Chief assistant state attorney Heather Doyle appointed to Manatee County court
Chief Assistant State Attorney Heather Doyle has been appointed to replace Manatee County Judge Doug Henderson when he retires at the end of September.
Henderson’s announced his intention to retire in an April 12 resignation letter to Gov. Ron DeSantis. Doyle will serve the remainder of his term, which ends in January 2023.
Doyle, 43, earned her bachelor’s degree at the University of Florida and her law degree from Barry University School of Law. Before her most recent position of chief assistant state attorney in the Manatee County office of the Office of the State Attorney for the 12th Judicial Circuit, Doyle was division chief of the office’s misdemeanor division.
“I am so humbled and thrilled for this opportunity to further serve Manatee County,” Doyle told the Bradenton Herald on Friday afternoon. “I hope to be the kind of judge that this county can be proud of.”
Among the most recent major cases Doyle has assisted in prosecuting was the conviction of Dianna Marr for aggravated manslaughter of a child 18 years old or younger by culpable negligence for the 2015 death of her 4-year-old son, Alexander.
For Doyle, being a judge has been a dream since she was a teenager, she said.
“It’s just amazing that its come to fruition,” Doyle added.
Doyle lives in Lakewood Ranch with her husband and their 11-year-old daughter. Her daughter is “so excited” and has been one of her biggest cheerleaders, she said.
Six attorneys, including Doyle, were nominated to the governor’s office last month by the 12th Circuit Judicial Nominating Commission to be considered for the vacancy. The list had been whittled from a last of eight contenders following investigations and interviews by the commission.
This story was originally published July 26, 2019 at 5:09 PM.
