Justice Delayed: The impact of Florida’s public attorney shortage
Turnover and vacancies are rampant among Florida’s assistant state attorneys and public defenders. It’s leading to delays and more plea deals instead of trials.
Right now, 577 public attorney jobs are sitting vacant across Florida.
We’re talking about assistant state attorneys who prosecute people accused of crimes, and public defenders who represent those who are accused and can’t afford a private attorney.
With that understaffing and turnover, the attorneys left behind wind up with higher caseloads. That can mean delays in getting cases into courtrooms and more plea deals instead of trials.
'Delay after delay' Woman's case went through 5 prosecutors before it ended in a plea deal
As a ballet dancer, Katerina De Lawyer is used to knowing all the right steps to take.
So, when she reported to police that another dancer at her studio drugged and raped her, she was intentional about every move.
“I bagged up my clothes. And I didn't touch anything in my back seat,” De Lawyer said.
A Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner documented she had a vaginal tear and bruises.
Police arrested her coworker from the ballet studio a few months later.
“It was just, like, delay after delay,” she said.
Three years later, her former coworker got a plea deal for Unlawful Use of a Two-Way Communication Device.
A judge sentenced him to 60 days in jail, five years of probation, 150 community service hours, and restitution.
He does not have to register as a sex offender.
“You had the evidence," De Lawyer said. "You had somebody who was willing to speak up. You had somebody who was willing and, like, wanting to go to trial. And to not even take that chance to give me that opportunity, it just was, like, such a slap in the face."
10 Investigates found five different assistant state attorneys were assigned to prosecute this case.
“[Each new assistant state attorney] meant finding time out of work to sit down and basically get, like, re-interviewed all over again,” De Lawyer said. “It felt like I had to try to convince every new attorney why this was important and why I wanted to go to trial.”
Low salaries and heavy workloads 'You just kind of feel like you're drowning'
Across the state, Florida has had a 95% increase in assistant state attorney job vacancies over the past decade. Assistant public defender vacancies have increased by 157%.
Miami-Dade County’s State Attorney’s Office has the largest number of attorney vacancies: 105 open spots.
Those numbers come from Florida’s Justice Administrative Commission, which handles HR for all those offices.
10 Investigates wanted to find out the context behind that data, so we sent questionnaires to all 40 public defender and state attorney’s offices in the state.
The vast majority of those who responded told us the number one reason lawyers leave is low salary.
Burnout and heavy workloads also came up frequently.
According to the public defender’s office in Hillsborough County, attorneys who leave often say they can’t afford to live in the Tampa area, pointing to the cost of housing, transportation, and their student loans. Their starting salary is just over $70,000.
JAC’s latest data shows that the office has 13 assistant state attorney vacancies.
“I have about five attorney vacancies right now,” Ed Brodsky, the State Attorney for Florida’s 12th Circuit said.
His office prosecutes cases in Sarasota, Manatee, and DeSoto counties.
“We have… felony attorneys that are carrying 200 cases, misdemeanor attorneys that are carrying 300 cases. And it just puts a lot of pressure on them,” Brodsky said.
Katie Ingram left the State Attorney’s Office in Pinellas County about a year and a half ago to join a private criminal defense firm.
“You just kind of feel like you're drowning,” Ingram recalled.
When a fellow assistant state attorney would leave, their caseload would get divided among the other attorneys in their division.
“So, when you have those cases plus your own cases that you’ve been working on, it definitely created this backlog where you’re just constantly playing catch-up,” Ingram said.
More than a quarter of public defender and state attorney’s offices that responded to our survey told us understaffing and turnover are leading to more plea deals.
More than half told us those issues are causing delays in resolving people’s cases.
“If that person was in custody, in jail, awaiting a trial, it's more time they're in jail,” Ingram said.
Justice delays can also affect criminal defendants who are out on bond.
“You may have certain bond conditions where you can't leave the county, you can't leave the state, so you're stuck. And I have had many clients who have been denied job opportunities or have gotten fired because their case hasn't been resolved,” Ingram said.
As cases stretch on, witnesses disappear. Their memories get fuzzy.
Crime victims sometimes get frustrated with the process and give up.
“It can be very traumatizing and just create a lot of re-victimization,” Theresa Prichard, the CEO of Gulfcoast Legal Services said.
It’s a nonprofit that advocates for crime victims and people who can’t afford a lawyer.
“Having to tell that story over and over… it's not an easy thing," she said. "And it's very understandable why a survivor might choose to drop out of that process or stop cooperating."
“We need to invest” State attorney says Florida needs more experienced prosecutors in courtrooms
So, what can the state do about this public attorney shortage?
“I think if we're really going to make a difference in Florida and impact public safety, we need to invest in our prosecutors, just like we invest in our law enforcement officers,” Brodsky said.
Since 2022, Florida has provided $5,000 bonus checks to about 5,000 newly employed law enforcement officers.
“They're important, but the folks that go into the courtroom and bring the court the law enforcement officers’ message and the victims’ message into the courtroom, to explain that to a jury or to a judge, are your prosecutors," he said. "And we need to have seasoned, experienced prosecutors in our courtrooms."
Last year, the state legislature approved pay increases of up to 10% to recruit and retain assistant state attorneys and public defenders. That was on top of last year’s 5% cost of living increase for state workers across the board.
This year, Florida lawmakers approved a 3% cost of living increase for state employees, with nothing extra for public attorneys.
“I feel like everything from actually being raped, to this whole process, then to the ending charge just very much felt like I didn't matter,” De Lawyer said.
As a dancer, De Lawyer used to feel absolutely in control of her body. That was taken from her.
“I've been dancing since I was 3 years old. It's my — it was my love and my career. I no longer dance. I can't even go into a ballet studio anymore,” she said.
Now it’s time to take a step in a different direction.
“I am actually taking the LSAT here in three weeks," she said. "And the plan is to go to law school. I want to be there for other women, and I want to make a change. Because this isn't good enough.”