ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — One local judge's appointment will make history, as Lisa T. Munyon will soon be the first woman elected as chief judge of the Ninth Judicial Circuit.

“My main goal is to come up with a plan to handle the backlog that’s been caused by COVID," she said, explaining that six months without criminal trials and delays added to the pile-up of cases. “I just want to be the best chief judge I can be.”

Munyon was elected by her colleagues, more than 60 judges, to the position and officially assumes the role, overseeing Orange and Osceola counties on July 1st.

The judge grew up in northern Florida; with a mathematical mind, she always assumed she would go to medical school.

But, after graduating high school early, the then 17 year old was dismayed she could not take a chemistry class at the University of Florida in the semester she wanted to.

Suddenly, her life plans changed.

"I shrugged my shoulders and said, 'I’ll go to law school,'" she recalled with a laugh. “I did not intend to study the law."

Law school led to the State Attorney’s Office and by chance met someone who would have a huge impact on her life: Belvin Perry.

“I could remember doing research for him and I was just amazed at how brilliant he was," she said. "I can remember thinking, 'I wish that one day I know as much law as he has probably forgotten.'"

Perry would later go on to serve as a judge for one of the most highly-publicized cases in U.S. history, the Casey Anthony trial. But at the time, he simply served as a role model for Munyon, as he watched her grow up as a lawyer.

"No one was going to out research her or outwork her," he said.

Other judges, like Dorothy Russell and Alice Blackwell, served too as inspiration for Munyon, who became a judge herself in 2003.

​“I had such strong role models that were female judges," she said. “Now surprisingly, more than 50 percent of judges in this circuit are female.”

“Advice I gave to Judge Munyon was ‘be yourself. You follow the things that you believe in,’" said Perry, explaining that meant following the oath, being prepared, listening, and relying upon proven leadership ability.

And now, as Munyon looks to take her spot in history on the wall of the Orlando courthouse, next to mentors like Perry, she is also thinking about the future.

“Quite frankly I shouldn’t the first, it should’ve happened quite some time ago. There needs to come a time when we don’t have these firsts. We just have qualified people," she said. “I hope that when young law school graduates … even girls in elementary and middle school see me, they see she’s an ordinary person. If I study hard, I work hard, I can do that, too."

“Before it was a barrier, you are a female, you are Black, you are Hispanic. Regardless of your gender, everyone has something to contribute," said Perry, continuing, "And while we have miles to go in this country, it says that in our judiciary … they picked the best person and that happened to be Lisa Munyon."