Three local lawyers are vying for one of two open Duval County court judge seats in August’s primary election, the most competitive race this year to sit on the bench of the “the people’s court.”
Melina Buncome, Marquita Green, and Octavius Holliday Jr. are on the ballot to replace retiring Judge Mose Floyd, who sits on the County Court Group 13’s bench. Buncome is a longtime public defender, Green has served in a quasi-judicial role as a magistrate, and Holliday is the director of the human rights division with the State Attorney’s Office under Melissa Nelson.
County courts, known as the “people’s courts,” are limited jurisdiction courts responsible for both criminal and civil matters, including handling citizen disputes, misdemeanor criminal cases, civil contract issues, traffic violations, and family and probate court.
In interviews with the Florida Trib, each candidate described a strong commitment to the Jacksonville community and decades of experience in the legal community.
Green is currently working with Jacksonville Area Legal Aid as the interim director of pro bono and FLARE, or Family Law Assistance at Reduced Expense. In 2018, she started FLARE for JALA before serving as a general magistrate, a quasi-judicial role responsible for conducting hearings and making determinations in court.
“Being back at JALA after serving as a magistrate for almost five years is an incredible experience, just to see the program that I started still in full force,” Green said in an interview.
As a magistrate, Green also wrote reports and recommendations for county court judges, so “I know exactly what to expect going into the county court bench, and so I think it was a stepping stone in preparation.”
Buncome, a public defender since 1997, currently serves as the director of the Problem Solving Courts in the Fourth Judicial Circuit, overseeing mental health, veterans treatment court, and adult drug cases in Nassau, Clay, and Duval counties.
Buncome said she’s handled cases from homicide to misdemeanor juvenile, and previously had a private practice doing civil law. She has also won the Florida Bar President’s Pro Bono Service Award.
“We need, at this time, a judge who would be able to look at the law, the facts of the case, and then at the person before us, and determine what is available to them,” Buncome told the Trib. “I believe that in trying to address the issues and the problems that each person comes before us with, that we can reduce recidivism as well as save our community money.”
Holliday has worked as a prosecutor and in criminal defense, family law, civil work, and in a private practice, he said in an interview. He’s active with 100 Black Men of America and serves as president of the local Theta Phi chapter of the Omega Psi Phi fraternity.
At the State Attorney’s Office, his cases mostly involve elder abuse or exploitation, while also serving on both grand jury and officer-involved shooting review panels.
“I tell people when they come into practice of law, there’s no shortcut to experience,” Holliday said, adding experience as both a prosecutor and defense attorney is “a definite advantage over most attorneys because you have seen both sides and understand what it’s like to be in both of those shoes, and it makes you a better judge.”
If one candidate receives more than 50 percent of the vote from August 18’s primary, the contest will not move forward to the general election, and that attorney will start their six-year term as a county judge.
County Court Group 1 Judge Scott Mitchell is also retiring, and two attorneys are competing to replace him. Three sitting county judges — Group 6, 14, and 16 — are all running for reelection unopposed.
Molly Farrar is a Report for America corps member and the Florida Trib’s Jacksonville municipal watchdog reporter. She can be reached at molly.farrar@floridatrib.org.
