Florida Supreme Court demands state respond to attorney's demand for election
BRADENTON -- The Florida Supreme Court has ordered Secretary of State Ken Detzner to respond to Elizabeth Boyle's demand that she be reinstated as a candidate for a circuit court judge vacancy after the state canceled the election.
Circuit Judge Scott Brownell announced in an April 28 letter to Gov. Rick Scott that he would retire from the bench on Dec. 28, just five days shy of the end of his term. Scott's office responded that the seat would be filled by an appointee and an election would no longer be held.
Elizabeth Boyle, a private attorney and the wife of retired Bradenton Police Chief Michael Radzilowski, had filed April 20 to run against Brownell in the Nov. 8 election. She was subsequently
removed from the list of candidates for general election by Detzner.
On Wednesday, Boyle filled a petition with the Florida Supreme Court demanding that she be reinstated as a qualified candidate.
The Florida Supreme Court responded Friday, ordering that Detzner respond to Boyle's petition by May 23. The order also states that Boyle have until June 2 to file a response.
"The petitioner contends that the respondent was without legal authority to cancel the election for the seat in Group 4 and that he had a ministerial duty to accept her qualifying papers and place her on the ballot," Boyle wrote in her petition.
It goes on to say that the constitutional issue in this case came about when Brownell submitted his intention to resign.
"Specifically, the issue arose from the manner in which he chose to resign; that is, by submitting a formal resignation before the start of the statutory qualifying period and then specifying an effective date of the resignation after the November general election and just two business days before the expiration of his term in office," the petition states. "By resigning in this way, Judge Brownell effectively converted what would have been a judicial election into what is now a judicial appointment."
Boyle's petition refers to the 2014 District Court of Appeal ruling in Trotti v. Detzner.
"The court expressed a concern in Trotti that it would be hard to draw a line between physical vacancies that are long enough to justify an appointment and those that are short enough to allow an election to go forward," the petition states. "That may be a valid concern, but it is not a reason to approve of a deliberate manipulation of the election process, like the one we have here."
Jessica De Leon, Herald law enforcement reporter, can be reached at 941-745-7049. You can follow her on Twitter @JDeLeon1012.
This story was originally published May 6, 2016 at 11:32 PM with the headline "Florida Supreme Court demands state respond to attorney's demand for election ."