Pinellas - Pasco Circuit Judge Peter R. Ramsberger has been awarded the 2017 Chief Justice Award for Judicial Excellence, arguably the most prestigious distinction granted to a Florida jurist in the state each year. Jorge Labarga, the chief justice of the Florida Supreme Court, announced that Judge Ramsberger had won the award on July 24, 2017, at this year’s Florida Conference of Circuit Judges in Orlando. Interestingly enough, the only other judge to be nominated in the state was Judge Shawn Crane, who, like Judge Ramsberger, hails from the Sixth Judicial Circuit. What separates Judge Ramsberger’s nomination from many others is that it did not germinate at the circuit level, with local stakeholders, such as a chief judge, sheriff or state attorney, nominating him or supplying letters of support. In Judge Ramsberger’s case, the nomination appears to have emerged as the result of statewide admiration. The nomination was made by Carroll Kelly, the administrative judge of the county domestic violence division in in the 11th Judicial Circuit, in Miami, and letters of support came from, among other people, judges in the 2nd, Ninth, 12th, and 15th judicial circuits.
During his 26 years on the bench, Judge Ramsberger has become an expert on family law generally, and on domestic violence in particular. He and the aforementioned Judge Kelly have spent the last several years travelling throughout the state to give two - day presentations to judges on the different aspects of domestic violence, ranging from the cycle of violence to victims’ seemingly illogical decisions to what’s required before an injunction is granted. By taking the course on tour — rather than have the judges in the state travel elsewhere for the equivalent — the two jurists are believed to have saved tens of thousands of dollars. Judge Ramsberger has also distinguished himself within the Sixth Judicial Circuit. He has served as the administrative judge of the circuit’s Family and Unified Family court divisions, and, in fact, helped design and establish the circuit’s Unified Family Court division, better known as the one - family, one - judge section, within which all the various troubles affecting a family, be they juvenile delinquency or neglectful parents, are handled at the same time. Read More