n attorney for Scott DuPont filed a notice of appeal last week after Leon County Circuit Judge J. Lee Marsh ruled that DuPont was ineligible to run for judge in the 7th Judicial Circuit, which is made up of St. Johns, Putnam, Flagler and Volusia counties.
Courts
Scott DuPont Booted Off Ballot as Judge Rose Marie Preddy Prevails in Challenge Over Eligibility to Run
Circuit Judge Rose Marie Preddy, who sits in Putnam County, will not face an opponent in her bid to retain her seat as a judge today threw out Scott DuPont–a former judge–off the August ballot. DuPont, a former judge in the circuit, was removed from the bench by the Supreme Court in 2018, then suspended from the Bar for several months. That suspension meant he could not be eligible for a judgeship until 2026.
Previously Disgraced Scott DuPont, Running Again for Judge, Offers Orwellian Explanation of His Bar Suspension
Former Circuit Judge Scott DuPont, who served in Flagler County and who is running against Judge Rose Marie Preddy, argues that while he was suspended from the Florida Bar as a result of inappropriate and scandalous conduct on and off the bench, he was still a member of the Bar during that suspension, therefore should still be eligible to run. Preddy’s lawyer argues the Florida Constitution says otherwise.
Lawyers for Judge Rose Marie Preddy File for Final Judgment Against Scott DuPont’s Qualification to Run
Lawyers for Circuit Judge Rose Marie Preddy, who sits in Putnam County, have filed a motion for a final judgment against Scott DuPont’s qualification to run again for judgeship as he is attempting to do against Preddy in this year’s election. DuPont was booted off the bench in 2018 and suspended from practicing law in 2019 after he was found to have acted with egregious misconduct during his 2016 re-election run and on several occasions in court, as a sitting judge in Flagler County or Putnam Counties.
Leann Pennington, Theresa Pontieri, Will Furry and Cathy Heighter Win, Half-Cent Tax Passes, Amendments Fail
For Flagler County and Palm Coast, it is an election of new faces: four races, four newcomers to elected office: Leann Pennington won a seat on the County Commission, Theresa Pontieri and Cathy Heighter won seats to the Palm Coast City Council, and Will Furry won a Flagler County School Board seat.
Flagler County Voters Will Vote on Whether to Retain 11 Judges, Most of Whom They’ve Never Heard Of
On the Nov. 8 ballot, 11 of the 26 boxes where voters will be asked to fill an oval are retention votes in judicial elections for five Supreme Court and six appeals court judges. They’re not races. Voters are merely asked: should so-and-so “be retained in office” or not. It’s the merit-retention system. In the overwhelming majority of cases, voters have no idea who those names, and the judges are invariably retained.
600-Day Retirement Clock Ticking for Judges Terence Perkins, Raul Zambrano and James Clayton
Circuit Judge Terence Perkins has been the senior judge in Flagler County since 2018, taking over a courthouse in slight turmoil and returning it to a no-drama zone of docket workhorses. He will retire at the end of 2023, along with Judge Raul Zambrano, who had been a felony judge in Flagler previously, and James Clayton, currently the circuit’s chief judge.
Flagler County Judge Totten Elected Without Opposition, as Are Seven Circuit Judges
Formerly appointed Flagler County Court Judge Andrea Totten was elected without opposition to a six-year term, as were Circuit Judges Dennis Craig, Matt Foxman, Kenny Janesk, Howard O. McGillin Jr., A. Kathleen McNeilly, Dawn D. Nichols and Stasia Warren.
3 Incumbent Judges–Andrea Totten, Kenny Janesk and Stacia Warren–Speak (Almost) Freely at Candidate Forum
A Flagler County Republican Club forum Wednesday evening at the Palm Coast Hilton was a chance for the three incumbents–Flagler County Judge Andrea Totten, Circuit Judges Kenny Janesk, who sits in Volusia and Putnam, and Stacia Warren, who sits in Volusia–to speak about themselves without the strictures of their robes and in unusually personal terms, but within the bounds of Canon 7, the unique ethical rules that frame judicial races.
Flagler County Judge Andrea Totten Announces 2022 Election Run to Keep Seat Created in 2019
Appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis to a newly created County Court seat in Flagler in 2019, Judge Andrea Totten announced she will run for the seat’s full six-year term in next August’s election. In her two-year tenure she has established herself as a sharp, serious, unassuming and compassionate judge.