Voters are always surprised to see judicial races on their ballots, which means they often don’t select a candidate at all, or they just randomly select a candidate.
Broward County is one judicial circuit, the 17th Circuit. We have two types of judges – County Court and Circuit Court judges. These are nonpartisan positions elected every six years. There are 58 Circuit and 32 County Court judges in the 17th Judicial Circuit. We elect about one-third of our judges in each election cycle.
Judicial races are separated into Groups. Voters elect one person in each group on the ballot. Because these are non-partisan positions, EVERYONE can vote in the judicial races, which will be on the ballot for Tuesday, August 23, 2022. To help voters make an educated decision regarding judicial candidates, let’s first look at what county and circuit court judges do.
County Court judges preside over civil disputes involving $30,000 or less. The majority of non-jury trials in Florida take place before one judge sitting as a judge of the county court. The county courts are sometimes referred to as "the people's courts," probably because a large part of the courts' work involves voluminous citizen disputes, traffic offenses, and misdemeanors such as DUI and simple battery.
Circuit Court judges preside over civil disputes involving more than $30,000, as well as criminal prosecutions for all felonies. Examples of other civil cases heard before Circuit Court judges include probate, family law (adoption, divorce), mental health, juvenile dependency and delinquency, tax disputes and property titles.
Judicial candidates had to qualify to run for office by noon on April 29. Many candidates did not have opposition in their Group, which means they are automatically re-elected. However, for County Court, there will be two races on the ballot – Groups 15 and 26. For Circuit Court, there will be four races on the ballot – Groups 9, 14, 23 and 51.
As we get closer to the August 23 election, check out the League’s www.vote411.org website. We ask judicial candidates to respond to questions and provide their biographies. We will also conduct candidate forums, with dates posted on our website www.lwvbroward.org. With this information, you can make an educated choice when you vote for judges.
Monica Elliott
President
League of Women Voters of Broward County