Judges

On July 1, 2019, Judge Ellen Sly Masters became Chief Judge of the Tenth Judicial Circuit, having been unanimously elected to the position by the judges serving in Hardee, Highlands, and Polk counties.

Judge Masters was appointed to the Court by Governor Jeb Bush in 1999 and has served since 2000 in the following assignments: Appeals, General Civil, Criminal (felony and misdemeanor), Family, Juvenile Dependency, Guardianship, Probate, and Mental Health. Judge Masters has served as the administrative judge for several of these divisions.

Judge Masters received her J.D. from Stetson University College of Law Cum Laude in 1989. She worked part-time while earning her B.A. from the University of South Florida Summa Cum Laude in 1985. She also worked full-time while earning her A.A. and the Board of Trustees Academic Award from Polk Community College in 1983.

The Chief Justice of the Florida Supreme Court appointed Judge Masters to serve on the Steering Committee for Family and Children in the Court in 2020. In 2002, Judge Masters was appointed to serve on the Florida Supreme Court Commission on Trial Court Performance and Accountability and she continued to serve through June, 2020, completing seventeen years of service. She also served on the Trial Court Statistics and Workload Committee from 2007 to 2020, including several years as Chair. Since 2008, Judge Masters has continued to be appointed to serve in the Mentor Program that is a component of the Florida Judicial College. She became a mentor judge, then a trainer for other mentors, and finally a coordinator for the program. In the 2006-07 academic year, Judge Masters served as President of the Willson American Inn of Court.

The Polk County Trial Lawyers’ Association presented Judge Masters with the Karla Foreman Wright Award for professionalism, courtesy, and leadership in 2014. In 2009, she received the Polk Community College Distinguished Alumnus Award. In 2008, Judge Masters was honored to receive the Professionalism Award from the Tenth Judicial Circuit Professionalism Committee and the Willson American Inn of Court.

In private practice, Judge Masters received The Florida Bar Meritorious Public Service Award in 1997 and The Florida Bar President’s Pro Bono Service Award in 1989. She served on The Florida Bar Grievance Committee from 1994 to 1997, serving as Chair in 1997. She also served as an officer of the Willson American Inn of Court and on the Board of Directors of the Polk County Trial Lawyers’ Association in 1993. Judge Masters became a Florida Supreme Court Certified Family Mediator in 1997. Judge Masters was admitted to practice in Florida Courts in 1989, in the U.S. District Court, Middle District of Florida in 1990, and in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit in 1994.