Candidate: Kristy Zinna

I am a Florida native and long-time Manatee County resident.  I went to Tillman Elementary, Lincoln Middle School, and Palmetto High School.   My college experiences were also local, beginning with receiving my associate degree from what was then known as Manatee Community College, now State College of Florida.  I received by bachelor’s degree from the University of South Florida.  My law degree is from Stetson University College of Law in Gulfport, Florida.  I am invested in my community.  Manatee County is where I live and where I grew up in my formative years.  I know many, many people here.  I have family and loved ones here.  I care about all of them.  What happens in and to this county matters to me. 

I have a strong background in both management and the organized control of a large and busy County Court caseload.  I have the proven track record of effectively supervising THOUSANDS of cases while affording all due process rights to which an individual is entitled. I have been BOTH a prosecutor and an assistant public defender.  I have tremendous experience in the very courtroom for which I seek election.  I have personally first-chaired thousands of cases in County Criminal Court and have logged hundreds and hundreds of hours there as well.

I also possess the diverse legal background important and necessary for a judicial candidate. I have very specifically and with great thought and consideration, accepted the employment offers and decisions regarding my career because of the opportunities to grow and learn that each of these choices gave me.  I enjoyed my time at the State Attorney’s Office, but when I was offered a position with the Office of the Public Defender, I could not turn down the opportunity to learn the other side of the criminal law experience.  Likewise, when I was offered a position in a private firm, I felt it was a wise choice to leave government employment and learn the private practice aspects of criminal law and to begin civil law.  I have then practiced civil law nearly exclusively since 2013.  Each step I have taken in my career was to learn and become experienced in a field of practice that would lead to this very point.  I have an incredibly diverse legal background, carefully cultivated to make me a better attorney in court and a better candidate for County Court Judge.  Virtually every legal case or situation that can happen before a County Court judge, I have personally experienced and handled, both criminal and civil.  In addition to my strong background in the criminal division of County Court, I also am experienced in County Civil Court.  I have had numerous cases in Traffic Court, Family Law Court, Injunction Court, Small Claims Court, and County Civil Court, representing both plaintiffs and defendants. I am quite familiar with not only the Rules of Criminal Procedure, but the Rules of Civil Procedure.  I believe my diverse legal background makes me a better candidate for election. 

More than the typical candidate, I bring a great respect and empathy for each person standing before the Court.  The average defendant or plaintiff standing before a judge is experiencing one of the most important and pivotal days of their life.  Many attorneys, acclimated to the law and the courtroom, no longer recognize this nor feel the empathy and respect this situation warrants.  I am not desensitized to the impact and stress a court experience has on the average person. I have personally persevered through great personal tragedy.  The early loss of my husband after a protracted and very public battle with cancer has created within me a deep empathy for the unique problems every person possesses in his or her life. I understand that every individual standing before the Court is likely scared and anxious.  Because of this, I have developed a patient demeanor and response while dealing with others.  I was, and continue to be, known for a calming presence in Court.  I anticipate that I will exemplify those same traits in my judicial demeanor.

County Court is my final career destination and end goal.  If elected, then this is where I intend of staying until the day I retire.  This is the culmination of a lifetime of hard work for me. I want nothing more than to use my experiences for the greater service and good of my legal community and to personally contribute as much as I can to the improvement of Manatee County. I am invested in my community, and I have the legal experience and diversity to make a transition from practicing law to the bench be an efficient and easy process.