Peggy Gehl, Editor

In a few weeks, at the annual business meeting of the Conference of County Court Judges, you will elect a new Editor for the County Court Courier or e-Courier, Judge Patti Christensen of St. Johns County.

For the past twelve years, I have enjoyed serving on the executive board of the Conference as the Editor of the County Court Courier, as well as Chair of the Editorial Committee. Judge Christensen has always shown a vital interest in the Courier by submitting interesting stories and photos. She has graciously agreed to take over the top spot which will enable the newspaper to remain a part of the legacy of our Conference and track its history.

During the past twelve years, the Courier has changed its contents, face, and manner of delivery, thanks to our creative publisher, Mediawise.

The idea of a county court newspaper was first hatched by Judge Rad Smith of St. Petersburg who served as its first and only editor until his retirement from the bench in 1996. I took over the job in 1997 after Rad's successor editor served only six months.

The format for the Courier was fairly simple for the first twenty or so years. We always announced our educational conference dates and places, as well as the spring and fall committee meetings. Those were the good old days when budgets were not pared down to bare minimums. We weren't sure until just a few weeks ago that we would even have the funds to sponsor a single educational conference this year. The Spring and Fall Committee Meetings were knocked out a few years ago in the beginning of court system budget cuts.

The Courier reported on the activities of the various Conference committees, as well as publishing the full minutes of the Board meetings. It wasn't long after I began my service as Editor that the Board voted to remove the minutes from public consumption. It was also a Board decision to cut out the delivery of the Courier to all members of the Legislature. It was just too expensive to do so.

But our Conference by-laws directed that Board minutes be published, and the Board wanted its members to be able to keep abreast of Conference activities. And so, the Conference website initiated a log-in feature which directed each judge to a link for reading the Board minutes. We weren't sure how many judges actually used this feature, but the minutes have always been available to each judge for review.

The front page of the Courier is reserved at my insistence for a biography of the newly-elected President of the Conference. My last Courier features the impressive biography and endless honors earned by Miami-Dade County Judge Carroll Kelly. Congratulations, Carroll.

It was always my pleasure to congratulate and write a short biography on each new county judge as he or she was appointed or elected, along with a photograph so we could all recognize and welcome our new colleagues.

A list of the current officers, district vice-presidents and circuit representatives is provided, along with the names of each committee and its current chair. Both new and seasoned judges may find that varying legal interests, needed changes in the law, or a new division assignment peaks an interest in joining and participating in varying committees.

When we lose one of our colleagues to a circuit seat, or by retirement or sadly, even to death, I've always thought an article recognizing the judge is a newsy as well as respectful honorarium or memoriam for our conference members, as well as for the judge's family and friends. I know Judge Christensen will continue this honored tradition as she too believes strongly in the value of public appreciation.

Our Courier has always been full of beautiful colored photos taken at each educational conference, as well as photos of each newly-elected or appointed judge. The Courier committee always welcomes photos taken by our members for publication. It's fun to share conference family photos of our children as they grow up during our careers, as well as remembering our colleagues as they retire, move to Circuit, or pass on.

The Editorial Committee, by direction of our Conference by-laws, is made up of the five district vice-presidents, each of whom represents one of our five district courts of appeal. It is the job of the District VP to gather news from each of the 20 Circuit Representatives, and to report the news to the Courier Editor for publishing.

I urge the District VP's as well as the Circuit Reps to report news as it occurs to Judge Christensen for immediate release to our Conference members. This is the benefit of delivering the Courier in our daily email.

Our County Court Courier was converted into an e-Courier as of the last edition. It was not only visually attractive, but contained links to each story for easy reading. A great deal of debate preceded the creation of cc-Courier.org mainly due to the lack of computers in some counties, the lack of computer skills by some members, the natural resistance to change and comfort with a paper publication, and the already-created, award-winning Conference website mastered by Polk County Judge Kaylor.

Once again, the budgetary concerns over increased costs of printing, page design and first-class postage won out over the printed media. We decided to join the twenty-first century by having our delivery of the e-Courier be immediate and free!

We hope you will join Judge Christensen and me, as continuing contributor and consultant, in her new role of keeping our news journal alive. Have your Judicial Assistants print it out if you haven't the time to read on line. It will be worth your time to read and enjoy the continued success of the Florida Conference of County Court Judges.

The contents of our Courier is a history of our Conference. It is essential that we keep it alive for future generations of county court judges.

I have enjoyed my service as your Editor, and hope you have enjoyed reading the Courier as much as I have writing and editing it the past twelve years. It has been my pleasure to serve the Conference in this role.

Judge Peggy Gehl
Broward County