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Peterman New Secretary of the Department of Juvenile Justice
Governor Crist announced today that Representative Peterman (D- Pinellas, Hillsborough, Manatee, Sarasota), who is from the Governor's hometown of St. Petersburg and is termlimited from running for reelection in the House, will become the new Secretary for the Department of Juvenile Justice. Former Secretary McNeil accepted the Governor's request to serve as the new Secretary of the Department of Corrections after Secretary McDonough submitted his resignation. Peterman, 45, is the founder and Pastor of The Rock of Jesus Missionary Baptist Church, a juvenile justice program administrator and was recently appointed chairman of the Florida Conference of Black State Legislators. He is committed to not expanding detention, and as a former City of St. Petersburg Councilman (1997-2000), he holds a special place in his heart for local government. Peterman would be the third Democrat to hold a major agency appointment under the Republican governor, along with McNeil and child welfare secretary Bob Butterworth.
Rep. Peterman will resign from his seat immediately and the process of holding a special election to fill this vacancy will continue forward. Darryl Rouson, who is currently serving on the TBRC as one of the Governor's Appointees, filed last year to run for Peterman's District 55 seat this November. Darryl Rouson, of St. Petersburg, is a shareholder in the law firms of Rouson and Dudley, P.A., a personal injury firm, and Rouson, Dudley, & Jones, LLC, a commercial litigation firm. He serves as general counsel for several corporations, including utility and land development companies. He is the immediate past president of the St. Petersburg NAACP and the first chairman of the Substance Abuse and Addictions Task Force of the National Bar Association. Mr. Rouson serves on the boards of One Church One Child of Florida, Inc. and Urban Development Solutions, Inc. Rouson first filed as a Republican and has since changed his party affiliation to Democrat. There are two other Democrats who have filed to run and no Republicans at this time. The dates for a special election have yet to be released.