Hughes Hamilton Rice Jr.

H. Hamilton “Chip” Rice, Jr., Esquire, who served as County Attorney for Manatee County from 1983 to 1997, passed away on June 11, 2015. He practiced law in the private sector in Manatee County until his retirement in 2013. Born in Kentucky, anyone who knew Chip Rice referred to him as a “true Kentucky gentleman”. He was a graduate of the University Kentucky and earned his Juris Doctor from the University of Kentucky, College of Law, 1963. Chip was a Life Member of the University of Kentucky National Alumni Association. His legal areas of expertise included Local Government, Administrative Law, and General Litigation. He was admitted to practice before the U.S. Supreme Court, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Kentucky, the Middle District of Florida, and the Supreme Courts of Florida and Kentucky. His Board certifications, appointments and honors included the Martindale-Hubbell AV Rating; Florida Certified Circuit Court Mediator; Florida Board Certified, City, County and Local Government Law; Florida Board Certified, Civil Trial Law (1985 – 2010); Florida Bar, City, County & Local Government Law Section, Member, Past Chair and Executive Council Chairman, 1982; Florida Bar Certification Committee, City, County & Local Government Law, Chairman, 1994-1999; Florida Bar, Board of Legal Specialization and Education, Member, 1999 to 2005; Manatee County Bar Association, Member; American Bar Association, Member; The Kentucky Bar, Member; Florida Association of County Attorneys, President and Chairman of Board of Directors, 1991-1992; Twelfth Judicial Circuit Grievance Committee, Chairman and Member, 1990; Warren E. Goodrich-William C. Grimes American Inn of Court, President & Executive Committee, 1996; Manatee County Bar Association, Board of Directors, 1989-1990; Legal Aid of Manasota, Inc., Past President, Board of Directors, Member Ex-Officio; Stetson University College of Law, Adjunct Professor of Law; and U.S. Magistrate Judge, Western District of Kentucky, 1971-1975. Mr. Rice shared his time, talent and wisdom through his involvement with many non-profit organizations serving his community. These included Vestry, Lay Reader, Usher, Chancellor, and Senior Warden at Christ Episcopal Church; Diocesan Council, Episcopal Diocese of Southwest Florida, Member; University of South Florida at Sarasota/Manatee, Community Leadership Council, Member; Manatee County Coalition on Homelessness, Board Member; Masonic Lodge, Member; Manatee Chamber of Commerce Water Resource Committee, Chair; Kiwanis Club of Bradenton, Leadership Manatee Alumni. Additionally, he served in the U.S. Army as Captain (Armor) 1957-1961. Chip Rice was the recipient of numerous awards including the Florida Bar, Ralph A. Marsicano Award, 1997 for Contributions to Local Government Law; the Florida Bar, Paul S. Buchman Award, 1996; the Manatee County Bar Association, 2007 William C. Grimes Award for Lifetime Achievement in Community Service, the Florida Association of County Attorneys President’s Award, 1996, the Florida Association of County Attorneys Local Government Law Award, 1992, the Florida Super Lawyers 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010, and the Manatee County Volunteer Service Award, 2003-2006. The City, County, and Local Government Law Section of the Florida established the H. Hamilton “Chip” Rice award to be presented annually to the section’s strongest advocates for mentoring and education of future local government lawyers. Chip Rice is survived by his wife, Lester; his son, H. Hamilton Rice, III and daughter-in-law, Kim Rice; his daughter, Margaret Rice Owen; step-son, Phil Bartles, Jr.; step-daughter, Sarah Kathryn Bartles, son-in-law, Bret DeBenedictis; and, grandchildren Brent Haire, Taylor Ravenna, Lindsay Rice, Trace and Ronan DeBenedictis.