State Attorney Monique H. Worrell and the Ninth Judicial Circuit community engagement team held their first Osceola County community townhall meeting at Kissimmee Civic Center Monday.
“The purpose of the townhall meetings is to be engaged,” Worrell said. “I want to get back to my roots, my community.”
Worrell discussed her plans to bridge the gap between Central Florida residents and the criminal legal system, and outlined her plans for a newlydeveloped Special Victims Unit which deals with sex crimes and domestic violence. She also spoke of her plans with the Central Florida Gang Task Force.
“This narcotics unit will look into cases that developed over the time of COVID,” she said. “I am aware of the rise of the use of the narcotic fentanyl. I am also aware of the increase in violence not just within the community but nationally as well.”
Worrell has also put together the Adult Civil Citation Program, which will allow adults with a first time misdemeanor to be diverted from the criminal legal system with participating law enforcement agencies using their discretion to issue civil citations for certain offenses, rather than making a physical arrest or issuing a notice for a person to appear in court. Individuals who participate in this program will be required to pay a fee, participate in educational programs that may be related to the misdemeanor, and complete community service.
Worrell said she wishes for these townhall meetings to be an open forum.
“There is no ‘I’ in team,” Worrell said. “We must all work together. I believe in transparency. We are looking at all of these cases. We are not just turning a blind eye.”
Worrell said the schedule going forward is to have two townhall meetings each quarter, one in Osceola County, and one in Orange County. She also runs the Power of the Prosecutor series on her Facebook page, which debuts the first Monday of every month at 7 p.m. Each month Worrell speaks with a different guest from various agencies and entities.
For information on future dates, go to the office’s website (www.sao9.net) or Twitter feed (@NinthCircuitSAO).
