Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has announced he will appoint Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody LL.M. ’10 to the United States Senate seat being vacated by Sen. Marco Rubio, who has been chosen to serve as U.S. Secretary of State.
A fifth generation Floridian and native of Plant City, Florida, Moody earned her Master of Laws in International Law from Stetson in 2010. She attended the University of Florida for her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in accounting, later earning her J.D. at the school.
After earning her LL.M. from Stetson, Moody has since served as an adjunct professor at the College of Law and, as attorney general of Florida, has helped Stetson’s Center for Elder Justice train attorneys on how to help their elder clients avoid fraud.
She began her legal career practicing commercial litigation with the law firm of Holland & Knight while, in her spare time, supporting domestic violence victims who sought protection in court.
Moody went on to prosecute drug, firearm, and fraud offenses with U.S. Attorney’s Office. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency commended her for prosecutorial excellence and outstanding initiative in drug law enforcement. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement also recognized her for leading “Operation Round-Up,” which targeted violent and repeat offenders.
In 2006, Moody was elected Circuit Court Judge of the Thirteenth Judicial Circuit in Hillsborough County. At 31, she was the youngest judge in Florida. As a judge, she founded the Attorney Ad Litem program recruiting volunteer attorneys to stand in for absent parents of youth in the court system and developed a mentorship program for at-risk children.
In 2015, Moody was recognized by the National Legal Services Corporation for significant contributions to pro bono legal service and was awarded the Florida Supreme Court’s Distinguished Judicial Service Award.
After winning a statewide election in 2018, Attorney General Moody became Florida’s 38th Attorney General on January 8, 2019. Since then, she served as a commissioner on the Presidential Commission on Law Enforcement and the Administration of Justice, led Florida’s Statewide Task Force on Opioid Abuse, and chaired of Florida’s Statewide Council on Human Trafficking.
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