The judges of the 4th Judicial Circuit elected Circuit Judge Lance Day to begin a two-year term as chief judge beginning July 1.
Day will succeed Chief Judge Mark Mahon, who was elected the chief jurist in Clay, Duval and Nassau counties in January 2015.
Fourth Circuit Trial Court Administrator Eve Janocko notified state Supreme Court Chief Justice Carlos Muniz of the selection Feb. 6.
Day currently serves on the family court bench in Jacksonville.
A graduate of Florida State University and the South Texas College of Law in Houston, Day is a former 4th Circuit assistant state attorney. He was admitted to The Florida Bar in 1984 and elected to the bench in 1996.