Bob Butterworth - Early Life and Career

Early Life and Career

Butterworth was born in Passaic, New Jersey, and moved to Florida with his family as a child. He received a degree in business administration from the University of Florida in 1965, and a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Miami in 1969. He is a member of Tau Kappa Epsilon and serves on its international board of directors.

Butterworth was a judge in the county and circuit courts of Broward County from 1974 to 1978, when he was appointed sheriff of Broward County. He was appointed to head up Florida's Department of Motor Vehicles in 1982, and mayor of Sunrise, Florida in 1984.

In 1986, on the eve of his election as attorney general, Butterworth's ex-wife, Saundra, fatally shot their 16-year-old son, Robert A. Butterworth III, and then killed herself on a northeast Miami street. Police said she was mentally ill and had used a gun Butterworth had given her for protection before their divorce in 1976.

Butterworth currently has two children, BreAnne and Brandon.

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