The St. Johns County Attorney Advisory Committee identified three finalists March 5 for the county’s top attorney, a position that has been open for more than a year.
The St. Johns County Board of County Commissioners are scheduled to interview the finalists at a special meeting March 25.
The finalists are Bradley Bulthuis, assistant general counsel for the city of Jacksonville; Richard Komando, Bradley Garrison & Komando partner and interim county attorney; and Michael Rodriguez, chief deputy city attorney for the city of Palm Beach.
The advisory committee comprises Commissioners Anne Taylor and Clay Murphy and County Director of Human Resources Desiree Woroner.
Bradley Bulthuis
Bulthuis graduated from Calvin University with a degree in political science and earned a law degree from the University of Illinois College of Law.
After graduation, he worked at Holland & Knight’s Chicago office for six years.
He then worked as a law clerk for the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida for four years.
After that, he relocated to St. Johns County to work as a senior assistant county attorney for eight and a half years before becoming Jacksonville’s general counsel to JEA in May 2024.
Richard Komando
Komando earned his undergraduate degree at Florida State University and a law degree from Loyola University New Orleans School of Law.
He spent five years building a private law practice while working on civil, criminal, appellate, juvenile and international cases.
From 2009 to 2013, he was a criminal prosecutor with the State Attorney’s Office serving as division chief of the Special Prosecution Division and executive director for the 4th Judicial Circuit of Florida in Clay, Duval and Nassau counties.
The commission voted 4-1 on Feb. 20, 2024, to hire Komando as interim county attorney through Bradley Garrison & Komando. Commissioner Krista Joseph, who is now chair of the board, did not support the motion.
Michael Rodriguez
Rodriguez earned an undergraduate degree in history from New College of Florida and a law degree from Vermont Law School.
While in school, he was a summer associate at the environmental advocacy organization Conservation Law Foundation before working as an assistant attorney in Martin County for four years.
He then worked for five years as an associate at Sachs Sax Caplan, followed by six years as an associate at Greenspoon Marder Law in Boca Raton. He was also a partner for three years at Blank Rome in Boca Raton.
What’s next
The advisory committee will present its recommendations to the commission at its regularly scheduled meeting at 9 a.m. March 18 in the County Auditorium at 500 San Sebastian View in St. Augustine.
The special meeting to interview the finalists is scheduled for 9 a.m. March 25 in the auditorium.
Former St. Johns County Attorney David Migut left the role in March 2024.
An initial search for a replacement yielded no qualified candidates. The position description was later revised, the salary was increased and it was reposted, resulting in eight candidates.