The Role of the Seminole County Public Defender

The Sixth Amendment of the United States Constitution provides that anyone accused of a crime has the right to assistance of counsel for their defense. When ratified, the 6th Amendment was not seen as requiring the government to pay for an attorney for an indigent defendant. An accused who could not afford counsel could try to get an attorney to work for free or a judge might persuade a member of the local bar association to take the case. But many times a defendant, no matter his education or literacy, had to face the Prosecutor alone.

Gradually this came to be seen as unfair and courts began to rule that indigent people charged with serious crimes must be appointed an attorney. In 1963 in Gideon v. Wainwright, the United States Supreme Court ruled that the 6th Amendment required the government give counsel to all defendants charged with felony crimes who are unable to afford an attorney. And in 1972 the U.S. Supreme Court extended this protection to all defendants charged with crimes that are punishable by imprisonment.

In response to Gideon v. Wainwright, Florida created the first statewide public defender system. Currently there are 20 elected Public Defenders statewide, one for each Judicial Circuit. Brevard and Seminole counties make up the 18th Judicial Circuit of Florida.

The Public Defender’s Office for the 18th Judicial Circuit currently has approximately 100 employees and a budget of more than $8 million a year. It represents over 70% of all defendants charged in criminal court in Brevard and Seminole Counties. Besides indigent defendants accused of crimes, it also represents children in delinquency court, and people facing civil commitment for mental health reasons or sexual offenses. The Public Defender sets policy for and oversees a staff of attorneys, administrators, secretaries, and investigators.