Candidate: Sheena Rickerson

Sheena Rickerson is a local Hamilton County Criminal Defense and Family Law Attorney who has had a private practice in Downtown Jasper since March '20. She has been an attorney for almost 11 years. Before that, she worked as a criminal law & family law assistant/paralegal for almost a decade (from age 18 until she finished law school in '12 at age 28). She attended Florida Coastal School of Law where she graduated in '12. She was admitted to the Florida Bar in June '13. She interned with the Macclenny State Attorney's Office during her last year of law school. She is board-certified by the Florida Bar as an expert in Criminal Trials, having tried 46 jury trials to date and an estimated 100 or more non-jury trials and contested final hearings. Prior to private practice, Sheena was a felony & misdemeanor prosecutor with the Third Circuit State Attorney's Office for 6 years from 2014- 2020 where she served primarily as the prosecutor in Hamilton County for 4 out of 6 years of her service. She is also your local town attorney for the Town of Jennings, Florida, & has been in that position since October of '20. She has resided in Jasper since '14. Her Husband recently passed in June of 2023 in a tragic vehicle accident and he was the Chief of Police for the City of Jasper. They have three children, 7, 4, & 2 who attend local Hamilton County Schools and are involved in recreational sports in Hamilton County. She is the former President of the Third Judicial Circuit Women's Lawyer Association where she served in that position the last 2 years and also won a Leader in the Law award in 2022. She is also a member of the Third Circuit Bar Association & President of the PTA at Hamilton Elementary School. She previously served on the Third Judicial Circuit Judicial Nominating Commission from July '18 to January '22. She was appointed by Governor Rick Scott while she was a prosecutor.

Judge Scaff retired early in Nov. of '22, and Sheena was required to be off of the commission for 2 years to be eligible to be appointed for the judicial vacancy he created. She had only been off the commission for close to a year when the appointment process began. Sheena was 1 of 6 other local attorneys and citizens that served on the commission which covered the entire Third Judicial Circuit, all seven counties. In addition, Sheena never participated in the appointment process while on the commission, so there was no advantage over other candidates. 

When the appointment process began, she was 1 of the only 2 local attorneys from Hamilton County to apply. The currently appointed Judge was not from Hamilton County and did not reside here. She sought an exception to the rule because she does not believe this statute applies evenly and fairly to the North Florida Rural Communities and also because the commission had been inactive for almost a decade. (had not appointed a Judge since 2014). She was selected and interviewed but was not given an exception by the local JNC so her name was not sent to the governor to be considered. She is now running against the appointed candidate, Jamie Tyndal.  She resided in Alachua County at the time she applied for the judicial appointment and had been living there for at least the last few years. She had a law practice in Lake City, Florida prior to her appointment on March 1, 2023. She was required to move to Hamilton County and become a resident here to take the bench. 

Sheena registered as a candidate to run for Judge Scaff's vacancy in October 2022, even before the appointment process began when the JNC convened in November 2022, and long before she knew who the applicants even were. It did not matter who applied or was appointed, Sheena was going to run for the County Judge position against any other candidate. She believes she will be the best candidate for our Hamilton community.

The election will occur on August 20,  2024. Sheena believes she is the best candidate because she is local, invested, involved in her community, honest, reasonable, fair, down to earth, ethical, the most experienced, and the ONLY candidate that is board certified in criminal trial by the Florida Bar and committed to the folks of Hamilton County. She is the only candidate who has resided in this local community for a decade and the ONLY candidate to invest her business in Hamilton County by having a law firm here for the last 3 years. She invests not only her money here locally, but also her time.  Sheena did not move to Hamilton County for opportunity or power. She has been here working in and supporting this community for a decade. She knows better than anyone the people here and the issues our small rural community faces. Sheena has handled many areas of the law such as family law, government law, injunctions, civil law, landlord disputes, estate planning, probate, criminal defense, and criminal prosecution. Her broad range of experience in many different areas of law also makes her the best candidate for the position.