In the early years of Florida’s judicial system, judges didn’t just don the black robes many associate with judgeships today.
They dusted off their boots, saddled their horses and took to the dirt roads carving through the swamplands of the state – the blazing sun and thick humidity constant companions on their travels.
In the Southern Circuit, which included the area that would become Manatee County, the circuit judge would travel from Tampa to Key West to preside over cases.
By 1855, Gov. James E. Broome approved a bill that created Manatee County and outlined a local government which also included a local judicial system, according to Judge Gilbert A. Smith Jr.’s book, “Lawyers & Legends of Manatee County.”
Much of the county’s legal history has been well documented through Smith’s historical passion.
A kind, quiet and even-keeled man, Smith’s presence has been felt in Manatee County for decades: first as a bankruptcy and tax litigation attorney, and then as a circuit judge for more than 17 years – following in the footsteps of his own father, Judge Gilbert Smith Sr.
While Smith has presided in various divisions including criminal and dependency court, he is perhaps better known for his interest in documenting Manatee County’s history.
An author of multiple books about the county’s legal history and that of the Bradenton Kiwanis Club, Smith has captured the rich record of the county’s “small-town atmosphere” and the interesting and colorful people who have formed the fabric of its community.
On July 31, Smith will bid the judiciary adieu as he retires ahead of Florida’s mandatory retirement age of 75.
Much like his father, Smith’s legacy will continue to impact the Twelfth Judicial Circuit – and just like his father, Smith doesn’t plan on slowing down after his retirement.
Judge Edward Nicholas, who has known Smith for more than 20 years, said Smith’s retirement is a “huge loss.”
“He’s been an enormous asset to the bench,” Nicholas said.
“It’s a personal loss to me, because he’s such a dear friend. He’s followed in his father’s outstanding footsteps, and his father would be incredibly proud of his wonderful career.”
A Florida native at heart
Smith was born in August 1951 in Abbeville, South Carolina, to parents Alpha Shuler Smith and Gilbert Smith Sr., who served in the Twelfth Judicial Circuit from 1971 to 1991.
Following his retirement, Smith Sr. went on to serve as a senior judge until 1998.
Though not a native Floridian by birth, Smith has called Florida home since childhood and Bradenton home since 1960, according to a Facebook post by the Manatee High School Alumni Association.
Michael Hamrick, with the law firm Greene Hamrick Schermer & Johnson P.A., grew up on the same street about two blocks away from Smith, who was a couple of years older in school.
While the two weren’t particularly fast friends, Hamrick remembered Smith as being kind.
Smith became involved with the Boy Scouts of America at the age of 6, eventually becoming an Eagle Scout. His father, Smith Sr., served as the chairman of the Boy Scout Committee.
In 1969, Smith graduated from Manatee High School, continuing his education at Modesto Junior College and the University of South Florida.
He graduated with a sociology degree in 1974.
Before becoming an attorney, Smith worked with the Manatee County Work Release Program and the Florida Department of Corrections as a vocational placement counselor.
He then worked as a bank teller before becoming vice president of consumer loans, according to the Manatee High School alumni post.
Life then brought Smith out to Sacramento, the “Farm-to-Fork Capital” of California, where he attended the University of the Pacific’s law school.
He earned his law degree, returned to Florida and began practicing law in 1986.
He joined the law firm of Hamrick, Perrey, Quinlan & Smith, P.A., as a shareholder.
Hamrick recalled the two were partners for nearly a decade, and that Smith smiled and laughed a lot. In a way, he took after his father, known for his boisterous laugh that echoed across the courthouse.
“When I got out of law school and came back … I didn’t think I was going to ever be a judge,” Smith said.
In 2008, Smith threw his hat into the ring for a circuit court judge position.
The Herald-Tribune reported at the time that Smith was at a slight disadvantage during the campaign. His opponent, criminal defense attorney Connie Mederos-Jacobs, was running her second bid for a seat on the bench while it was Smith’s first time running for office (though he’d been elected as the president of the Manatee County Bar Association).
His background also focused on family, commercial, tax, banking and other civil law cases, but it was likely that whoever was elected would be assigned to the court’s criminal division.
“Smith emphasizes that, since 74 percent of the cases filed in the circuit (Manatee, Sarasota and DeSoto counties) involve civil matters and only one of the five court divisions is devoted to criminal law, he is well suited to the judgeship,” the report stated.
The Herald-Tribune made editorial recommendations for the 2008 primary elections, and among those the editorial board supported was Smith.
A Southern gentleman on the bench
Following a successful election, Smith took the bench in the criminal division.
“January 6, 2009, was a special day for me, when my father swore me in as a Circuit Judge. We became the first father and son team to serve as Circuit Judges in the 12th Judicial Circuit,” Smith wrote in his book, “Lawyers & Legends of Manatee County.”
For the past three or four years, Smith has been in the dependency court working with children who are removed from their parents for abuse, abandonment or neglect.
He feels the division has been really meaningful.
“So many of the divisions that the judges serve in, you are either resolving conflicts or sitting over controversy,” Smith said.
“You have to decide in either a jury trial or without a jury,” Smith said, “and so often, you’re trying those but you’re not having a direct impact as I am in dependency, talking directly to children, talking directly to parents. … It’s a lot of counseling.”
Many people, including Chief Judge Diana Moreland, described Smith as a kind, Southern gentleman who doesn’t get rattled during adversarial cases even when disrespected by those who appear before him.
“He’s the kind of gentleman other gentlemen and ladies seek to be without effort and without pride,” Moreland said.
Moreland recalled one case that exemplified Smith’s character.
Dubbed by the media as the “Sex on the Beach” case, it involved a Bradenton couple who was arrested in 2014 for having sex on Bradenton Beach in front of a 4-year-old and a witness who recorded the scene on video, according to media reports.
Smith agreed to oversee the case so Moreland could preside over an armed robbery and kidnapping case with a prosecutor who was toward the end of her pregnancy at the time.
The two thought that Moreland’s case would have all of the media’s attention.
They misjudged.
Not a single reporter sat in on Moreland’s trial. Instead, they crowded into Smith’s courtroom.
“He didn’t buy into all the hype and everything,” Moreland said.
“He just stayed on course. … He could have got up in all of the hoopla and stuff, but he didn’t.”
Judicial Assistant Donna McCammond has been an assistant for more than 40 years, according to Smith, and has worked with various judges, including Smith Sr. and Smith Jr.
“We clicked instantly,” McCammond said. “We were like two little peas in a pod.”
McCammond described Smith as having a calm demeanor, being very gracious and having an unwavering integrity.
“Every person who has ever appeared before Judge Smith has been treated graciously and very respectful, and he listens to people and he cares about what their needs are,” McCammond said.
“He loves children. He’s very compassionate for children.”
‘The importance of learning from your history’
Civil trial law attorney James Lynch, with Harllee and Bald, P.A., first met Smith in 2010 when he came to a Young Lawyers board meeting.
Smith was working on his first book and wanted to know what the younger lawyers thought of how the legal system was going to change over the years.
“There’s no doubt in my mind, he has the best collection of photographs and articles going back hundreds of years for our county,” Lynch said.
“So to be able to have all that in one place is amazing.”
Of those who spoke of Smith’s passion for history, many touched on how his passion shines through his presentations where he not only speaks, but dresses up in old garb including a jacket with long tails down the back, a ruffled shirt and a top hat.
“He’s very proud of Manatee County,” attorney Kim Bald, of the Harllee and Bald, P.A., law firm, said.
“This is his home forever.”
He’s so good at it that even the Sarasota County Bar requested he present for them, Lynch noted.
Chief Judge Moreland also worked in private practice around the same time as Smith.
Her office was on 12th Street and Smith’s was on the catty-corner across northbound Manatee Avenue.
While the two were in completely different practice areas, they met to do expert reviews and other paperwork.
Moreland knew Smith Sr. first as she practiced in front of him as a young public defender.
She described Smith Sr. as being “bigger than life, gregarious, (and) had a sense of justice that was unparalleled.”
Smith Jr., on the other hand, was much quieter.
“He loves listening to conversations,” Moreland said of Smith Jr.
“I think that’s part of his historical personality. And yet he’s social. He loves going to social events. He loves charities.”
Smith’s interest in local history deepened over the years.
As the president of the Manatee County Bar Association in 2003-04, he was interested in connecting the dots of how lawyers and firms began in the county.
He grew up surrounded by history with his father serving in the U.S. Navy during World War II and then returning to become a lawyer.
Smith began accumulating data and research before he self-published his first book in 2012.
His passion continued as a judge and then as a member of the Bradenton Kiwanis Club, preserving the historical record of the area’s vibrant community.
Smith said the biggest lesson he’d like judges to take from his books is “the importance of learning from your history that could help you in what you do every day.”
Added Smith: “We work for the residents. We work for the public.”
A legacy of community service, connection
Since he was a young man, Smith had been a visitor to the Bradenton Kiwanis Club, he recalled.
It was thanks to Judge Nicholas, who is also a member of the club, that he later joined.
“That’s been just the greatest thing,” Smith said.
“They’re such a sincere, serious, but sincere organization that’s all about children.”
Smith served as the president of the Bradenton Kiwanis Club in 2021-22, according to current President Jonathan Mullis, aligning with the Club’s 100th anniversary.
An enormously valued member, Smith not only documented the club’s 100-year history but also has brought in interesting speakers for the members to hear from, including the chief justice of the Florida Supreme Court.
Mullis noted that Smith has been a role model for the seven or eight judges who have also joined the club in recent years.
In his two-part book about the club, Smith details the start of what at one time was the largest Kiwanis club in the world.
During the Depression, several club members volunteered to create a mobile home park called Paradise Bay, which became the largest mobile home park in the world in the 1940s.
Beyond the Kiwanis Club, Smith is also very involved with the Manatee County Fair.
According to Lynch, Smith would set up a booth at the fair where members of the Manatee County Bar Association could hand out pocket constitutions.
Lynch echoed Mullis’ thoughts on Smith’s leadership and being a role model for younger attorneys through his willingness to pass along knowledge and talk with them about the legal system.
One of the themes in Smith’s books, he emphasized, is that community service is important and that many of the people he wrote about, especially the lawyers and judges, did a lot for their community beyond their work.
“I’ve always felt like volunteering and donating time in your community is as important as the work you do, but it makes you actually more successful,” Smith said.
He’s always felt that people gain more satisfaction with helping others.
Busy retirement plans
Smith noted that if it wasn’t for Florida law requiring judges to retire before they turn 75 years old, he’d continue being a judge.
Smith said that in his letter to the governor, he stated it was an honor to serve as a judge.
“I feel blessed that I was able to serve in the same position my dad did from 1971 to 1991,” Smith said.
He added that the Twelfth Judicial Circuit currently has a “competent (and) energetic” bench of judges.
“I will miss everybody here,” Smith said.
Although retirement won’t slow him down.
Smith plans to continue pursuing his passion for history, writing books and serving the community by continuing his involvement with the Boy Scouts of America and the Kiwanis Club.
“We just wish him the best, and wish him a happy, long retirement, and hopefully he’ll remain a member of the club for many, many years to come,” Mullis said.
Smith said he doesn’t plan on returning as a senior judge, but he’s thought of practicing law, possibly doing pro bono work.
He plans on getting involved again with the Manatee County Bar Association and supporting the judiciary. “I’m going to miss the people I’m with so much because it is such a good group,” Smith said.
“And they do such good work.”
Gabriela Szymanowska covered the criminal justice, courts and legal system for the Herald-Tribune. Support local journalism by subscribing
This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Retiring Manatee County circuit judge reflects on life of law and history
Reporting by Gabriela Szymanowska, Sarasota Herald-Tribune / Sarasota Herald-Tribune
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By Gabriela Szymanowska, Sarasota Herald-Tribune | USA TODAY Network
