Hon. Belvin Perry Jr.

The Honorable Belvin Perry Jr. is a Tuskegee University graduate, former chief judge of Florida’s Ninth Judicial Circuit, and a lifetime public servant from Orlando. The son of Jessie Perry, a teacher, and Belvin Perry Sr., one of Orlando’s first two African American police officers, he grew up under segregation and graduated from Jones High School. He earned a B.S. in history at Tuskegee in 1972 and an M.Ed. in student personnel services there in 1974, then a J.D. from Texas Southern University’s Thurgood Marshall School of Law in 1977.

Perry returned home to the Orange County State Attorney’s Office, rose to chief assistant state attorney, and in 1989 became the first African American elected—without prior appointment—to the Ninth Circuit bench. He served 25 years as a judge and nine terms as chief judge, the longest tenure in that role, managing a court system with a budget of more than $20 million. He championed a veterans court, the Central Receiving Center for people in mental-health crisis, and Florida’s Innocence Commission. As a prosecutor he had led the case against Judy Buenoano; as a judge he presided over the nationally watched Casey Anthony trial in 2011.

He retired from the bench in 2014 and later practiced with Morgan & Morgan. He has served as chair of the Bethune-Cookman University Board of Trustees and as a trustee of Florida A&M University. He is a 2026 National Black College Alumni Hall of Fame Lifetime Achievement honoree.

• Became the first African American elected to Florida’s Ninth Circuit bench. Perry won the seat in 1989 without a prior appointment, after rising from the Orange County State Attorney’s Office to chief assistant state attorney. He is the son of Belvin Perry Sr., one of Orlando’s first two African American police officers.
• Served 25 years as a judge and nine terms as chief judge. That is the longest tenure as chief judge of the Ninth Circuit. He managed a court system with a budget of more than $20 million and a docket that served Orange and Osceola counties.
• Built courts that treated veterans, people in crisis, and the wrongly convicted as more than a case number. He championed a veterans court, the Central Receiving Center for people in mental-health crisis, and Florida’s Innocence Commission.
• Presided over cases that drew a national audience. As a prosecutor he had led the case against Judy Buenoano. As a judge he presided over the 2011 Casey Anthony trial, one of the most watched criminal proceedings in modern Florida history.
• Kept serving HBCUs after he left the bench. He retired in 2014, later practiced with Morgan & Morgan, chaired the Bethune-Cookman University Board of Trustees, and served as a trustee of Florida A&M University. His own degrees are from Tuskegee (B.S. 1972, M.Ed. 1974) and Texas Southern’s Thurgood Marshall School of Law (J.D. 1977).