Justice Ricky Polston

Justice Ricky Polston

Former Florida Supreme Court Justice Ricky Polston is a native of Graceville, a small farming community in the panhandle of Florida.  He graduated from Chipola College in 1975 with an associate’s degree. He went on to earn a bachelor’s degree, summa cum laude, from Florida State University, where he was named FSU’s Most Outstanding Accounting Student and was inducted into the Beta Alpha Psi Honorary Accounting Society.  Following graduation, he became a certified public accountant and practiced accounting with Deloitte Haskins & Sells in the Tampa office for seven years, concluding as an audit manager.  He returned to FSU for his law degree.  Although no longer practicing accounting, he remains a CPA and is a member of the Florida Institute of CPA's and the American Institute of CPA's.

In 1986, Polston obtained a juris doctorate with high honors from Florida State University College of Law.  He was a member of the Florida State University Law Review and the Order of the Coif.  After becoming a member of the Florida Bar, he worked in private law practice in Tallahassee for 14 years, primarily in commercial litigation and was a certified circuit court mediator.  He received a Martindale-Hubbell AV rating and was included in the Bar Register of Preeminent Attorneys.  He was a member of the Tallahassee Bar Association and Tallahassee’s American Inn of Court (former Treasurer).  He was admitted to practice before the United States District Court, Northern District of Florida; United States District Court, Middle District of Florida; United States District Court, Southern District of Florida; United States Tax Court; United States Court of Appeals, Eleventh Circuit; United States Court of Federal Claims; United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and the United States Supreme Court.

Polston became a judge at the Florida First District Court of Appeal in 2001 until becoming a Justice of the Florida Supreme Court in 2008.  He has served a two-year term as Chief Justice of the Florida Supreme Court in 2012-14, as Administrative Justice for many terms, and has been on numerous Bar and Court committees and as the Court’s liaison to them.  Since 2003, he has been an adjunct professor at the Florida State University College of Law, teaching various courses including Florida Constitutional Law, Insurance Law, and Florida Alternative Dispute Resolution.    

In 2013, Polston was honored to receive Florida State University’s Circle of Gold recognition (Recipients are selected based on their dedication and loyalty to the university, and how they exemplify the Alumni Association’s core values of tradition, leadership, family, spirit and greatness).   Chipola College named Polston its 2021 Alumnus of the Year.  That same year he also received the LeRoy Collins Distinguished Alumni Lifetime Achievement Award from the Association of Florida Colleges.            

Polston and his wife, Deborah Ehler Polston, have been married 45 years, have ten children, including an adopted sibling group of six, and numerous grandchildren.  He has been involved in his church, including being an elder, deacon, and teacher of various student and adult classes.

Polston resigned from the Court on March 31, 2023, to become General Counsel and Chief Legal Officer at Citizens Property Insurance Corporation.