Qualifications of county court judges.

(1) No person is eligible for election or appointment to the office of county court judge unless the person is, and has been for the preceding 5 years, a member in good standing of the bar of Florida prior to qualifying for election to such office or submitting his or her name to the appropriate judicial nominating commission for appointment. However, a person is eligible for election or appointment to the office of county court judge in a county having a population of 40,000 or less if he or she is a member in good standing of the bar of Florida.

(2) A county court judge is eligible to seek reelection or retention, notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (1), if, on the first day of the qualification period for election to such office or a retention vote, such judge is actively serving in such office and is not under suspension or disqualification.

(3) Any person who was a county court judge prior to July 1, 1978, in any county having a population of 40,000 or less, according to the last decennial census, and who has successfully completed a 3-year law training program approved by the Supreme Court for the training of county court judges who are not members of The Florida Bar is eligible to seek election or retention and to serve as a county court judge in any county having a population of 40,000 or less, the provisions of subsection (1) to the contrary notwithstanding.

(4) Any county judge who is not a member of the bar, in any county having a population of 40,000 or less, according to the last decennial census, and who has successfully completed a law training program approved by the Supreme Court for the training of county court judges who are not members of The Florida Bar is entitled to serve as a county court judge in any county encompassed in the circuit in which the judge has been elected or retained in a retention vote, when assigned thereto.