Judge Barbara J. Twine-Thomas: Professional Background and Legal Expertise

The Hon. Barbara J. Twine-Thomas is a judge for the 13th Judicial Circuit Court of Florida in Hillsborough County. She was elected to the bench in 2014 and re-elected in 2020.

Twine-Thomas has held assignments in the Unified Family Law Division (Juvenile Delinquency) and the Criminal Division.

Prior to her election, Twine-Thomas spent time as a sole practitioner in her own private practice. She also worked for Stewart, Joyner & Jordan Holmes, where she handled criminal defense, personal injury, family law, labor law, and civil litigation matters.

Twine-Thomas earned a bachelor’s degree in biology and chemistry education from the University of South Florida in 1973. She then completed a J.D. at the University of Florida, Fredric G. Levin College of Law, in 1975.

She is admitted to practice in Florida (1977), the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida (1978), Georgia (1980), the Virgin Islands (1983), the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit (1984), and the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia (1980).

After graduating from law school, Twine-Thomas began her legal career as a Reginald Heber Smith Fellow at Jacksonville Area Legal Aid. During her tenure there, she rose through the ranks, quickly becoming a supervising attorney.

Twine-Thomas spent the next several years serving as general counsel for the United States Virgin Islands Water & Power Authority, the attorney general for the United States Virgin Islands Department of Justice, board counsel for the City of Tampa Special Trial Counsel, and a senior assistant county attorney for the Office of the Hillsborough County Attorney.

Her memberships have included the Hillsborough Association for Women Lawyers, the George Edgecomb Bar Association, the Hillsborough County Bar Association, the Florida Association of Women Lawyers, and the Virgil Hawkins Bar Association.

She has also been involved with the National Council of Negro Women, the Hillsborough County League of Women Voters, the Tampa Chapter of Jack and Jill of America, and the St. Peter Claver Catholic Church.