With safety a growing concern in Osceola County, Ninth Judicial State Attorney Monique Worrell, along with Kissimmee and St. Cloud Police Chiefs Jeff O’Dell and Doug Goerke, hosted an Osceola County Town Hall Meeting.
The meeting, held Thursday at the Buenaventura Lakes Library, gave the opportunity for constituents to submit questions. During the meeting, many concerns were addressed. A common question centered around the state attorney offering pro bono advice for Osceola residents who can’t afford a lawyer.
“I believe that is a great question as it goes into the education to the community, so they know what the role of the state attorney office is,” Worrell said. “We are the chief prosecuting office in Orange and Osceola County. We do not offer legal advice; in fact, it is an ethical violation. For legal advice there is the legal society, and the public defender’s office.”
The growing fentanyl epidemic across Osceola is also a growing public concern. Worrell oversees a drug unit that helps prosecute those with addiction related crimes to those involved in drug trafficking. When the police chiefs, when asked about the growing number of cases involving fentanyl over the year, were asked, O’Dell responded, “I haven’t looked at the exact number versus last year, but I can say that it has been a growing problem in the community and the number of Narcan administered has grown as well.”
Chief Goerke agreed with Chief O’Dell in regard to the St. Cloud community.
Retention and recruitment have been a struggle for the agencies, the officials said. Worrell said she has been losing lawyers to the private sector in matters revolving compensation.
“We have been losing many lawyers to the private sector because what we can offer is a salary of $50,000 versus $100,000 (in the private sector) when these lawyers leave law school,” Worrell said. “This is causing strain on my office, whether the case load is too great, and the back logging.”
The police chiefs said they have been working on the matter in their office, as it is tough to be in law enforcement in the society we live in.
“We take our time to make sure we are hiring the right people for the job, people that aren’t going to abuse the system or cause harm to our community,” Goerke said. “We have an intense simulator that we put our officers through to handle the most severe situations so that we can better assist with better judgment calls.”
Worrell concluded the town hall meeting by stating, “My office is always open. Feel free to reach out with questions.”
She also said she will be conducting my town hall forum style meetings so that the community can address their concerns.
