Multiple individuals have both legally and properly qualified for Group 11 (the county judge seat), in cadence with the public's right to run for that office,'' the petition said. "The public's right to choose who should fill the seat in Group 11 through an election should not be abridged by the governor's attempt to fill the same position through an appointment." The case came after three petitions were filed last week in the Supreme Court challenging Scott's authority to fill circuit-court positions, though the circumstances in those cases differed from the Palm Beach County case.