A new circuit judge for the state’s Big Bend region is being ceremonially sworn in on July 17 in what’s known as an investiture.
Gov. Ron DeSantis appointed Andrew Sheeran to the bench in March, replacing longtime judge John C. Cooper, who retired last year.
The ceremony will be 3 p.m. in courtroom 2-E, at the Judge Augustus D. Aikens Jr. Leon County Courthouse, 301 S. Monroe St. in Tallahassee.
Sheeran, a married father of nine, “spent 17 years with the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration (or AHCA, Florida’s Medicaid and health care facility regulator). He served as Senior Attorney, Chief Litigation Counsel, and Deputy General Counsel. From January 2023 until his appointment to the bench, (he) was AHCA’s General Counsel,” or top in-house lawyer, a press release said.
According to news reports, Sheeran was involved in the drafting and circulation of a $67 million Medicaid settlement agreement that directed money to the Hope Florida Foundation, which became a focus of a Leon County grand jury and a House committee investigation.
The deal, which resolved allegations that Centene overbilled Florida’s Medicaid program, ultimately routed $10 million to the nonprofit; some of those funds moved through other groups and into a political committee tied to then-DeSantis chief of staff James Uthmeier, now the state’s attorney general, which successfully campaigned against the 2024 recreational marijuana ballot initiative.
The chain of transfers triggered allegations by some lawmakers that Medicaid settlement money had effectively been funneled into political spending. The grand jury has yet to issue any findings and Sheeran has never been accused of wrongdoing.
Sheeran is a double Gator, receiving both his undergraduate and law degrees from the University of Florida. He was admitted to practice law in 2006, Florida Bar records show.
What’s a circuit judge do?
Among other things, circuit judges handle felony and juvenile cases and civil lawsuits worth $50,000 or more. The most recently available salary information shows that circuit judges were paid $200,836 a year.
Judges who are appointed must run as no party-candidates in the next general election. They then serve six-year terms.
Where will Sheeran serve?
He will sit in the 2nd Judicial Circuit, based in Tallahassee, which includes Franklin, Gadsden, Jefferson, Leon, Liberty and Wakulla counties.
An administrative order shows that Chief Judge Frank Allman assigned Sheeran to delinquency court and protectiveinjunction cases in Leon County.
What’s an investiture?
“In its original meaning, an investiture was the clothing of a new officeholder in garments that symbolized power,” according to Merriam-Webster.
Portions of this story were previously published. Jim Rosica can be reached at jrosica@tallahassee.com. Follow him on X: @JimRosicaFL.
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: New judge Andrew Sheeran, former DeSantis official, to be sworn in
Reporting by Jim Rosica, Tallahassee Democrat / Tallahassee Democrat
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Jim Rosica, Tallahassee Democrat | USA TODAY Network
