Two Chipley natives sworn in as attorneys

CHIPLEY – County Judge Colby Peel swore in two Chipley High School graduates who recently passed the Florida bar exam. Emily Barrentine Shilts and Michelle Blankenship Tagert now enter their careers as attorneys.

“It’s an honor and a privilege,” Peel said.

Tagert graduated from CHS in 2001 and earned both a bachelor of science degree on psychology and a juris doctor degree from Florida State University.

She is the daughter of Mary Lee and the late Michael Blankenship of Chipley. Grandparents are June and the late Marion Johns and the late Gene Blankenship of Chipley, and the late Mary Lois and Horace Patterson of Graceville.

Tagert is married to Shaun Tagert of Chipley and they have a child, Lucas Michael. Tagert is employed as an associate attorney with the Florida Department of Corrections in Tallahassee.

Tagert said she was “very much so” glad the long path to passing the bar was over.

Shilts graduated from Chipley High School in 2000 with high honors. While in high school she was an attorney for Washington County Teen Court and was battalion commander in the Chipley High School Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps.

Shilts attended Gulf Coast Community College and graduated from Florida State with a bachelors in criminal justice. She began law school at Mercer University and transferred to FSU, where she graduated in May 2009 with honors. While at FSU she was a member of the Moot Court team and was president of the Law School Golf Association.

She is the daughter of Linda and Eddie Barrentine, Sr. of Chipley. Grandparents are the late Robert Sr. and Lois Turner, and Lemuel Sr. and Dolly Barrentine of Chipley.

Shilts is married to Matthew Shilts of Sparta, Wisc., an MBA student at the University of Wisconsin. She is joining the Air Force Judge Advocate General Corps and will begin military training in January 2010.

“My dad was in the military and I like the military life,” she said.