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Monique Worrell
Official portrait, 2021
State Attorney for the Ninth Judicial Circuit Court of Florida
Incumbent
Assumed office
January 1, 2021
Suspended: August 9, 2023 – present[a]
Preceded byAramis Ayala
Personal details
Political partyDemocratic
EducationUniversity of Florida

Monique Haughton Worrell is a former prosecutor and Democratic politician who served as the state attorney for the Ninth Judicial Circuit Court of Florida from January 1, 2021 through August 9, 2023 when Governor Ron DeSantis suspended her from office on the grounds of "dereliction of duty" and "incompetence" and appointed circuit judge Andrew Bain to serve for the duration of her suspension.[1] On Nov. 5, 2024, Worrell won re-election to a second term <https://ballotpedia.org/State_attorney_election_in_Orange_County,_Florida_(2024)>

Life

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Worrell earned a J.D. from the University of Florida Levin College of Law.[2]

Worrell worked as an assistant public defender and private criminal defense lawyer.[2] She taught at her alma mater for 16 years and served as the founding director of its criminal justice center.[2] Worrell was hired in 2018 by state attorney Aramis Ayala as the director of the conviction integrity unit.[2] In 2019, she became the chief legal officer of Reform Alliance.[2] In October 2020, she returned to the conviction integrity unit.[2]

In April 2020, Worrell, a Democrat, announced her bid to succeed her supervisor, Ayala.[3] Her campaign was endorsed by vice president Kamala Harris, senator Bernie Sanders, and musician John Legend.[4] She campaigned as a progressive and criminal justice reformer.[5][6] In November 2020, she was elected with almost 66 percent of the vote against non-affiliated Jose Torroella.[7][6]

She took office in January 2021.[7] Worrell became the second African-American elected as state attorney in Florida and the first of Caribbean descent.[8] She has had contentious interactions with Republican state officials. In March 2023, Worrell announced her reelection bid.[9] On August 9, 2023, Florida governor Ron DeSantis suspended her and appointed an acting state attorney to operate the office.[7] He accused Worrell of "neglect of duty and incompetence."[7] In September, she filed a lawsuit against DeSantis in which she asked the Florida Supreme Court to reverse his order.[10] This lawsuit causes a delay in the consideration of her suspension in compliance with Senate Rule 12.9 which states, in relevant part, the Senate process shall be held in abeyance and the matter shall not be considered by the Senate until final determination of a court challenge and the exhaustion of all appellate remedies. She has stated she will seek reelection in 2024.[7] On June 6, 2024, the Florida Supreme Court denied her Worrell’s petition for a writ of quo warranto and dismissed her petition for writ of mandamus,[11] upholding her suspension by Governor Ron DeSantis.[12]

A detailed review into the allegations against her by the Orlando Sentinel found that Osceola County sheriff's deputies errors had undermined the prosecution. Osceola County Sheriff Marcos López claimed Worrell hadn’t prosecuted a single one of the 74 drug trafficking arrests his office made in 2022. The investigation found that several of those cases resulted in convictions and that nearly half were still in process. It concluded that Worrell successfully prosecuted some drug trafficking cases while judges and state crime labs dismissed the others.[13]

Electoral history

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See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ Andrew Bain is serving as acting State Attorney for the duration of Worrell's suspension.

References

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  1. ^ "Governor Ron DeSantis Suspends State Attorney Monique Worrell for Neglect of Duty and Incompetence". August 9, 2023.
  2. ^ a b c d e f Cordeiro, Monivette (November 4, 2020). "Democrat Worrell on track to win office". The Orlando Sentinel. pp. B1–B4. Retrieved August 10, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ Cordiero, Monivette (April 13, 2020). "Fourth Dem enters race to be next top attorney". The Orlando Sentinel. pp. A1. Retrieved August 10, 2023.
  4. ^ Cordiero, Monivette (July 10, 2020). "Worrell gets boost from some big names". The Orlando Sentinel. pp. B2. Retrieved August 10, 2023.
  5. ^ Cordiero, Monivette (November 4, 2020). "Democrat Worrell on track to win office". The Orlando Sentinel. pp. B1. Retrieved August 10, 2023.
  6. ^ a b Cordiero, Monivette (November 15, 2020). "Worrell's win part of national wave". The Orlando Sentinel. pp. B1. Retrieved August 10, 2023.
  7. ^ a b c d e Contorno, Steve (August 9, 2023). "DeSantis suspends Orlando-area state attorney in second sacking of democratically elected prosecutor". CNN. Retrieved August 10, 2023.
  8. ^ "Monique H. Worrell". Office of the State Attorney Ninth Judicial Circuit. Archived from the original on March 1, 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  9. ^ Cann, Christopher (March 24, 2023). "Worrell announces reelection bid amid scrutiny from officials, law enforcement". The Orlando Sentinel. pp. A2. Retrieved August 10, 2023.
  10. ^ Rabines, Amanda (September 6, 2023). "Worrell sues Gov. Ron DeSantis, asks Florida Supreme Court to reverse suspension". Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved September 8, 2023.
  11. ^ "Opinion-SC023-1246.pdf" (PDF). Florida Supreme Court. June 6, 2024. Retrieved June 7, 2024.
  12. ^ DeLisa, Caden (June 6, 2024). "Florida Supreme Court upholds suspension of State Attorney Monique Worrell by Gov. Ron DeSantis". The Capitolist. Retrieved June 7, 2024.
  13. ^ Reyes, Cristóbal (December 8, 2023). "Special Report - Did deposed Orange-Osceola state attorney deserve blame for failed drug trafficking cases". Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved December 14, 2023.
  14. ^ Mazzei, Patricia; Robles, Frances (August 9, 2023). "DeSantis Suspends Second Elected Prosecutor in Florida". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved August 10, 2023.
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