Headshot of Lufrano wearing a navy suit and red tie

Criminal defense attorney Matt Lufrano will take the bench after winning one of the two open Duval County court judge seats in Tuesday’s primary election, defeating family and personal injury attorney Latoya Williams Shelton.

Lufrano, who has a private practice, earned nearly 57% of the vote, or 79,217 votes, to fill the County Court Judge Group 1 seat for a six-year term. The seat was held by retiring Judge Scott Mitchell. Williams Shelton garnered 61,041 votes, or about 43% of the vote.

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.

Lufrano, who previously sought a judicial seat in 2024, began his career at the public defender’s office before launching a private practice in 2014.

Outside the courtroom, he serves as the president of Jewish Family and Community Services’ board of directors and is “committed to pro bono work,” including with the Jacksonville Area Legal Aid, or JALA.

“Judges are really supposed to be servants to the people. They’re not supposed to lord over people,” Lufrano told the Trib earlier this month.

Williams Shelton opened her firm in 2010 and also served on JALA’s board, according to a short bio provided by her campaign.

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.

Molly Farrar covers accountability and policy in the consolidated city-county government of Jacksonville for The Florida Trib. Before joining us as a Report for America corps member, Farrar worked as a staff writer for Boston.com with the Boston Globe, WHDH Channel 7, and as a freelance reporter in the Greater Boston area covering local politics. Her news and transportation reporting won regional awards, and Farrar was selected as a First Amendment Institute Fellow with the New England First Amendment Coalition. Her investigative work on criminal justice and prisons was published in GBH News and The Intercept. Her stories have also appeared in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and The Boston Globe. Farrar graduated from Boston University with a degree in journalism and cello performance, where she also served as editor-in-chief of the Daily Free Press, the independent student newspaper. You can reach Molly at molly.farrar@floridatrib.org.