Ted Booras, a Palm Beach County judge for nearly 20 years, to retire at end of term

Julius Whigham II, Palm Beach Post
·2 min read

A longtime Palm Beach County judge will retire at the end of the year after nearly two decades on the bench.

County Judge Ted Booras plans to leave when his current term expires, a judicial assistant in his office confirmed Monday, March 4. A former Palm Beach County prosecutor, Booras first won election to the county bench in 2006, finishing ahead of Assistant Public Defender Jane Sullivan in a tightly contested race.

He has presided over cases in the county Criminal Division, including misdemeanors, traffic hearings and issues before the Veterans Court. He also oversaw small claims cases in the civil division at the main courthouse before being assigned to the courthouse annex at the Palm Beach County Jail in 2017.

Three candidates are vying to be his replacement. Defense attorneys Lourdes Casanova and Douglas Leifert and Jean Marie Middleton, assistant general counsel for the Palm Beach County School District, have filed to run for Palm Beach County Court Judge, Group 2.

Qualifying term for county judge to end in April

Palm Beach County Judge Ted Booras will retire at the end of 2024. Three attorneys are vying to replace him on the bench.
Palm Beach County Judge Ted Booras will retire at the end of 2024. Three attorneys are vying to replace him on the bench.

Casanova and Leifert are both former Palm Beach County prosecutors who now work in private practice.

Casanova founded the Casanova Law firm in 2015, with areas of practice including criminal defense and immigration law. She was a nominee for county judge in 2022, when Judge Melanie Surber was named to the circuit court. Gov. Ron DeSantis selected statewide prosecutor Stephanie Tew as Surber's replacement.

Leiftert is a partner in the Leifert & Leifert law firm with his brother Brian Leifert and has been practicing as a criminal defense attorney in Palm Beach County since 1995.

Middleton has worked for the school district since 2013 and was a staff attorney of the Legal Aid Society of Palm Beach County for two years prior to joining the school district.

The qualifying deadline for county judge ends in April.

Julius Whigham II is a criminal justice and public safety reporter for The Palm Beach Post. You can reach him at jwhigham@pbpost.com and follow him on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, at @JuliusWhigham. Help support our work: Subscribe today.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Longtime Palm Beach County judge Ted Booras to retire at end of 2024