One sitting judge is getting a promotion, and four lawyers are donning robes for the first time, courtesy of appointments by Gov. Ron DeSantis.

At the top of the list is Judge Katherine Miller of Daytona Beach, who has served as a Judge in the Volusia County Court since 2023. She’s now taking a seat on the 7th Judicial Circuit, which covers Flagler, Putnam, St. Johns and Volusia.

Miller is filling a vacancy created under SB 2508, a measure DeSantis signed this year that increases the number of circuit and county court Judges statewide.

Also assuming judgeships due to SB 2508 are lawyers Frank Talbot of St. Johns County and Katherine Mish of Fort Pierce.

Talbot has served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Florida since 2002 and previously worked as an Assistant State Attorney in the 10th Judicial Circuit. DeSantis also appointed him to the 7th Judicial Circuit.

Mish, meanwhile, has worked as an attorney for Treasure Coast Legal since 2015 and was previously an associate attorney for Cleaveland & Cleaveland. The Governor named her to the 19th Judicial Circuit, which covers Indian River, Martin, Okeechobee and St. Lucie counties.

Steve Wilson of Vero Beach will join Mish there. A former Assistant State Attorney for the 19th Circuit, he has been an associate attorney at Rossway Swan Tierney Barry & Oliver since 2021.

He’s filling a vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Lawrence Mirman, an ex-Gov. Jeb Bush.

Kenneth Johnson, an Elkton lawyer, is also bound for the Putnam County Court after 16 years of service as an Assistant State Attorney for the 7th Judicial Circuit. He prosecuted cases in the 2nd Judicial Circuit.

Johnson fills a vacancy created by the Nov. 30 retirement of Elizabeth Morris, the 7th Judicial Circuit’s longest-serving judge.

Miller earned her Juris Doctor from Florida Coastal School of Law; Talbot earned his from Mercer University; Mish and Johnson earned their law degrees from Florida State University; and Wilson learned to practice law at the Thomas Goode Jones School.

Sen. Joe Gruters still wants to see rules in place for public smoking of marijuana, should decriminalization occur.

The Sarasota Republican refiled a bill (SB 986) to regulate all smoking in public. It’s a bill he first promised to pursue when he endorsed a Florida constitutional amendment allowing the legal adult use of cannabis in Florida, and he filed the bill even after the measure fell short of passage.

Gruters put the bill in the hopper again days after President Donald Trump signed an executive order rescheduling pot from Schedule I to Schedule III. While that does not legalize marijuana for recreational use, it significantly changes how law enforcement treats the drug. Schedule III includes drugs with a “moderate to low potential for physical and psychological dependence,” like products containing less than 90 milligrams of codeine per dosage unit (Tylenol with codeine), ketamine, anabolic steroids and testosterone.

Many observers see the move as a step closer to regular consumption of marijuana without the threat of arrest.

Gruters has always presented his bill as a guardrail against many of the issues surrounding legalization in other states, such as the constant presence of marijuana smoke. His bill adds marijuana to existing legislation about the health hazard of secondhand tobacco smoking.

“It’s time to decriminalize, and I think we can control the time, place and manner,” Gruters said when he filed a similar bill last year. “That last bit is where this bill comes into play. I think Florida does not want to be like Las Vegas or New York.”

It also clearly defines public smoking as consumption anywhere the broader public has access to, including streets, sidewalks, highways, public parks, public beaches, and the common areas, both inside and outside, of schools, hospitals, government buildings, apartment buildings, office buildings, lodging, establishments, restaurants, transportation facilities and retail shops.

The bill also includes vaping in the restrictions, including with both tobacco and marijuana products.

Of note, Gruters previously championed legislation that allows local governments to restrict smoking in public parks and beaches. Gov. Ron DeSantis signed that bill in 2022.

Last Call – A prime-time read of what’s going down in Florida politics.

First Shot

With Senate President Ben Albritton eager to move quickly on his “rural renaissance” agenda, the Florida Senate is lining up early floor action when the 2026 Legislative Session gavels in next month.

The 60-day Session is scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. Jan. 13, when Gov. Ron DeSantis delivers his annual State of the State address. According to a tentative calendar posted by the Senate, floor Sessions are also planned for Jan. 14 and Jan. 15.

Albritton has said he expects the Senate to take up his rural renaissance package during the opening week. The proposal, SB 250, sponsored by Tallahassee Republican Sen. Corey Simon, aims to boost health care access, education, transportation, and economic development in rural communities.

A similar Senate-backed package advanced during the 2025 Session but stalled after being sliced into multiple bills in the House.

Senate Committees expect to meet throughout the first two weeks of Session, with another floor Session tentatively set for Jan. 22. As of Monday morning, the House had not yet posted its initial schedule.

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The Senate is bringing back its Foodie Frolic series for the 2026 Legislative Session, continuing an initiative that blends culinary flair with workforce development.

Now entering its fourth year, the series was launched under former Senate President Kathleen Passidomo to spotlight career and technical education programs tied to real-world job opportunities. Past events have featured student chefs from institutions such as Florida State University, the University of Central Florida’s Rosen College of Hospitality Management, Keiser University, and Lively Technical College.

This year’s Foodie Frolics will place a special focus on Feeding Florida and its network of food banks, highlighting culinary workforce training, job placement, and disaster-response programs. Several events will showcase students working through Feeding Florida partners, with an emphasis on how food distribution efforts can double as pathways to employment.

The series kicks off on Opening Day, Jan. 13, with a luncheon for Senators and their families hosted by Feeding South Florida and the Treasure Coast Food Bank. Additional luncheons and receptions are scheduled throughout February, including events featuring Florida Gulf Coast University and a special recognition lunch honoring Senate spouses.

All events are set to take place at the Senate Portico, with exact times to be announced closer to each date.

Evening Reads

—“2025 was the year everything changed for the U.S. and China” via Joshua Keating of Vox

—”Donald Trump’s DNA dragnet: The law that turns us all into suspects” via Alex Ashley of Rolling Stone

—“CBS and CNN are being sacrificed to Trump” via Franklin Foer of The Atlantic

—”‘He was poisoned.’ Toxic fumes on planes blamed for deaths of pilots and crew” via Benjamin Katz of The Wall Street Journal

—”An exile of luxury and impunity for the fallen Syrian dictator” via Erika Solomon, Christiaan Triebert, Haley Willis and Ahmad Mhidi of The New York Times

—”They survived a Cybertruck crash. Then a fire killed them.” via Faiz Siddiqui and Artur Galocha of The Washington Post

—”OpenAI’s child exploitation reports increased sharply this year” via Maddy Varner of WIRED

—“‘It felt like an endless maze:’ An inside account of a Tallahassee economic development defeat” via Red Tape Florida

—“Tom Leek will carry AI bill of rights prioritized by Gov. Ron DeSantis” via A.G. Gancarski of Florida Politics

—”Joe Gruters files kratom bill amid growing government scrutiny” via Jesse Mendoza of Florida Politics

Quote of the Day

“Ratioing? … That’s the new metric of having a spirit of power? No, it’s the metric of being an asshole. That’s what it is.”

— U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds at the Turning Point USA America Fest.

Put it on the Tab

Look to your left, then look to your right. If you see one of these people at your happy hour haunt, flag down the bartender and put one of these on your tab. Recipes included, just in case the Cocktail Codex fell into the well.

Serve Sen. Joe Gruters a Silly Scandal for carrying a bill that would tighten regulations on the heavily scrutinized kratom.

Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings gets a Winter Wonderland for breaking records in the county’s 2025 toy drive.

The employees at Florida-based Heritage Insurance get a round of Angel’s Delight for spreading Christmas spirit to hundreds of needy kids and seniors.

Breakthrough Insights

Tune In

The Orlando Magic play their third straight road game as they travel to face the Golden State Warriors tonight (10 p.m. ET, FanDuel Sports Network-Florida).

Orlando (16-12) is coming off a 128-127 overtime victory over the Utah Jazz on Saturday. Desmond Bane scored 32 points, including the game-winning layup to clinch the victory.

The Magic is tied with Toronto for fifth place in the Eastern Conference playoff standings. If the playoffs began tonight, Orlando would have an automatic bid to the Eastern Conference playoffs, but every game is essential. Orlando sits a game and a half ahead of the Miami Heat, who hold the seventh spot and would qualify for the play-in tournament.

Golden State (14-15) is in a similar situation. The Warriors are eighth in the Western Conference, which would place them in the play-in tournament if the season ended today.

Steph Curry continues to lead the Warriors in scoring (25.2 points per game), while former Miami Heat player Jimmy Butler also averages more than 20 points per game (23.5). No other player on the Warriors roster averages as many as 14 points per game.

After tonight‘s game, the Magic move up the coast to face the Portland Trailblazers tomorrow before returning home to Orlando to face the Charlotte Hornets on Friday.

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Last Call is published by Peter Schorsch, assembled and edited by Phil Ammann and Drew Wilson, with contributions from the staff of Florida Politics.