Judge Matt Smith has served as a county court judge for Hillsborough County since December 2021. He was appointed by Governor Ron DeSantis. Smith is running for election in Group 21 and would like your vote on Tuesday, August 20.
Smith presides over county civil cases. These include landlord/tenant disputes, insurance claims for both homeowner and automobile disputes, debtor/creditor disputes and much more. Smith effectively handles a busy docket. When he was first appointed, he presided over dependency drug treatment court, Title IV child support, animal court and more.
Why is this important? Smith explained, “There is no substitute for judicial experience. Voters want to select someone who they think is a good judge, and the best evidence of that is the fact that he is doing the job and has a record.”
Smith has presided over thousands of cases since being appointed to the bench. Smith said, “A good measurement is to look at how a judge’s rulings are reviewed during an appeal. In the two and a half years that I have been a judge, no case that I have ruled on has been overturned on appeal.”
Smith brings discipline and years of trial experience to the bench. He graduated from the United States Air Force Academy in 1997 and is a veteran of the United States Air Force. He was medically discharged from the Air Force. He graduated from Florida State University College of Law in 2000.
Following graduation, he served as a prosecutor for 21 years, first in the State Attorney’s Office for the Second Judicial Circuit in Leon County and then in the State Attorney’s Office for the Thirteenth Judicial Circuit in Hillsborough County. He also served as a prosecutor for the Florida attorney general in the Office of Statewide Prosecution.
Again, this is important. Smith said, “As a prosecutor I was constantly in court. I have tried 160 cases to verdict and argued countless motions. Ninety percent of what a judge does is in the courtroom. You want a judge who has trial experience.”
In addition to the trial experience, you can count on Smith to be nonbiased, as he has effectively served in the military and as a prosecutor under the administrations of both political parties.
For more information, please visit https://judgemattsmith.com/.
