FL Solicitor General Replacing Taj Mahal Judge

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Florida’s solicitor general is replacing an appellate judge who resigned after playing a lead role in building an opulent courthouse that critics dubbed a “Taj Mahal.”

Gov. Rick Scott on Monday appointed Scott Makar to the vacancy on the 1st District Court of Appeal.

As solicitor general, Makar represented the state in cases before the Florida and U.S. supreme courts and other appellate courts.

He succeeds Judge Paul Hawkes who resigned from the 1st District Court effective Jan. 4.

The resignation ended an ethics case against Hawkes that included allegations related to the 1st District’s new $48.8 million courthouse in Tallahassee.

Hawkes, a former lawmaker, was accused of having the project’s manager removed for questioning its cost and taking actions that exceeded legislative intent regarding the building’s construction.

Source: Associated Press