Gov. Ron DeSantis appointed attorneys Kristin Kanner and Elaine Carbuccia to positions on the Broward Circuit Court bench Tuesday, replacing the late Circuit Judge Linda Alley and the retired Circuit Judge Charles Greene.
Kanner, 56, has spent the last decade as director of the Sexually Violent Predator Program of the Department of Children and Families. Before that, she was a prosecutor with the Broward State Attorney’s Office, where she spent 10 years in the sex crimes division.
Carbuccia is a former staff attorney for the 17th Judicial Circuit, which covers Broward County, and more recently served as a federal law clerk to U.S. District Judge Raag Singhal, a former assistant Broward Public Defender who was appointed to the circuit bench after many attempts and was later tapped to serve as a federal judge.
Singhal had high praise for both appointments.
“As an applicant that had to wait 17 times to get appointed, it is not a process for the faint of heart,” he said. “I think the governor made wonderful selections picking Elaine and Kristin. Elaine will be an outstanding judge and my only regret is that I lose her as a law clerk.”
Before working with Singhal, Carbuccia worked under Broward Circuit Judges Martin Bidwill and Carol Lisa Phillips.
Greene, who now works as a mediator, retired from the bench earlier this year after 32 years of service.
Alley was first elected in 2020 and died Jan. 4 of pneumonia.
DeSantis chose Carbuccia and Kanner from a list of 22 candidates recommended by the circuit’s judicial nominating commission. In the coming months he is expected to make three more appointments to replace resigning judges Patti Englander Henning, Dale Ross and Elizabeth Scherer.
Rafael Olmeda can be reached at rolmeda@sunsentinel.com or 954-356-4457. Follow him on Twitter @rolmeda.