July 22 was shaping up as just another day during a vacation for Kristina Mobley, senior staff attorney for the 4th Judicial Circuit.
Then her phone rang with a call from the 850 area code. Not just any number, either.
Gov. Rick Scott was calling.
“It certainly made my vacation more exciting. I got a knot in my stomach,” said Mobley.
The knot was from knowing that within a few seconds, she would hear whether she would become Clay County Court’s newest judge.
The governor gave Mobley good news. He selected her to fill a vacancy created by the Aug. 16 retirement of Judge Richard Townsend.
For Mobley, 42, the law is her second career.
After graduating from the University of North Florida with a bachelor’s degree in elementary education, Mobley taught in Clay County, where she has lived since she was 2.
After 11 years in the classroom, Mobley realized education would not be a lifelong career.
“I had done everything I could as a teacher and I had no interest in administration,” she said.
One of the elements of teaching she most enjoyed was working with people. That helped her make the decision to enroll in the Levin College of Law at the University of Florida.
After earning her J.D. in 2009, Mobley joined the 4th Circuit as a staff attorney. Her first assignment was in Duval County. Four years later, she was transferred to Clay County.
She found her calling as a staff attorney. “I love the research and the writing,” she said.
When she learned Townsend was retiring, she submitted her application for the bench, realizing it would likely be years before another vacancy would be available in the Clay County Court.
Mobley and her husband, Joe, principal with The Fiorentino Group government relations firm, live in Fleming Island.
They invited three foster children into their home in October. In March, they adopted the siblings: Troy, 5, Mariah, 7, and Lily, 9.
“My munchkins are wonderful. I’m very blessed,” she said.
Since receiving the call from the governor, Mobley has been shadowing her soon-to-be colleagues on the bench.
She also will call on her experience conducting quasi-judicial hearings after serving as Clay County’s truancy magistrate.
“I’m a perfectionist. I want to get it right,” she said. “It’s a lot to learn and I don’t expect it to always be easy, but it’s doable.”
Mobley’s investiture has not been scheduled.
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