Darryl Rouson - St. Petersburg, FL

Darryl Ervin Rouson, Esq. has earned a reputation as a trailblazer in business and the community. In 1981, he became the first African American prosecutor in Pinellas County. In 2003, he was appointed the first Chairman of the newly formed Substance Abuse and Addictions Task Force for The National Bar Association. He has emerged as one of the Bay areas most successful businessmen as voted by Tampa Bay Business Journal.

Known as a trial lawyer he has counseled or co-counseled on large settlement personal injury, wrongful death and successfully defended criminal cases. Attorney Rouson has partnered and served as legal counsel on large real estate developments. Attorney Rouson has taken novel and difficult causes with passionate and aggressive representation. He has also been widely consulted on political and community affairs.

His successful lawsuit against a land-owner for gross neglect in a blighted area became the touchstone for a series of events that led to the community's first multi-million commercial investment in over 30 years. In 2006, he was instrumental in getting legislation to create a yearlong Drug Paraphernalia Abatement Task Force. It would recommend "strategies and actions for abating access to and the use and proliferation of drug paraphernalia".

"As St. Petersburg Branch President of the NAACP (2000-2005), he made headlines by demanding a fair share agreement for African-American and other minority contractors on the $41 million rebuilding of Gibbs High School in St. Petersburg. And when the city announced that a new cruise ship would be docking in the municipal port, Rouson wasted no time calling for minority representation on the ship's board of directors. One of his biggest successes: pushing the parent company of the St. Petersburg Times to honor a long-standing commitment to diversifying its own board."

In April 2008, Mr. Rouson's years of activism, bold leadership and community service culminated in his being elected to represent Tampa Bay-area District 55 which covers portions of Pinellas, Manatee, Sarasota and Hillsborough counties. He simultaneously served on the prestigious Statewide Taxation and Budget Reform Commission. He was also appointed to serve on the Transition Teams of Attorney Gener al and current Governor Charlie Crist.

Mr. Rouson has appeared as an analyst and consultant on CNN, Court TV, ESPN, FOX News, Rita Crosby Live & Direct and Kathy Crier Live TV. He has been a commentator on Bay area television programs including Fox 13 Your Turn with Kathy Fountain, Political Connections and Florida this week with Rob Lorei.