Toner primed for judge’s role
SPRING HILL –
His peers encouraged him to give the judgeship pursuit another try.
It set up perfectly for Stephen Toner Jr. this election cycle. He was the only judicial candidate to make the filing deadline.
In November, the longtime defense attorney will replace Judge Daniel Merritt Sr., who will retire.
“I had a lot of attorneys throughout the (5th Judicial) Circuit encouraging me to run,” Toner said.
Toner’s colleagues know him to be focused, professional, hard-working and community-centered.
Perhaps most importantly, Toner, 45, has developed a reputation for being even-keeled.
“I have a very good temperament, and the lawyers I’ve worked with over the years know that,” he said. “That’s a good quality to have for a judge.”
The last judge appointed in the circuit — Anthony Tatti — spent most of his career with the state attorney’s office. Much of Toner’s career has been spent with the opposing team.
He first joined the public defender’s office in 1991 and handled criminal traffic, juvenile and misdemeanor cases before being assigned felony cases the following year.
He left for Hillsborough County in 1994 to become a public defender down there but returned to the 5th Judicial Circuit before the year was finished.
He became the chief assistant public defender in Citrus County until June 1998, at which time he opened his private practice.
Toner’s wife also is an attorney, and the two of them run a practice out of their office off U.S. 19.
Toner said he never loses sight of the significance of defending someone during a criminal trial. No matter how many he has handled, he makes sure the man or woman seated next to him in the courtroom is given his fullest attention.
“That’s the biggest case in their life,” he said.
He called himself a “word-of-mouth lawyer” as opposed to an advertisement lawyer. He usually didn’t cooperate much with the media whenever he defended a suspect in a high-profile case because it wouldn’t do much good.
Reporters who covered Toner’s cases would automatically write so-and-so’s attorney had no comment — without ever calling him. They knew Toner wasn’t going to speak out of turn about a case until it was settled, he said.
Brooksville attorney Jimmy Brown said Toner’s transition from public defender to private practice was “seamless,” and he expects his move to the bench will be just as successful.
“As a practicing attorney, he has always been thoroughly prepared, and I suspect he will carry that over to the bench, too,” Brown said.
Toner has tried four times to become a judge. The first time he ran was in 2005. He was a finalist last year when Tatti was hand-picked by Gov. Rick Scott. He kept at it because his colleagues gave him the confidence to do so, he said.
Toner, a native of southern New Jersey, said he and his family have made Hernando County home because they like the area’s diversity and small-town feel.
He has emphasized community service since his prep school days.
A lifetime member of the National Eagle Scout Association, Toner has served as president of the Hernando Bar Association and remains active with the Citrus-Hernando American Inn of Court.
He said he has made it a point to practice law where he lives because he relishes where he lives.
“It’s home,” he said of Hernando. “That’s the bottom line. It’s home.”
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