From judge to attorney: Dannheisser stepping down from bench to serve as Santa Rosa attorney

Escambia County Circuit Court Judge Thomas Dannheisser is stepping down from the bench and back into a familiar role.

Dannheisser will transition out of judgeship on Nov. 23 when he once again will be hired as the county attorney for Santa Rosa County, the same job he held for 22 years before becoming a judge. His term as county attorney will start Dec. 1.

"We are very fortunate that Judge Dannheisser is willing to come back and help us out," said Santa Rosa County Commission Chairman Dave Piech in a written statement. "His experience both with the county and as a judge will do nothing but help the county continue moving forward."

During his last 11 years of presiding over courtrooms, Dannheisser built a reputation as an opinionated and thorough adjudicator who was respectful to juries and defendants alike — unwilling to rush legal proceedings for the sake of speed alone.

"It's been rewarding, dealing with people," Dannheisser told the News Journal. "Judges can really do a lot for people. A lot of people outside the system kind of have a misconception of what it is that judges do. They think that all you're doing is sentencing murderers and robbers.

"And, yeah, there are people like that, but the majority of people are not murderers and robbers. They are troubled people who have obviously broken the law. And, of course, the system does good work at handing out punishment, when needed, but also of guiding people through the steps of how to improve their lot in life."

That part — working face-to-face with people to help them whenever possible — is what Dannheisser said he has enjoyed most about being a judge. It is also the reason why he is leaving the bench.

"It is just kind of a matter of timing," he said.

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Rotation sparks return to roots

Every few years, judges are rotated between the court system's various divisions such as criminal, family and civil. For the past two years, Dannheisser presided over criminal cases in Escambia County. But his next rotation, if he had chosen to stay on the bench, would have taken him out of the world of criminal litigation.

"I would be entering a pure civil division where you are not dealing with real people in real courts and essentially that would be my courtroom," he said during a recent interview, pointing to a desktop computer in his judge's chambers. "I'd be doing primarily computer hearings with people on civil auto accidents and things, and that is not my strong point. I think my strong point is problem solving and working with people."

Around the same time he learned of his forthcoming assignment, he learned his old job with Santa Rosa County had reopened, and he seized the opportunity.

The job opened when Greg Stewart resigned as Santa Rosa County's interim county attorney July 28. He had served in the position since December 2020 when the County Commission voted to fire longtime County Attorney Roy Andrews over his handling of legal issues surrounding Waste Pro.

At their meeting Sept. 14, the Santa Rosa County Commission unanimously approved hiring Dannheisser as the new county attorney. His annual salary will be $205,000.

What happens when a judge is lost

Dannheisser's vacated position on the bench will be filled by a process that is already underway. The Judicial Nominating Commission for the First Judicial Circuit of Florida has selected five applicants for the position and forwarded them to Gov. Ron DeSantis' office for review and final selection.

"Any time you lose a judge — at least in this area we have a very good judiciary — it is a huge loss to the local citizens who we serve," said Circuit Court Judge Gary Bergosh, who currently shares a judicial suite with Dannheisser. "He is a really smart, smart lawyer, smart judge, good common sense. And obviously, he and I see eye-to-eye on a bunch of issues."

Dannheisser is not departing his judge's chambers without leaving behind a reputation.

"He will definitely be missed. He's his own guy. He is well-read. And the greatest thing about him is that he is respectful of all the parties," said defense attorney Gene Mitchell. "Judicial temperament is so important, and he's got it."

Dannheisser is also well-known for speaking about the correlation between crime and offenders from single-parent homes. He drives a vehicle sporting a bumper sticker that reads "More Fathers, Less Prisons."

"As a judge, you get to see the root cause of problems in our community," Dannheisser said. "You can pull someone's past court record and know what their issues are. You know if they've had alcoholism in their family. You know they've had prior overdoses. You know if it's highly likely that they've had a father in their life growing up, and one of the clear major issues that our community is failing in is in a failure to insist upon responsible fatherhood."

His fellow judges will miss his "passion for justice," according to Circuit Court Judge Linda Nobles.

"Tom has served the First Judicial Circuit with integrity and professionalism. He understands that he is a public servant and truly cares for the people he serves," Nobles said. "He is tenacious in the pursuit of justice. If faced with a bureaucratic obstacle to addressing a need, in either his division or the justice system, he will find a way to work through it."

Dannheisser has presided over highly publicized murder cases, such as that of Donald Hartung who was found guilty of murdering his mother and two half-brothers in 2020.

"I've had a few major trials before him. Nothing I've had has been less than a week, and he has been an excellent jurist," said Michael Griffith, the defense attorney who represented Hartung. "I think it is going to be a big loss to the community for him to leave the bench. He treats each case individually, and he just doesn't rush people through the system."

But Dannheisser does not consider big murder cases to necessarily be the most meaningful moments of his career on the bench.

"The biggest thing I'll remember is convincing a man not to go on disability because people get caught in the system and the system and the government tries to devalue their life," he said.

Dannheisser explained that he once asked a man in his courtroom how much money he received a month for being on disability, and the man replied $700.

"I said, 'Well, don't you think that the government is devaluing your potential? Don't you think that you're worth more than $700 a month?'" Dannheisser recalled. "And I just remember that one particular man because he came back in for some sort of minor offense and told me, 'Judge, I changed my mind about the disability. I am back in my career and working.' So it's things like that I'll remember from being a judge. Like that man acknowledging that it was positive experience."

Colin Warren-Hicks can be reached at colinwarrenhicks@pnj.com or 850-435-8680.