Gov. DeSantis taps 2 lawyers to become County Judges

Two lawyers who had been considered for wearing black robes in previous years have won judicial appointments, one in Seminole County and the other in Sarasota County, Gov. Ron DeSantis announced.

Both are replacing Judges who were elevated from county court benches to circuit courts.

DeSantis appointed Sylvia Grunor, also a donor to his presidential campaign last year, to serve as a Judge in Seminole County Court.

Grunor of Sanford was interviewed by the Supreme Court Judicial Nominating Commission in 2016 and she ran unsuccessfully for the trial bench in 2000 and once applied to fill a vacancy in the 18th Judicial Circuit in Sanford.

Now, she is going to fill the vacancy created when Judge Mark Herr of Lake Mary was elevated to as a Judge on the 18th Judicial Circuit in Seminole County.

Election records show that Grunor, who is a specialist in insurance claims, donated nearly $200 to DeSantis’ presidential campaign in 2023.

The graduate of the University of Central Florida and Stetson University has been working as a partner at an Orlando firm since 2003. Before that she worked at Wicker, Smith Tutan, which has offices throughout the state.

Her profile with the Florida Bar shows she was admitted in 1990.

Shannon Hankin, who has been in private practice since 2014 and worked as an Assistant State Attorney in the 12th Judicial Circuit in Sarasota County before that, was considered for a judge’s vacancy in Manatee County in 2017.

Hankin, who lives in Sarasota, received her bachelor’s degree from Emory University and her juris doctor from the University of Georgia. She will be filling the vacancy created when Judge Ryan Felix of Sarasota was elevated from county court to the 12th Judicial Circuit last year.

Hankin, admitted to the Florida Bar in 2004, belongs to the Florida Bar’s sections for real property, probate and trust, and trial lawyers.