Deadline is June 18 for Judicial Candidate Voluntary Self-Disclosure Statements
The qualifying period for circuit and county judicial candidates ended May 4. Now, those candidates for Florida’s trial courts face another important deadline, to submit The Florida Bar Judicial Candidate Voluntary Self-Disclosure Statement, which is a key part of The Florida Bar’s voter-education efforts.
Letters explaining the form were sent out by post and email to candidates soon after the qualifying period ended. The forms must be returned by June 18, and they will be made available to the public on the Bar’s website from July 9 through the general election in November.
The forms are only for candidates in contested races for county and circuit judgeships. They are not for appellate judges or justices who are standing for merit retention.
Many of the questions on the form are similar to those asked of lawyers when they apply to a judicial nominating commission to be nominated for a mid-term trial court vacancy.
Among subjects covered by the form are:
• Personal, professional, and education history.
• Areas in which the candidate is certified.
• Experience in trials, mediations, arbitrations, or administrative proceedings.
• Pro bono and public service work.
• Any disciplinary history as a lawyer or judge.
• Health, criminal record, and military service record.
The form also offers a short essay question, asking the candidate: “In 100 words or less, without discussing any particular issue that may come before you as a judge, explain why you believe you would be a good judge.”
Candidates should download the form from the email to their computers, fill it out, and submit it to the Bar. Once the candidates’ forms are posted, the Bar will publicize their availability.
The Bar began the program in 2010, as voters and the media struggled to find reliable information about judicial candidates. The Bar was concerned that special-interest “questionnaires” were being used in an effort to get judicial candidates to reveal how they might rule on certain political or social issues. The program now is overseen by the Bar’s Constitutional Judiciary Committee.
The Bar’s Judicial Candidate Voluntary Self-Disclosure Statement gives voters a vital source of information and helps candidates refuse questionnaires from special-interest groups, letting them point instead to the information provided on the Bar’s website.
Contested trial court races will be on the August 28 primary ballot. In races with three or more candidates and in which one candidate does not get a majority, the two top vote-getters will have a runoff on the November 6 general election ballot.
