Interviews for Manatee County judge scheduled for next week

The Twelfth Circuit Judicial Nominating Commission will interview seven candidates on Sept. 27 for the Manatee County judge vacancy left by Judge Charles Sniffen.

Sniffen was appointed to Circuit Court in July by Gov. Rick Scott to fill the vacancy created by the resignation of Circuit Judge Janette Dunnigan, who presided over one of the judicial circuit’s family court divisions in Manatee County.

Sniffen, who has served on the bench since March 2013, previously presided over one of the Manatee County court’s civil and criminal divisions.

The candidate interviews for the Manatee County judge vacancy will be held at the Manatee County Courthouse, 1051 Manatee Ave. W. in the eighth floor multipurpose room at will start at 9 a.m., a press release announced. Interviews are open to the public.

The nominating commission will meet with James Fowler at 9 a.m., Shannon Hankin at 10 a.m., Patrick Bryant at 11 a.m., Mark Nelson at 12:30 p.m., Paul Olah at 1:30 p.m., Dana Moss at 1:45 p.m. and Renee Inman at 2 p.m. There will be a lunch break at noon and a closed deliberative session at 2:30 p.m.

Commission members are A. James Rolfes, Nancy Cason, Varinia Van Ness, Hunter Norton, Pat Neal, Bonnie Polk, Will Robinson and Carly Lambert.

This story was originally published September 20, 2017 at 4:15 PM with the headline "Interviews for Manatee County judge scheduled for next week."