By News Service of Florida
Pointing to problems attracting new lawyers, a Northeast Florida public defender said Friday that state lawmakers will be asked to approve an $80,000 starting salary for attorneys in public defender offices.
“What we’ve seen is that it is harder and harder to get quality attorneys coming out of law school who are willing to work in public service,” Matthew Metz, public defender in the 7th Judicial Circuit, said during a meeting of the Putnam County legislative delegation.
Metz said he goes to law schools to try to attract potential new public defenders, including visiting the University of Florida this week.
“Despite this, what we’re finding is that fewer and fewer people are interested in public service,” Metz said.
“So to ensure that those folks are willing and able to serve, we need to ensure that we’re paying them adequately.”
Metz, whose circuit includes Putnam, Volusia, Flagler and St. Johns counties, said the Florida Public Defender Association will ask lawmakers for an $80,000 across-the-board starting salary for lawyers working in public defender offices.
He said starting salaries in some circuits are now $75,000 to $80,000, while in other circuits they are $65,000 to $70,000.
He said the total cost of the proposal would be about $14 million.
The 2026 legislative session will start in January.