ORLANDO, Fla. — Newly reelected State Attorney Monique Worrell announced a change in how the state will prosecute cases.
At a Thursday afternoon news conference, Worrell said that due to a backlog of cases without arrests, she will ask law enforcement not to give her any cases where no one has been arrested. She said they must obtain arrest warrant before bringing the cases to the state attorney’s office.
Worrell said there are currently around 13,500 cases in her office where no one has been arrested. She said the resulting backlog is delaying justice.
The state attorney’s office said this backlog was created because arrest cases receive priority, leaving many nonarrest cases on the backburner.
She said nonarrest cases involving homicides, sex crimes and child abuse will still be accepted.
The Orange County Sheriff’s Office denounced the new policy, saying in a statement, “The Orange County Sheriff’s Office received notice of the new policy last week and we do have some concerns. We asked the State Attorney’s Office to pause on the new policy so we could address those concerns, but the SAO declined and said they were moving forward with the new policy. We are not supportive of the policy in its current form as it could deny prosecution in some domestic violence and firearms cases and deny justice to some victims of those crimes. To ensure the safety of our residents and visitors, the Orange County Sheriff’s Office intends to continue sending misdemeanor, non-arrest cases to the State Attorney’s Office when appropriate. We would welcome the opportunity for true collaboration in this matter.”
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