A Palm Beach County circuit judge who was a leader in the Republican Party has been appointed to the 4th District Court of Appeal.
Judge Edward Artau, who was appointed to the circuit bench by Gov. Rick Scott in 2014, on Wednesday was elevated to the appellate court by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis.
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Artau, who graduated from Georgetown University Law Center and is the son of Cuban immigrants, replaces Judge Carole Taylor, the first African-American woman to serve on the West Palm Beach-based appeals court.
The appointment means it will be the first time since 1994 that there are no black judges on the court that hears appeals from Palm Beach, Broward, Martin, St. Lucie, Indian River and Okeechobee counties.
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While two black circuit court judges also were recommended for the post, one has since been appointed to the Florida Supreme Court. DeSantis appointed Palm Beach County Circuit Judge Renatha Francis to the state’s highest court last month even though she won’t be eligible to serve until Sept. 24.
Broward County Circuit Judge Fabienne Fahnestock, who is black, was also among the six judges and attorneys selected by a judicial nominating committee for DeSantis to consider.
DeSantis has appointed judges, including Francis, who are members of the conservative Federalist Society. The group’s website calls Artau a “contributor” and he has spoken at one of its meetings.
For the last several months, Artau has handled juvenile cases but before presided over civil disputes. The 56-year-old Boca Raton resident was working as general counsel for the South Florida Water Management District when Scott appointed him to the bench. He was re-elected without opposition in 2016.
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Before his appointment to the bench he was a precinct chairman for the local Republican Party and worked for the election of George W. Bush. He also worked as counsel for the Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections Office under Arthur Anderson.
In 1995, his role on a Judicial Nominating Commission sparked a gubernatorial investigation. It concluded that he shouldn’t have pushed for Maria Sachs to be recommended to the circuit bench because her husband had arranged for his appointment to the panel.
Sachs didn’t become a judge but later went served in the Florida Legislature. This week she qualified to run for a seat on the Palm Beach County Commission.
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