JUDICIAL RETENTION AND ELECTION

Judicial Retention

Florida Supreme Court justices and District Court of Appeals judges are appointed by the Governor. Click HERE for information about the types of cases that come before the Supreme Court and the District Courts of Appeal.

Each Supreme Court justice and District Court of Appeal judge serves a term of six years. Every six years they are required to run unopposed and are seeking to be “re-elected” or retained. The voter designates yes or no to keep the justice or judge on the bench.  If the majority of the votes are to retain the justice/judge, then the justice/judge remains in office. If a majority of voters vote no on retention, then the justice/judge does not stay in office and the Governor appoints a replacement. 

All Pinellas voters may vote on retention of Supreme Court justices and 2nd District Court of Appeal judges with terms expiring in 2024. 

For each justice and judge up for retention in 2024, our Voter Guide identifies the governor who appointed the justice or judge and any Federalist Society affiliation.

For Justices Francis and Sasso, the two Supreme Court justices up for retention, our Voter Guide indicates that each voted to uphold Florida's 15-week abortion band. Click HERE for the Supreme Court's decision in that case. Justices Francis and Sasso also dissented from the Supreme Court's advisory opinion approving Amendment 4 (providing a state constitutional right to abortion) for placement on the November ballot. Clck HERE for that Supreme Court advisory opinion.

Circuit Judge, Sixth Circuit

Circuit Judges hear cases involving criminal felonies, family law, civil cases seeking relief of $50,000 or greater, probate, guardianship and mental health, juvenile dependency (child abuse and neglect), delinquency and appeals for some administrative and noncriminal infractions.

Group numbers are not assigned based on geography. All Pinellas voters vote in the Group 14 judicial race.

For the Circuit Judge election, Voter Action Pinellas lists the candidate most closely aligned with our values, based solely on publicly available information about each candidates' affiliation with political parties and other partisan groups.

Candidate party affiliation is not listed on the ballot for Circuit Judge. We list party affiliation for your information.

Factors to Consider in Judicial Retention and Judicial Races

Judicial offices are different from other offices. Judges are not elected to implement policy. They are required to be impartial – to apply the facts of each case to existing law, regardless of their personal policy beliefs. But because judges have discretion in cases where existing law doesn’t clearly dictate the outcome of a case, the judge’s political leanings may influence their decision making.

Other factors you may consider include:

• Prior legal experience
• Prior experience as a judge and rulings written as the majority or dissenting opinion. 
• Prior experience as a prosecutor or defense attorney or other government work as a litigator
• Opinions of trusted lawyers on the candidates' legal knowledge, experience, and writing and analytical skills

Here are some resources for evaluating judges:

Know Your Court provides a list of types of cases each judge handles.

Guide for Florida Voters is the Florida Bar’s Judicial and Merit Retention Elections FAQ.

American Constitution Society, a progressive legal organization.

American Judicature Society

Opinions of the 2nd District Court of Appeals: https://2District Court of Appeal.flcourts.gov/

Opinions of the Florida Supreme Court: https://supremecourt.flcourts.gov/ 

For Supreme Court Judicial Retentions, take this quiz. Choose your Judge