Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier is sending prosecutors to the office of State Attorney Monique Worrell to assist the 9th Circuit judiciary with a backlog of 13,000 non-arrest cases.
“The cavalry is here,” said Uthmeier during a Monday press conference in Orlando, appearing alongside Orange County Sheriff John Mina. “We've got a tiger team of prosecutors that we're going to be sending to help out. We hope she will take that help. We want to get rid of that backlog, those thousands of cases, and we want to make sure that dangerous people are put behind bars.”
While seemingly helpful, Uthmeier’s offer came with an acrimonious sting toward Worrell and her office.
“‘Resources’ are her excuse,” Uthmeier said, referencing Worrell’s comments the week prior as to why the backlog was so large. “The last couple of years, you had a state Attorney here who decided that she was going to carry out policies where she would not prosecute certain cases. Unfortunately, that violates our Constitution.”
Worrell's policy on on-arrest cases
Earlier this month, Worrell’s office sent out a new policy to law enforcement within Orange and Osceola counties stating that it would no longer accept non-arrest cases – when an officer or deputy decides not to make an arrest, either because they lack probable cause or for other reasons. Worrell’s new policy did include exceptions such as homicides, sex crimes, human trafficking, child abuse, drug trafficking, offenses, traffic homicides, animal cruelty, and economic crime.
Since the start of the month, Worrell’s office has turned down prosecuting non-arrest cases. According to Uthmeier, 90 cases were turned down last week.
“That's not acceptable, and we're going to be watching now with this policy,” he said.
Hours after Uthmeier’s Orlando press conference, Worrell held a conference of her own and said she welcomes the state’s help.
“I look forward to collaboration with all relevant stakeholders to put public safety above politics,” Worrell said. “And putting public safety above politics means being honest about the facts that this problem.”
"A Judicial funding issue"
Worrell said the backlog existed far before her administration began, pointing to four different state attorneys as far back as 2012, with each office holder having a backlog of about 13,000 non-arrest cases at the end of their terms. The smallest backlog occurred in 2021 under State Attorney Aramis Ayala’s administration with a count of 12,660, according to Worrell.
“This is a judicial funding issue,” Worrell said, referencing Central Florida’s growth both in population and the number of law enforcement agents, but little to no investment in state prosecutors’ offices.
“The fact that the court system is historically underfunded, and that we can't, out of one side of our mouth, say that we support law and order, and then out of the other side say we don't want to support the individuals who are producing that,” she said.
Worrell’s office has not reviewed all of the backlog, but said the majority of what it's reviewed so far is domestic abuse-related.
Worrell also noted that her office receives a flood of non-arrest cases from the Orange County Sheriff’s Office, far more than it does from the Orlando Police Department.
“I'll tell you that – that is about policy,” Worrell said.
Worrell explained that OCSO’s policy manual directs their deputies to file misdemeanor cases directly with the state attorney’s office instead of seeking an arrest warrant or making an arrest. OPD’s policy says officers can obtain a misdemeanor-only arrest warrant if they document evidence that the defendant is unlikely to appear for a summons.
As far as why the state is offering to help, Worrell acknowledged that the state’s actions to help her office seem to be motivated by politics
An ongoing political fight
“To have a press conference regarding a policy that came out of my office with law enforcement, without inviting me to the press conference, without having any discussions with me regarding the policy, is again putting politics before public safety,” she said.
In 2023, Gov. Ron DeSantis issued an order suspending Worrell from her state attorney seat. Andrew Bain was appointed by DeSantis to continue overseeing Orange and Osceola County cases. Both Worrell and Uthmeier acknowledged that the backlog existed under Bain. Last year, Worrell ran against Bain for the state attorney seat and won the election with 58% of the vote.
Earlier this year, a grand jury investigation into Worrell began in Polk County. Uthmeier said he was unaware of the investigation’s progress or if it was ongoing.
Shortly after the Uthmeier press conference, Worrell said statewide prosecutor Nick Cox contacted her to set up a meeting on Tuesday to discuss the details of the incoming prosecutors.
