ORLANDO, Fla. —
It was in April when the 9th Judicial Circuit state attorney Monique Worrell announced a backlog in nonarrest cases of 13,670. On Thursday, she announced that number was down to 10,686, a 21% decrease.
“We still only got through nearly 3,000 cases in four months, and what that means it’s going to take more than a year to get through the backlog, and we’re doing everything we can to make sure it doesn’t creep back up again,” Worrell said.
To keep that from happening, she created a policy asking law enforcement to hold on to cases where they hadn’t made an arrest. That brought some pushback.
Worrell says they’ve found a way to collaborate so cases don’t sit idle.
“They come over and bring cases for us to look at so we don’t have to let them go set on a shelf, and I think this it’s better for the community because they don’t have to wait and have justice delayed,” said Worrell.
Worrell says the backlog dates back to 2012.
At Thursday’s presser, she talked about a lot off issues of burnout, the pay scale for starting prosecutors and high turnover.
“It’s unrealistic to expect that someone graduates from law school in May, takes the bar in July, starts working in the office in August, and they’re trying felony cases flawlessly within one year,” she said.
Click here to download our free news, weather and smart TV apps. And click here to stream Channel 9 Eyewitness News live.
©2025 Cox Media Group
