Gov. DeSantis appoints Rachael Loukonen, Trent Reichling to 20th Judicial Circuit bench

There are two new Judges in the 20th Judicial Circuit spanning several Southwest Florida counties, courtesy of appointments by Gov. Ron DeSantis.

DeSantis named two lawyers, Rachael Loukonen and Trent Reichling, to fill vacancies a pair of Judges made when they stepped down from the bench in November.

Loukonen has worked since 2019 as a shareholder at the law firm of Cheffy Passidomo, co-founded by John Passidomo, the late husband of Naples Republican Sen. Kathleen Passidomo.

Loukonen previously served as Director at Dentons Cohen & Grigsby P.C. and as a lawyer and shareholder at Grant Fridkin Pearson P.A. for nine years, departing a decade before the firm’s 2022 merger with Gunster.

She lives in Estero and earned her Juris Doctor from the University of Florida.

She succeeds Lee Ann Schreiber, who retired Nov. 30 after almost 15 years as a Judge. In a March 19, 2024, letter to DeSantis informing him of her plan to step down, Schreiber described her judgeship as “the highlight of (her) legal career.”

She also asked DeSantis to acknowledge acceptance of her resignation no later than the start of the qualifying period for state and circuit judicial candidate races “so that (her) position may be filled by gubernatorial appointment rather than by election.”

Reichling, who lives in Fort Myers and earned his Juris Doctor from Mercer University, has worked as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Middle District of Florida since 2018.

He previously worked as an Assistant State Attorney under Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle, a Democrat to whom he donated $300 in 2015, state records show.

During his nearly eight-year stint at the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office, Reichling worked as an Assistant Chief of Crimes, in the Felony Divisions, Human Trafficking Task Force and Organized Crime Unit, and as a special prosecutor in the Public Corruption Unit, according to his LinkedIn page.

Reichling succeeds Margaret Steinbeck, who resigned Nov. 29. Steinbeck served on the 20th Judicial Circuit bench for more than 25 years and is married to Mark Steinbeck, who also served there from 2006 to 2014.

In a March 22, 2024, letter to DeSantis, Steinbeck wrote, “Serving as part of the judiciary of our great State and my service as an officer in the United States Army have been the most rewarding professional experiences of my life.”

The 20th Judicial Circuit encompasses the counties of Charlotte, Collier, Glades, Hendry and Lee.

Others who made the 20th Judicial Circuit Nominating Commission’s Nov. 8 short list for possible successors to Schreiber and Steinbeck included County Judges Kimberly Bocelli, Michael Brown and Deborah Cunningham, and lawyers Michael Hopkins, Ryan Kuhl and James Stewart.