Jesse Scheckner
After eight years leading the 17th Judicial Circuit as Chief Judge, Jack Tuter is vacating the bench.
He has notified Gov. Ron DeSantis of his retirement, effective May 1.
His next step: reentering private practice. A press note from the 17th Judicial Circuit said Tuter will participate in arbitration and expert witness work. The Florida Code of Judicial Conduct precluded him from providing more detail immediately.
“It has been my honor to serve the people of the State of Florida and Citizens of Broward County for the past 20 years,” Tuter told the Governor by letter.
Tuter, a licensed Florida lawyer since May 1983, was appointed to the bench in 2005 under then-Gov. Jeb Bush. He won election to the post in 2008 and was re-elected twice.
His current six-year term ends next year. DeSantis will appoint his successor.
Judge Carol-Lisa Phillips will replace Tuter as Chief Judge. Phillips’ fellow jurists unanimously elected her to the position on Feb. 3, one week before Tuter made his pending departure official.
Tuter’s two-year term as Chief Judge was set to end June 30. He told Law.com last week that Phillips is “well-liked, hard-working and will serve the Circuit with distinction.”
Phillips told the outlet she was “blown away” by the support she received, which she said included “multiple nominations from multiple different judges.”
Chief Judges serve as the administrative officers of the courts within the Judicial Circuit and direct the formation and implementation of court policies and priorities. They hold administrative supervision over all the Judges and court personnel and are responsible to the Chief Justice of the Florida Supreme Court, now Carlos G. Muñiz.
Tuter emerged as a leading voice from the bench early into the pandemic, when he ordered a halt to all evictions in Broward before DeSantis issued a statewide moratorium.
He also drew headlines in 2018, when he denied a request by Rick Scott’s U.S. Senate campaign for an injunction to impound Broward voting machines based on a since-repeated, unfounded claim of voter fraud in Palm Beach and Broward counties.
