JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – After years of turmoil, racy headlines and questionable decisions, the public defender's office serving Duval, Clay and Nassau counties is under new leadership.
Judge Charlie Cofer defeated two-term public defender Matt Shirk, who refused to resign two years ago after a scathing grand jury investigation into his hiring and management practices.
Cofer said 12 people in Matt Shirk's inner circle resigned when he took over. That not only freed up nearly $1 million dollars of his budget, he said morale is the office is already on the mend.
"We're going to run things the way they should be run," Cofer said Wednesday. "Under my leadership, this community will be proud of the job we will do. We will fulfill our constitutional mission of providing quality representation to the poor, and we will do so ethically and professionally," Cofer said.
Cofer isn't wasting time making changes. He walked in at 12:01 a.m. Monday, his first day in office, and met with all 150 employees when they came to work.
"We had thought we would actually have a transition office here, but that never really transpired. Our progress was slow," Cofer said. "It made me a little more anxious about hitting the ground running."
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One of Cofer's first actions was to rehire four employees that Shirk fired the day after he lost his bid for a third term: Jerry Coxen, director of investigations; Joe Frasier, IT manager; investigator Angela Fouraker and supervisor Lori Williams.
"When you see good people lose their job, you know, it's very difficult, so I'm very happy I'm able to bring them back," Cofer said.
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Frasier, who had alerted the I-TEAM to issues in the office last year, was happy to be back. And he's not alone.
"I think the morale, just in the first day, has changed the entire outlook of the entire office," Frasier said. "You could just see it immediately. I think most staff was relieved to see the dark cloud removed."
Frasier said his firing after 21 years was retaliation because, as the IT manager, he saved emails that later were involved in Shirk's hiring scandal involving two waitresses.
"It's good to come in a work environment where you're not spied on and all this intrigue, back-stabbing, closed doors and people doing all these crazy things. Now you can come to work and work for a boss who is very professional and has high standards," Frasier said.
"The best way, I think, I can restore trust among the people we represent is to focus purely on the people we represent, Cofer said. "I have to keep my focus is the best way for me to restore trust within the community we serve is for me to do the job I'm elected to do."
Cofer said local public defenders are the lowest paid in the state. He's working on a new salary model that's a tiered approach that will reward long-time employees and not just personal friends. To help, he's not planning to replace 12 employees who resigned with Shirk's departure.