Gov. Ron DeSantis appointed attorney Richard Komando to the St. Johns River State College District board of trustees.
A former assistant state attorney in the 4th Judicial Circuit, Komando is a partner at Bradley, Garrison & Komando in Orange Park.
Komando’s volunteer service includes First Coast Healing Hands, Project Cold Case, Florida’s Children First and the Jacksonville Victims Assistance Advisory Council.
He received a bachelor’s degree in criminology and a Master of Business Administration from Florida State University and his law degree from Loyola University of New Orleans.
His appointment is subject to confirmation by the Florida Senate.
And 10 times, Florida governors appointed someone else.
One of those times, in January 2019, then-Gov. Rick Scott appointed Bryan Rendzio. It was the ninth-time Scott had passed Washington over.
In the fall of 2019, Washington was a finalist for a new Flagler County judge seat. But Gov. Ron DeSantis appointed Andrea K. Totten of Bunnell to the judgeship instead.
After the setbacks, Washington faced a decision.
“It’s been a long, long road and you know you get to a point where you realize, OK, maybe this is not the door that’s going to open, so what are you going to do?” Washington said. “Are you going to give up on it, or are you going to try something different?
Bryan Rendzio is transitioning in January from his position as 7th Judicial Circuit judge to partner at Ansbacher Law.
Appointed to the bench in 2019 by Gov. Ron DeSantis to succeed a judge who died in office, Rendzio lost his bid for a full term in the August primary election.
“Mr. Rendzio brings extensive experience as a mediator, arbitrator and jurist to the practice,” said Barry Ansbacher, founder of Ansbacher Law, in a statement from the firm.
Ansbacher said Rendzio will chair the firm’s St. Augustine-based Alternative Dispute Resolution Practice Group.
Rendzio, 45, is board certified by The Florida Bar in construction law.
Becoming a judge was not something Kenneth Janesk II thought about when he started his legal career.
Janesk, a St. Augustine resident, said in a recent phone interview that his interest in becoming a judge developed after he d practiced law as a prosecutor for a decade or so.
“After 10 years of looking at judges almost everyday of your life, Janesk said, it becomes something that you start to think: “This is something that I’d love to do, I’d like to have their job. I’d love to serve the community the way they do.”
Now Janesk will get that opportunity. Gov. Ron DeSantis has appointed Janesk to serve as a circuit judge in the 7th Judicial Circuit, which covers Volusia, Flagler, St. Johns and Putnam counties.