Joe Zarzaur Appointed to First Circuit Judicial Nominating Commission
Under the current setup for the nine-member judicial nominating commissions, members serve staggered terms with the governor directly appointing five members and appointing the four other members from a list of Bar-approved nominees. This year, the Bar is nominating for two vacancies, and so had to provide the governor with six names for each JNC.
The First Circuit in Florida is located in the Panhandle and includes Escambia, Santa Rosa, Okaloosa and Walton Counties. Currently the First Circuit of Florida has 24 Circuit Judges and 11 County Court Judges.
Mr. Zarzaur is one of six lawyers appointed last week by Governor Christ to serve as members of the First Circuit JNC:
• First Circuit JNC: Steven J. Baker, Pensacola, Michael John Griffith, Pensacola, Dana C. Matthews, Santa Rosa Beach, C. Jeffrey McInnis, Ft. Walton Beach, Stephen S. Poche, Niceville, and Joseph A. Zarzaur, Jr., Pensacola Beach.
The Florida Judicial Nominating Commissions are 26 separately constituted bodies responsible for providing the governor of Florida with a list of possible appointments to the various state courts (the Florida Supreme Court, the five Florida District Courts of Appeal, and the twenty Florida Circuit Courts).[1] These commissions are required under Article V of the Florida Constitution.
The Constitution specifies that "[w]henever a vacancy occurs in a judicial office to which election for retention applies, the governor shall fill the vacancy by appointing... one of not fewer than three persons nor more than six persons nominated by the appropriate judicial nominating Commission".[2] This provision applies to Florida Supreme Court justices and Florida District Court judges. The Constitution makes a similar provision for Florida Circuit Court judges, except that such positions are normally filled in elections, and the governor may only step in where there is a vacancy well before the next election.[3] further provides that "[t]here shall be a separate judicial nominating Commission as provided by general law for the supreme court, each district court of appeal, and each judicial circuit for all trial courts within the circuit",[4] This section requires that the Commissions have uniform rules of procedure,[4] and that their proceedings and records must be open to the public.[4]
Mr. Zarzaur’s term is for a period of four years.
