TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) - Justice Jorge Labarga will be the Florida Supreme Court’s next leader.
The seven-member court on Wednesday elected 61-year-old Labarga to a two-year term beginning July 1. He will succeed Chief Justice Ricky Polston who will remain on the bench.
Labarga becomes the first Cuban-American to hold the post. The chief justice serves as the chief administrative officer for the state courts system.
His election followed a tradition of electing the next senior justice who hasn’t yet held the position.
Labarga was first appointed to the high court in 2009 by former Gov. Charlie Crist. He will become the court’s 56th chief.
Labarga is from West Palm Beach and he served as a trial court judge and then briefly as an appeals judge before he was appointed to the Supreme Court.
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