• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
MENUMENU
MENUMENU
  • Home
  • About
    • Contact Us
    • FlaglerLive Board of Directors
    • Comment Policy
    • Mission Statement
    • Our Values
    • Privacy Policy
  • Live Calendar
  • Submit Obituary
  • Submit an Event
  • Support FlaglerLive
  • Advertise on FlaglerLive (386) 503-3808
  • Search Results

FlaglerLive

No Bull, no Fluff, No Smudges

MENUMENU
  • Flagler
    • Flagler County Commission
    • Beverly Beach
    • Economic Development Council
    • Flagler History
    • Mondex/Daytona North
    • The Hammock
    • Tourist Development Council
  • Palm Coast
    • Palm Coast City Council
    • Palm Coast Crime
  • Bunnell
    • Bunnell City Commission
    • Bunnell Crime
  • Flagler Beach
    • Flagler Beach City Commission
    • Flagler Beach Crime
  • Cops/Courts
    • Circuit & County Court
    • Florida Supreme Court
    • Federal Courts
    • Flagler 911
    • Fire House
    • Flagler County Sheriff
    • Flagler Jail Bookings
    • Traffic Accidents
  • Rights & Liberties
    • Fourth Amendment
    • First Amendment
    • Privacy
    • Second Amendment
    • Seventh Amendment
    • Sixth Amendment
    • Sunshine Law
    • Third Amendment
    • Religion & Beliefs
    • Human Rights
    • Immigration
    • Labor Rights
    • 14th Amendment
    • Civil Rights
  • Schools
    • Adult Education
    • Belle Terre Elementary
    • Buddy Taylor Middle
    • Bunnell Elementary
    • Charter Schools
    • Daytona State College
    • Flagler County School Board
    • Flagler Palm Coast High School
    • Higher Education
    • Imagine School
    • Indian Trails Middle
    • Matanzas High School
    • Old Kings Elementary
    • Rymfire Elementary
    • Stetson University
    • Wadsworth Elementary
    • University of Florida/Florida State
  • Economy
    • Jobs & Unemployment
    • Business & Economy
    • Development & Sprawl
    • Leisure & Tourism
    • Local Business
    • Local Media
    • Real Estate & Development
    • Taxes
  • Commentary
    • The Conversation
    • Pierre Tristam
    • Diane Roberts
    • Guest Columns
    • Byblos
    • Editor's Blog
  • Culture
    • African American Cultural Society
    • Arts in Palm Coast & Flagler
    • Books
    • City Repertory Theatre
    • Flagler Auditorium
    • Flagler Playhouse
    • Flagler Youth Orchestra
    • Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra
    • Palm Coast Arts Foundation
    • Special Events
  • Elections 2024
    • Amendments and Referendums
    • Presidential Election
    • Campaign Finance
    • City Elections
    • Congressional
    • Constitutionals
    • Courts
    • Governor
    • Polls
    • Voting Rights
  • Florida
    • Federal Politics
    • Florida History
    • Florida Legislature
    • Florida Legislature
    • Ron DeSantis
  • Health & Society
    • Flagler County Health Department
    • Ask the Doctor Column
    • Health Care
    • Health Care Business
    • Covid-19
    • Children and Families
    • Medicaid and Medicare
    • Mental Health
    • Poverty
    • Violence
  • All Else
    • Daily Briefing
    • Americana
    • Obituaries
    • News Briefs
    • Weather and Climate
    • Wildlife

600-Day Retirement Clock Ticking for Judges Terence Perkins, Raul Zambrano and James Clayton

May 9, 2022 | FlaglerLive | 4 Comments

Circuit Judge Terence Perkins, left, handing a verdict to be read by the clerk at a recent trial in Bunnell, and Circuit Judge Raul Zambrano, who served as a felony judge in Flagler for a few years, sitting in for a hearing in Bunnell a few weeks ago. (© FlaglerLive)
Circuit Judge Terence Perkins, left, handing a verdict to be read by the clerk at a recent trial in Bunnell, and Circuit Judge Raul Zambrano, who served as a felony judge in Flagler for a few years, sitting in for a hearing in Bunnell a few weeks ago. (© FlaglerLive)

The nominating commission for the Seventh judicial Circuit will be busy interviewing lawyers for prospective appointments to three circuit judgeships in circuit come January 2024, replacing three judges retiring the previous December: Terence Perkins, Raul Zambrano and James Clayton, all three of whom have served as Chief Judge in the circuit. Clayton is in that position now.




Perkins, senior judge in Flagler, has been on the felony and civil bench here since he replaced circuit Judge Dennis Craig, who was rotated to Volusia County. Perkins pledged at the time to remain in the position until retirement. Zambrano had been the felony judge immediately after the retirement of the late Kim Hammond, for whom the courthouse in Bunnell is named. Zambrano then was shifted to Volusia, but has occasionally sat on hearings in Flagler since. Clayton has never served in Flagler.

Perkins revealed the exact timing of his and his fellow-judges’ retirements during a 10-minute recess last Friday, when an inmate Perkins had sentenced to life in prison two years ago, back for a hearing challenging his sentence, was briefly indisposed and needed a break. Matt Phillips, previously an assistant public defender reappearing in court as a witness in the case, had been filling in the judge on his (Phillips’s) recent retirement and marriage (and the gift of a 2022 Lexus ES 350 Ultra Luxury to his new bride) when Perkins revealed his own ticking clock–literally.




“Yes, 607 days out, I think,” Perkins told Phillips. “Zambrano, Clayton and I are all retiring at the same time. And so Zambrano went out and bought the countdown clock and gave it to each of us, so all three of us have it all synced to the same day. I think it’s 607 days.” Dating from last Friday, that places the retirement date in the waning days of 2023. “We’ve been doing it for a long time,” the judge said. Moments later, the state prison inmate–Michael Cummings, who had killed his wife in a dispute in their Point Pleasant home in Palm Coast in 2018–reentered the courtroom and that hearing continued.

Perkins, who goes by “Terry” to people familiar with him, has always had a flair for understated revelations. He did something similar when he announced his appointment to the bench in Flagler. He was at the Hilton Garden Inn in Palm Coast in March 2018, one of seven judges appearing at a forum as they were all running for election at the time, when Perkins upstaged the event with his news: he’d be starting as Flagler’s felony judge that June. Zambrano, who was chief judge at the time and would still influence Flagler’s judicial fate, had asked him if he was willing to take the assignment. Perkins said he’d do it “in a Minnesota minute.” Perkins had just turned 62 at the time.

The courthouse in Flagler had been in a bit of turmoil, with Zambrano ordering then-Judge Scott DuPont out of the courthouse after DuPont had served as Flagler’s family court judge (the Supreme Court eventually ordered him removed from office for a series of improprieties on the bench and on the campaign trail). Flagler’s felony bench had seen five changes since Hammond’s retirement in 2010, including two stints by Craig, and on the county court side, Distler was perennially overworked and hoping for help. (The Legislature finally heard her, creating the second county judgeship.)




So Perkins, a docket workhorse by nature, had some work to do. His tenure has been as steady–and studied–as his courtroom temperament, returning the courthouse to business without drama, and, aside from the inevitable attention of high-profile cases or covid’s frustrations, making news only of the better kind, as when the Flagler courthouse was first in the state to resume in-person trials during a covid pandemic lull, or when he drew lawyers’ praise for the courthouse’s crisp remote technology, allowing hearing and trial attendance by zoom. That’s continuing even as all proceedings have resumed in person.

“I plan to continue to use Zoom for all proceedings,” he told FlaglerLive in February. “When used appropriately, it’s just more convenient for the attorneys, participants, family members and journalists. Even when proceedings are being conducted in person, I will continue to permit Zoom access using the same meeting ID so that those interested can attend without a special invitation. Of course, not all judges have the same great technology that we have in Flagler and not all judges are as accepting of the technology. So, the use of Zoom may vary from county to county.” It very much has, based on lawyers’ reactions.

The Seventh Judicial Circuit includes Flagler, Volusia, St., Johns and Putnam. All 27 circuit judges may be assigned anywhere in the circuit. Circuit Judge Chris France is the only other permanently posted circuit judge in Flagler, hearing family and civil cases. Flagler also has two of the circuit’s 17 county judges, Melissa Distler and Andrea Totten. Totten was the last local judge to win a seat by appointment when she was recommended by the nominating commission in 2019, and appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis. But earlier this month Totten won the seat for a six-year term by election, running unopposed.




Perkins graduated Seabreeze High School, got his law degree from the University of Florida and practiced law for 30 years in the private sector before then-Gov. Charlie Crist appointed him to the bench in 2010. He has never faced opposition in an election. When he ran in 2018, he said “that will probably be my last term.”

And so it is. Chances are, Perkins, Zambrano and Clayton won’t be appearing as a new law firm’s letterhead in 2024.

Support FlaglerLive's End of Year Fundraiser
Thank you readers for getting us to--and past--our year-end fund-raising goal yet again. It’s a bracing way to mark our 15th year at FlaglerLive. Our donors are just a fraction of the 25,000 readers who seek us out for the best-reported, most timely, trustworthy, and independent local news site anywhere, without paywall. FlaglerLive is free. Fighting misinformation and keeping democracy in the sunshine 365/7/24 isn’t free. Take a brief moment, become a champion of fearless, enlightening journalism. Any amount helps. We’re a 501(c)(3) non-profit news organization. Donations are tax deductible.  
You may donate openly or anonymously.
We like Zeffy (no fees), but if you prefer to use PayPal, click here.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Howard says

    May 9, 2022 at 2:47 pm

    Hopefully we get new judges that believe in throwing people in jail and not getting off easy for repeat crimes.

  2. FlaglerLive says

    May 9, 2022 at 2:52 pm

    Need the irony be pointed out that the above comment is made on an article about a revelation the judge offered during a recess in a hearing on a motion by a man he sentenced to life in prison without parole?

  3. David Charles Sullivan says

    May 9, 2022 at 4:33 pm

    Excellent informative article.

  4. Larry Stinger says

    May 9, 2022 at 4:40 pm

    I don’t think judges should hear cases in multiple courts (felony, civil, family). Can’t possibly give each case the attention and expertise each needs when your already overloaded docket has your brain bouncing all over the place. One minute you’re working a capital murder, and the next a dog pooping on a lawn complaint. Keep the worlds separated so that these folks can always be fair and balanced and not so damn tired and frustrated.

    Want to give out rediculous raises to civil servants? Do it in our courts, along with far far more judges and clerks.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

  • Conner Bosch law attorneys lawyers offices palm coast flagler county
  • grand living realty
  • politis matovina attorneys for justice personal injury law auto truck accidents

Primary Sidebar

  • grand living realty
  • politis matovina attorneys for justice personal injury law auto truck accidents

Recent Comments

  • FlaglerLive on Palm Coast Council Launches Review of City Charter, This Time Seeking an Actual Advisory Committee
  • Patrick on Without a Single Question, Bunnell Board Approves Rezoning of Nearly 1,900 Acres to Industrial, Outraging Residents
  • Deborah Coffey on Children May Attend Drag Shows, Court Rules, Striking Down Florida Law
  • Deborah Coffey on Superintendent LaShakia Moore Is Taking on ‘School Choice’ on Her Terms: Stop Competing with Vouchers at a Disadvantage
  • Deborah Coffey on First New College. Now University of West Florida: President Resigns Ahead of DeSantis Reeducation Campaign
  • Jake from state farm on NOAA Cuts Are Putting Our Coastal Communities At Risk
  • CPFL on Palm Coast Will Consider Lowering Citywide Speed Limit to 25 and Let Residents Request Traffic-Calming Devices in Neighborhoods
  • The actual issue on Flagler Schools Face $2.5 Million Deficit as 400 Students Leave District for Private Vouchers in 3% Enrollment Decline
  • JC on Palm Coast Council Launches Review of City Charter, This Time Seeking an Actual Advisory Committee
  • Andrea K. on Mayor Mike Norris’s Lawsuit Against Palm Coast Has Merit. And Limits.
  • Joe D on Palm Coast Will Consider Lowering Citywide Speed Limit to 25 and Let Residents Request Traffic-Calming Devices in Neighborhoods
  • Andrea K. on Palm Coast Mayor Mike Norris Thinks the FBI or CIA Is Bugging His Phone
  • A Concerned Observer on Palm Coast Will Consider Lowering Citywide Speed Limit to 25 and Let Residents Request Traffic-Calming Devices in Neighborhoods
  • Joe D on Superintendent LaShakia Moore Is Taking on ‘School Choice’ on Her Terms: Stop Competing with Vouchers at a Disadvantage
  • Ray W, on The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Wednesday, May 14, 2025
  • Speed demon on Palm Coast Will Consider Lowering Citywide Speed Limit to 25 and Let Residents Request Traffic-Calming Devices in Neighborhoods

Log in