Gov. Ron DeSantis appointed Katherine Mish of Fort Pierce on Dec. 22 to serve as a judge on the Nineteenth Judicial Circuit Court, filling a vacancy created by the enactment of Senate Bill 2508, which added seats in the state due to an increase in population and caseloads.
DeSantis also named Steven Wilson of Vero Beach to serve as judge on the Nineteenth Judicial Circuit Court, filling the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Lawrence M. Mirman.
“I am grateful and humbled by the governor’s appointment as Circuit Judge and honored by the opportunity to serve,” said Mish. “Having been raised on the Treasure Coast, it is especially meaningful to be able to serve the local community that has played such an important role in my life.”
Mish began her legal career as an associate attorney at Cleaveland and Cleaveland in Jacksonville. She has been an attorney for Treasure Coast Legal in Stuart since 2015.
She earned her bachelor’s degree from Florida State University and her juris doctor from Florida Coastal School of Law. She served as a legislative intern in the Florida House of Representatives prior to attending law school, according to her profile on Treasure Coast Legal.
She is licensed to practice law in Florida and in the United States District Court for Florida’s Middle District and Southern District, according to the profile.
Mish is a member of the Florida Bar, Real Property, Probate Trust Law Section of the Florida Bar, and both the St. Lucie County and Martin County Bar Associations.
At Treasure Coast Legal, Mish’s areas of focus are bankruptcy, family law, probate and estate planning.
Judges in the 19th Circuit Court rotate among Indian River, St. Lucie, Martin and Okeechobee counties.
Mish, 36, was the youngest of six attorneys to be certified in August by the governor to fill the seat of Judge Brett Waronicki after his resignation following his arrest on DUI and possession of drug paraphernalia charges in May. But on Oct. 9, DeSantis appointed Robert Stone of Vero Beach to fill the seat vacated by Waronicki, a judge on the 19th Judicial Circuit Court in Fort Pierce.
Stone had served as an assistant state attorney for the 19th Judicial Circuit since 2019 after being a partner at the Law Office of Stone and Stone.
Wilson, 39, of the Rossway Swan Tierney Barry and Oliver firm in Vero, is a graduate of Indian River State College, Harding University in Arkansas and Thomas Goode Jones School of Law in Alabama. Wilson was an assistant state attorney for 11 years, starting out on misdemeanor cases, moving up to the felony division and serving three years as misdemeanor supervisor for Indian River County.
Staff writer Lisa Zahner contributed to this report.