A Viera-based attorney has been forced to resign from the Judicial Nominating Commission that helps fill judge vacancies in Brevard and Seminole counties.

The attorney, Alan Landman, contends in his letter of resignation and in an interview with FLORIDA TODAY that the process for filling such vacancies has lost its independence under the administration of Gov. Ron DeSantis, who took office in January.

DeSantis, through his spokeswoman, disputed Landman's contentions.

Helen Aguirre Ferre, director of communications for DeSantis, said Landman violated Judicial Nominating Commission rules, "and lobbied for a specific candidate, for which he was asked to resign."

In an emailed letter of resignation to Joe Jacquot, the governor's general counsel, Landman wrote: "From my perspective, I believe the JNC should remain independent and autonomous from the governor's office micromanaging same or requiring any applicant(s) to be put on the short list."

He told FLORIDA TODAY that he resigned "because the process that we just went through" to fill an upcoming Circuit Court vacancy "was not as it should run. It violated the independence and the autonomy of the Judicial Nominating Commission."

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Landman has served on the nine-person 18th Circuit Judicial Nominating Commission for more than 10 years, after having been initially appointed to the JNC by then-Gov. Charlie Crist on Sept. 11. 2008. He subsequently served through Rick Scott's eight-year tenure as governor, and served as the chair of the commission during the majority of his tenure as a commission member. JNC members are not paid.

The dispute that triggered Landman's resignation involved the commission's work to interview candidates to fill a vacancy being created by the impending July 12 retirement of Circuit Judge Tonya Rainwater, a judgeship based in Brevard County. Historically, only Brevard residents apply for such a Brevard-based position, although Seminole County residents also are eligible, since the 18th Circuit includes both counties.

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At the time of the initial application deadline of April 5, there were nine applicants for the position, all from Brevard. At the request of the governor's office of general counsel, the application deadline was extended to April 15, and two more applications came in — one from Brevard and one from Seminole.

Landman's committee conducted separate 15-minute interviews with the 11 applicants on April 23 in Melbourne, and later forwarded the names of four candidates to the governor's office for consideration, all from Brevard. Among those on the short list was Brevard County Court Judge Michelle Naberhaus. Typically, Landman's committee would recommend anywhere from three to six candidates.

But the general counsel's office asked that Landman's commission reconvene, and add two more names to the list, suggesting that it felt that one should be the Seminole County candidate, Magistrate Tesha Ballou.

After the commission reconvened by teleconferencing on April 29, Ballou and one other Brevard County candidate were added to the short list, now totaling six people.

Then, Landman sent an email to Nick Primrose, the governor's deputy general counsel, indicating a candidate Landman personally favored. Landman said that is something he has done in the past, during the administrations of Crist and Scott. But, apparently, that didn't sit well with the current governor's staff.

DeSantis announced on June 5 that he was appointing Ballou for the Circuit Court judgeship, a position that has a salary of $160,688 a year.

Ballou, 49, of Sanford, has been a general magistrate for Seminole County since 2015. She previously served as a prosecutor for the 5th Circuit State Attorney’s Office and as a regional director for the Florida Department of Children and Families.

In an emailed statement Monday to FLORIDA TODAY, DeSantis' spokeswoman, Ferre, said: "The JNC for the 18th Circuit is comprised of two counties — Seminole and Brevard. There was a vacancy in that circuit, and the JNC was to recommend candidates to the governor. Although this circuit is encompassed by two counties, Alan Landman, then-chairman of the JNC, limited the candidates to only one county, thereby limiting the governor’s ability to choose a qualified candidate from the full circuit."

Ferre contends that "there is nothing inappropriate with recommending names to be considered. In fact, in this case, it helped the full list of qualified candidates on the 18th Circuit to be more diverse."

In his June 17 emailed letter of resignation to Jacquot, Landman wrote: "You advised that you are requesting my resignation because I committed a 'technical' violation by leaving a message on Nick Primrose's answering machine, after the short list was submitted to the governor's office, supporting one of the candidates on the list. Once again, over the past 10 years, I have been actively solicited by prior governors (as well as their general counsel and staff) as to my personal and professional opinions on short list applicants, since I have been practicing as a trial lawyer in Brevard County for approximately 32 years. Further, prior administrations welcomed my unsolicited input and expertise, as well, on short list applicants. This is why I was unaware it was a technical violation."

Additionally, Landman wrote that the Crist and Scott administrations never insisted on a specific number of candidate for the short list.

"It has always been left to the committee's sole discretion as to who was qualified and who was not, in terms of the short list," Landman wrote. "No prior governor, or their administration, has ever 'required' the JNC to put a prospective applicant on the short list, which is what occurred during this most recent process with the current administration."

Ferre contends that "Mr. Landman knows that there are ethical duties in the JNC rules that must be followed. Unfortunately, Landman violated these rules and lobbied for a specific candidate, for which he was asked to resign. Landman acknowledges violating these rules in his resignation letter."

Contacted by phone on Friday, Ballou told FLORIDA TODAY that she would answer questions later in the day. But she did not respond later Friday to multiple calls, requesting comment.

In a statement on behalf of the Florida Access to Justice Project, Progress Florida Executive Director Mark Ferrulo said: "This power grab by Gov. DeSantis is a threat to the fundamental separation of powers. You can’t have a governor telling a nominating commission what judges to nominate. Left unchecked, this would set a dangerous precedent."

Ferrulo said that "to have a governor not just pick the nominating commissioners, but to now pick the judges for them to nominate, makes a mockery of our so-called merit-based selection system. At this point, you might as well dispense with nominating commissions altogether, along with any illusion of judicial independence."

However, Jason Unger, the chair of the Florida Supreme Court Judicial Nominating Commission, said he felt it is "entirely appropriate" for the staff of the governor's office to request more candidates for a short list for a judicial appointment, as a way, for example, to seek more geographic or ethnic diversity.

Unger — who has served on the Florida Supreme Court Judicial Nominating Commission for 10 years — also believe the governor's office was correct to seek Landman's resignation after Landman made his views known to general counsel's office about his preferred candidate.

Unger said there is "a hard-and-fast rule" about the commission members not indicating a preference in their short list of candidates, and that even includes sending the list of names to the governor in alphabetical order, so as not to indicate a ranking of their choices.

An email Landman sent out on April 30 read in part: "From my perspective, County Court Judge Michelle Naberhaus is by far and away the most qualified for our unanimous support. I would appreciate everyone, at their own convenience, contacting the governor's office, general counsel and any other individuals you deem appropriate to support her. Judge Naberhaus, from all accounts, has done an 'extraordinary' job on the County Court bench."

In his letter of resignation, Landman wrote: "I do not believe there are any rules which expressly or implicitly authorize the governor's office to micromanage the JNC at the committee level to this degree. As a result of my philosophical differences with how your new administration has handled this recent appointment, I concur with your position that it is best for me to resign from the committee and allow the governor to appoint individuals who are more amiable and open-minded as to how the current administration desires the process to occur."

In a separate June 6 email to other members of the 18th Circuit Judicial Nominating Commission, Landman wrote that, although Jacquot and Primrose assured him during a June 6 conference call that, while they "required the only Seminole County applicant to be on the short list, that in no way, shape or form played a role in their final decisions. I do not believe that for a minute."

Landman also sent an email on June 6 to Jacquot and Primrose, in which he said he has "given my heart and soul to ensuring that the best-qualified applicants ascend to the bench" and previously "have never had a single complaint brought to his attention during my tenure" about his work on the commission.

In that email, Landman also noted that "I have always been a strong supporter of Governor DeSantis throughout his candidacy, and, in fact, I hosted a fundraiser for him at my house."

Landman also wrote In that email that he "would truly appreciate the opportunity, if possible, to continue on the commission, if the two of you and the governor would reconsider your position on same."

Landman's current term on the commission was supposed to run until July 1, 2020.

The Ballou appointment was the first one the 18th Circuit Judicial Nominating Commission handled under the DeSantis administration.

Landman said he has "always had a great relationship with both prior governors and their administrations."

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Landman also wrote that it "has always been an honor and privilege to serve on the JNC, and I truly desired to continue to do so through Governor DeSantis' administration, if the JNC was permitted to continue to maintain its independence and autonomy, which I perceive did not occur."

Since 2009, Landman has served on the board of trustees of Eastern Florida State College (formerly known as Brevard Community College), through gubernatorial appointments by Crist and Scott. Landman is the current EFSC board chair.

In December, Landman was named to DeSantis' Transition Advisory Committee on Public Safety.

Dave Berman is government editor at FLORIDA TODAY.

Contact Berman at 321-242-3649

or dberman@floridatoday.com.

Twitter: @bydaveberman

Facebook: /dave.berman.54