Courtroom 406 in the Duval County Courthouse was full of laughter, smiles and reminiscences during the Passing of the Gavel ceremony June 27.
The ceremony welcomed Circuit Judge Lance Day as the chief judge of the 4th Judicial Circuit, succeeding Judge Mark Mahon.
The 4th Judicial Circuit comprises Duval, Clay and Nassau counties.
Day was elected by the judges of the 4th Circuit last February. His two-year term began July 1.
Mahon served in the role for eight years. A judge can hold the position for up to four two-year terms.
The court and the Jacksonville Bar Association presented the ceremony, which was attended by more than 150 people.
Hank Coxe, a director at the Bedell Firm and a past president of The Florida Bar and the JBA, was the master of ceremonies for the 90-minute event.
Speakers included John Delaney, former Jacksonville mayor and now Flagler College president; state Rep. Sam Garrison, District 11; 4th Circuit Chief Technology Officer Mike Smith; and Eve Janoko, 4th Circuit trial court administrator. U.S. Rep. John Rutherford also attended.
Day spoke of his goals as chief judge.
He wants to expand the public’s awareness of the circuit’s problem-solving diversion courts that handle drug cases, mental health, early childhood and veterans. Those courts work with violators to correct behavior and change circumstances rather than sentence them to prison.
“They’re vital because if the offender makes it through that program, they are becoming productive members of our society. They are back in our community getting jobs and getting housing,” Day said.
He also wants people to know that his fellow judges are not just people in black robes. Day said he will be an advocate for the court to let it be known that judges are active in the community.
“We don’t know that side of them. Unfortunately, the perception is that we just sit up on mountain high.”
Day is a graduate of Florida State University and the South Texas College of Law Houston.
He was admitted to The Florida Bar in 1984 and elected to the bench in 1996. He was a 4th Circuit assistant state attorney from 1985 to 1996.
Mahon is a Florida State University graduate, having received a business degree in 1978 and his law degree from FSU in 1981. He worked as an assistant state attorney until 1984 when he joined his father’s law practice.
Mahon was elected to the Florida House of Representatives in 2000 and served until 2007 when he was appointed to the bench by Gov. Charlie Crist.
Mahon, chief judge since January 2015, was instrumental in devising ways to use technology to keep the court docket moving during the COVID-19 pandemic, including continuing to hold in-person trials by taking precautions for public health and safety.
“During this time we have continued to conduct business as much as possible, although under different circumstances. In criminal cases, we have continued to bring to the courthouse inmates who have tested negative and are not in quarantine. They are brought to the courtrooms in masks and are kept apart from lawyers and the public, as much for the protection of the jail population as for the lawyers,” he said in an October 2021 story in the Jacksonville Daily Record.
Craig Shoup, executive director of the Jacksonville Bar Association, spoke favorably of the two judges.
“Chief Judge Mahon has been a great supporter of the Jacksonville Bar Association. When we have needed anything, he has been ready and willing to help connect our local judiciary with the Bar.”
In a statement, he said of Day:
“Through his time on the bench he has always been willing to participate in our programs and work to improve the orderly administration of justice. We look forward to him becoming Chief Judge on July 1st and continuing the partnership the Jacksonville Bar Association has had with the 4th Judicial Circuit Court for many many years.”