Site focuses on 2021 incident in which the judge released a murder suspect from Osceola County jail on his own recognizance
By Norine Dworkin
VoxPopuli
This story, which originally appeared at Winter Garden VoxPopuli, is part of the News Collaborative of Central Florida, an initiative of independent local news outlets working towards a more informed and engaged Central Florida.
A certain campaign website has been quietly circulating in the legal community for the past few weeks — and its contents are explosive.
Headlined “MIKAELA NIX: FLORIDA’S COURT JESTER. TIME TO END THE CIRCUS. JUSTICE ISN’T A JOKE,” the site features four billboard-like graphics, accusing the Ninth Circuit judge of corruption, favoritism, incompetence and massive personal debt.
No individual or group has claimed authorship of the site.
Nix, 43, was elected in 2020 to the Ninth Circuit Court where she currently hears family law cases. A Republican who once ran for state representative, Nix is being challenged for re-election in the nonpartisan Aug. 18 election by Charles Hart, chair of the Orange County Republican Executive Committee, and private practice attorney Temika Hampton-Johnson.
Numbers trouble
The site also claims that Nix is “nearly $600,00 in debt and near the verge of foreclosure.”
Mortgage documents show that Nix and her husband Shands U. Walker took out a $595,200 loan in November 2024 for an Apopka home. The site links to court documents, filed in Ninth Circuit Court in February, showing that Nix and Walker ceased making payments on the Apopka home in August 2025 and currently owe $$591,086.84. Documents also show that Nix separately signed a promissory note for the entire mortgage amount in November 2024. U.S. Bank Trust National began the foreclosure process in February.
The site further highlights a 2021 incident in which the judge released a murder suspect from Osceola County jail on his own recognizance. Linking to reporting done by WFTV Channel 9, the site states that Nix “couldn’t do basic math, signing off on a murderer’s release because she failed to verify dates that a defense attorney had clearly miscalculated.”
According to WFTV 9, the defense attorney for Jamond Lamb argued before Nix that his client should be released from jail because prosecutors had not filed charges within 30 days of his arrest as required by law. The attorney claimed Lamb had been in jail for 33 days. Nix released Lamb on his own recognizance while prosecutors fumed that Nix and the defense attorney miscounted the days he had actually been in jail. Prosecutors also said they were not alerted that Lamb had been let go. Court records show the order was rescinded a day later and Lamb returned to jail days later.
For more on this topic, go to an updated version of the story at VoxPopuli.
