Florida Attorney General wants to hire more attorneys

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi says she needs to hire more attorneys to handle a growing number of cases.

Bondi this week submitted her 2016 budget request to the Florida Legislature. It included a request to spend nearly $650,000 to hire six more senior attorneys in her criminal and capital appeals division.

Under law, Bondi's office is responsible for handling appeals of any criminal cases prosecuted across the state. The Department of Legal Affairs also represents the state in death penalty cases.

Her budget request states that this past fiscal year, her office handled nearly 23,000 new appeals. This was an 8 percent increase over the previous year. Bondi's office states that currently her attorneys are handling more than 100 cases a year.

The Department of Legal Affairs has nearly 1,400 positions.

WFTV