- April 26, 2024
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County Judge Melissa Moore Stens is the most overworked judge in the state, according to a workload study conducted last year, and that’s not going to change any time soon. Although the Legislature approved funding for a second county judge in Flagler County, Gov. Rick Scott vetoed that request in his budget.
“That’s huge,” said County Commission Chairman Nate McLaughlin at a June 5 commission meeting. “Sen. (Travis) Hutson worked very hard on that. He was very disappointed that that got pulled.” With regard to Stens, McLaughlin added, “It’s a heck of a docket that she keeps.”
County Administrator Craig Coffey responded: “It got caught up in politics.”
After the meetings of the day, County Commissioner Donald O’Brien said he wasn’t so sure the veto was politically motivated — against Hutson or Rep. Paul Renner or anyone else.
“The money was vetoed because the governor wanted to identify enough money to bring around funding for the things he wants," he said. "Do I think it was a vindictive thing to get back at certain legislators? No, I don’t think that. I think it had to do with his priorities. … Every year we’ve had things vetoed that were important to our community.”
