ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — Staffing issues at the State Attorney’s Office are turning around. New documents show changes to an office mired in turmoil for months.
Channel 9′s Ashlyn Webb spoke one-on-one with State Attorney Andrew Bain Friday.
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When Governor Ron DeSantis suspended Monique Worrell and appointed Andrew Bain, Bain described the office as “severely understaffed.”
“It was a little hectic. I could say that over the previous administrations, we average around 160 attorneys. We didn’t have that,” Bain said, reflecting on staffing when he took the job.
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Bain could not tell us how understaffed the office was then because he says the first thing he did in the new role was restructure.
Since then, records show he’s hired at least 17 prosecutors since he took office. Bain says there’s even more prosecutors starting next week.
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“So, we’ve hired, starting Monday, 25 since I started. I think we’d be up to 165 attorneys at that point,” Bain said.
Several of those hires aren’t new names to the circuit. They’re experienced prosecutors, who once worked in the circuit, but moved to other nearby counties during the Worrell administration or before. The new hires include two sex crime attorneys and a new homicide unit lead.
“A number of people left the State Attorney’s office because of disagreements with administrative policies, and how cases were to be handled,” Vescio said. “Under State Attorney Bain’s administration, they are being given the freedom to handle cases appropriately.”
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Ryan Vescio is a former prosecutor who worked in the State Attorney’s Office under Aramis Ayala.
Speaking of the Worrell administration, Vescio said understaffing in the office led to prosecutors having heavy caseloads and less communication with victims and attorneys. As a private practicing attorney, Vescio says he’s seeing the impact of the office is better staffing in the last several months.
“Victims can get a hold of their attorneys, can get statuses of cases, the cases are moving faster,” Vescio said.
Bain says the office still has a way to go before being fully staffed. The office has roughly a dozen open prosecutor positions they’re working to fill.
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