August 12, 2026 • 7 mins
Meet Erik Swenk running for Seminole County Court Judge and learn what he wants you to know about him before the election.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hi. This is Andy Harrishu.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
I'm senior vice president of sales for iHeartMedia here in
Central Florida and sitting here with Eric Swank, who is
running for Seminole County Judge Group six.
Speaker 1 (00:13):
Great to meet you today, Eric, Yes, likewise, thank you.
My name is Eric Slank. I'm a candidate for Simla
County Judge Group six. I've been a hearing officer now
for ten years, presiding over administrative cases. This is part
of why I'm running. Professional experience along with my personal experience.
My family has lived here for eighty years in Central Florida,
College Park and Seminole County. So my wife and I
(00:33):
have lived in Wakaiva Spring since two thousand and eight,
where we have a twelve year old son. I was
raised by an Orlando police officer of twenty eight years
and Orange County Public school teacher of twenty eight years.
Public service is ingrained in my family, and through that
professional experience that I have, it's given me the tools
that I need to go on to that nets level
(00:55):
of service. And that's why I'm running for Simone County Judge.
What prompted you to for this office? Sure? So you
know I mentioned a professional experience, but it's really the
personal experience that prompted me to run for the judiciary.
So even though I was raised by a great household
Orlando police officer, public school teacher, that didn't stop me
from getting involved in the wrong crowd when I was younger,
(01:17):
and I faced some of my own life challenges getting
involved in those wrong crowds and was able to get
on a correct path and move in the right direction.
But it was that that personal those personal challenges that
led me to get involved in helping other people that
were facing similar situations and helping them get through it.
And as I continued to get more involved in our
(01:38):
community and more involved in different challenges that people faced,
you know, I started questioning how I could have that
largest impact on our county. And I quickly realized that
the judiciary, based on that professional and personal experience, and
the judiciary where I would have that largest impact, specifically
the county court, just based on my background. What do
you feel is the most important issue you want to address?
(02:01):
My most important issues is twofold one. It's the why
I'm running, and that's to not just hold people accountable
for what's bringing them into our court, because that's what
keeps our county intact and keeps people following the rules
and the laws. But it's that understanding that people that
come into our court, those causes that bring them in
are often accompanied by underlying conditions and underlying issues that
(02:26):
go unaddressed. So my goal is to be able to
address the law and make those decisions based on the
law that you know, I am required to do as
a judge, but if I can identify those underlying issues
as well through my community involvement that I've had these
past number of years, you know, I understand there's a
lot of community resources that we have available throughout our county,
(02:47):
and if I can identify those issues, we can take
those resources and apply them to address those underlying issues too.
So we have less people coming back into our court system.
But access to our court is another thing that I
really want to address. Access to our court has really
become kind of abridged from a lack of seats on
the bench. Of course, we all know we have one
hundred thousand people a day that move into Florida, and
(03:08):
with that, there's more cases and if we don't have
additional seats, it causes a clogged docket. So there's a
lot of administrative work behind the scenes that we could
do to create his additional seats and create better access
to our courts as well. What life experience do you
feel best qualifies you for this position. So the best
life experience, I would say one in broad answer, the
public service that I've been brought and raised. And you know,
(03:30):
I was a Scout from boy Scout, from first grade
onto Eagle Scout, and my son is now following his
same steps. He started in first grade and he's now
a star in his second year in troop and working
towards Eagle. The vice chair for Scouting America similar districts,
so I helped run that whole program for similar county.
But the real qualities are that personal experience of public
(03:53):
service coupled with the personal experience of going through life
challenges and understanding what brings people into our courts in
a way that allows me to empathize with them that
a lot of judges might not be able to do.
And of course that professional experience. Not many candidates can
say that they've got nine and a half years presiding
over administrative appeals similar to an administrative law judge using
(04:13):
the same rules of civil procedure and evidence code that
our county courts use. So all the appeals that I've
presided over as a hearing also this past nine and
a half years, are all under direct review with our
district courts of appeal throughout the state, just as our
circuit courts are. So I've got a lot of professional
experience that translates directly into county court. It's all of
(04:37):
that the public service, personal experience of professional experience that
qualifies me. What differentiates you from the other candidates running
for this seat? You know, I've already shared my experience
one of the candidates. The Florida Constitution requires a bare
minimum of five years as a bard attorney in good standing,
so it's a very low threshold. One of my opponents,
(04:57):
whence she qualified this past April, had just that five
years and one week. So it's a bare minimum, which
is it's a good standard, but most counties that have
a larger population and more choices prefer to have somebody
with a bit more experience than just five years. I
have twelve years as a practice of attorney in private
practice and two is in private practice, and nine and
(05:20):
a half as a hearing officer. My other opponent is
the incumbent. He's a sitting Judge's finishing his first term
and unfortunately was suspended for sixty days in the beginning
of his term, so there were some issues there that
kind of bring into question, you know, whether he should
still be on the bench. So I bring that question
to the people. It's not for me to decide, but
(05:40):
I feel that I am a great Canada and a
great choice that is separated from both of these choices,
somebody with the experience and somebody with the temperament that
our courts need. What would be your top three priorities
once elected? So the top three priorities would be, as
I mentioned, addressing our courts in a way that addresses
the law while addressing the underlying issues that bring people in.
(06:02):
The second would be court access, you know, just being
able to do what I can to bring the information
to the legislation that we need to be able to
start getting additional seats on our bench. The last thing
that I would probably say is helping build that connection
between the judiciary and the community as well. A lot
of people aren't familiar with their judges. Well, they know
(06:24):
what the roles are, but exactly what the roles of
the court are, of thresholds, what county court does, what
Circuit court does, and really just having the relationships. Many
of our judges you know, are on the bench and
they're just they do they do a great job, but
that's what they focus on. They don't really go outside
of the bench and into the community. And it's something
that I think would our county would really benefit of
(06:46):
having somebody that could bridge that gap.
Speaker 3 (06:48):
Well. This is Amby Harishu, Senior vice president of sales
with iHeartMedia here in Central Florida, sitting with Eric Slank
running for Seminole County Judge Group six.
Speaker 1 (06:59):
Thank you so much for coming into Eric, that was
my pleasure. Thank you for having me
Hi. This is Andy Harrishu.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
I'm senior vice president of sales for iHeartMedia here in
Central Florida and sitting here with Eric Swank, who is
running for Seminole County Judge Group six.
Speaker 1 (00:13):
Great to meet you today, Eric, Yes, likewise, thank you.
My name is Eric Slank. I'm a candidate for Simla
County Judge Group six. I've been a hearing officer now
for ten years, presiding over administrative cases. This is part
of why I'm running. Professional experience along with my personal experience.
My family has lived here for eighty years in Central Florida,
College Park and Seminole County. So my wife and I
(00:33):
have lived in Wakaiva Spring since two thousand and eight,
where we have a twelve year old son. I was
raised by an Orlando police officer of twenty eight years
and Orange County Public school teacher of twenty eight years.
Public service is ingrained in my family, and through that
professional experience that I have, it's given me the tools
that I need to go on to that nets level
(00:55):
of service. And that's why I'm running for Simone County Judge.
What prompted you to for this office? Sure? So you
know I mentioned a professional experience, but it's really the
personal experience that prompted me to run for the judiciary.
So even though I was raised by a great household
Orlando police officer, public school teacher, that didn't stop me
from getting involved in the wrong crowd when I was younger,
(01:17):
and I faced some of my own life challenges getting
involved in those wrong crowds and was able to get
on a correct path and move in the right direction.
But it was that that personal those personal challenges that
led me to get involved in helping other people that
were facing similar situations and helping them get through it.
And as I continued to get more involved in our
(01:38):
community and more involved in different challenges that people faced,
you know, I started questioning how I could have that
largest impact on our county. And I quickly realized that
the judiciary, based on that professional and personal experience, and
the judiciary where I would have that largest impact, specifically
the county court, just based on my background. What do
you feel is the most important issue you want to address?
(02:01):
My most important issues is twofold one. It's the why
I'm running, and that's to not just hold people accountable
for what's bringing them into our court, because that's what
keeps our county intact and keeps people following the rules
and the laws. But it's that understanding that people that
come into our court, those causes that bring them in
are often accompanied by underlying conditions and underlying issues that
(02:26):
go unaddressed. So my goal is to be able to
address the law and make those decisions based on the
law that you know, I am required to do as
a judge, but if I can identify those underlying issues
as well through my community involvement that I've had these
past number of years, you know, I understand there's a
lot of community resources that we have available throughout our county,
(02:47):
and if I can identify those issues, we can take
those resources and apply them to address those underlying issues too.
So we have less people coming back into our court system.
But access to our court is another thing that I
really want to address. Access to our court has really
become kind of abridged from a lack of seats on
the bench. Of course, we all know we have one
hundred thousand people a day that move into Florida, and
(03:08):
with that, there's more cases and if we don't have
additional seats, it causes a clogged docket. So there's a
lot of administrative work behind the scenes that we could
do to create his additional seats and create better access
to our courts as well. What life experience do you
feel best qualifies you for this position. So the best
life experience, I would say one in broad answer, the
public service that I've been brought and raised. And you know,
(03:30):
I was a Scout from boy Scout, from first grade
onto Eagle Scout, and my son is now following his
same steps. He started in first grade and he's now
a star in his second year in troop and working
towards Eagle. The vice chair for Scouting America similar districts,
so I helped run that whole program for similar county.
But the real qualities are that personal experience of public
(03:53):
service coupled with the personal experience of going through life
challenges and understanding what brings people into our courts in
a way that allows me to empathize with them that
a lot of judges might not be able to do.
And of course that professional experience. Not many candidates can
say that they've got nine and a half years presiding
over administrative appeals similar to an administrative law judge using
(04:13):
the same rules of civil procedure and evidence code that
our county courts use. So all the appeals that I've
presided over as a hearing also this past nine and
a half years, are all under direct review with our
district courts of appeal throughout the state, just as our
circuit courts are. So I've got a lot of professional
experience that translates directly into county court. It's all of
(04:37):
that the public service, personal experience of professional experience that
qualifies me. What differentiates you from the other candidates running
for this seat? You know, I've already shared my experience
one of the candidates. The Florida Constitution requires a bare
minimum of five years as a bard attorney in good standing,
so it's a very low threshold. One of my opponents,
(04:57):
whence she qualified this past April, had just that five
years and one week. So it's a bare minimum, which
is it's a good standard, but most counties that have
a larger population and more choices prefer to have somebody
with a bit more experience than just five years. I
have twelve years as a practice of attorney in private
practice and two is in private practice, and nine and
(05:20):
a half as a hearing officer. My other opponent is
the incumbent. He's a sitting Judge's finishing his first term
and unfortunately was suspended for sixty days in the beginning
of his term, so there were some issues there that
kind of bring into question, you know, whether he should
still be on the bench. So I bring that question
to the people. It's not for me to decide, but
(05:40):
I feel that I am a great Canada and a
great choice that is separated from both of these choices,
somebody with the experience and somebody with the temperament that
our courts need. What would be your top three priorities
once elected? So the top three priorities would be, as
I mentioned, addressing our courts in a way that addresses
the law while addressing the underlying issues that bring people in.
(06:02):
The second would be court access, you know, just being
able to do what I can to bring the information
to the legislation that we need to be able to
start getting additional seats on our bench. The last thing
that I would probably say is helping build that connection
between the judiciary and the community as well. A lot
of people aren't familiar with their judges. Well, they know
(06:24):
what the roles are, but exactly what the roles of
the court are, of thresholds, what county court does, what
Circuit court does, and really just having the relationships. Many
of our judges you know, are on the bench and
they're just they do they do a great job, but
that's what they focus on. They don't really go outside
of the bench and into the community. And it's something
that I think would our county would really benefit of
(06:46):
having somebody that could bridge that gap.
Speaker 3 (06:48):
Well. This is Amby Harishu, Senior vice president of sales
with iHeartMedia here in Central Florida, sitting with Eric Slank
running for Seminole County Judge Group six.
Speaker 1 (06:59):
Thank you so much for coming into Eric, that was
my pleasure. Thank you for having me
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