Orange-Osceola Public Defender pushes for more funding as cases spike

Orange-Osceola Public Defender’s Office cases skyrocketed by 5,600 this year in Central Florida, where millions of tourists visit theme parks and new residents are flocking to live.

Faced with a spike, Public Defender Melissa Vickers said her Office is fighting for clients in the courtroom and fighting in Tallahassee to get more funding.

The Public Defender’s Office handled 50,456 cases — up 13% a year from 2024 — in the most recent fiscal year, from July 1, 2024, to June 30, 2025. 

More than 75 million visitors came to Orlando last year. Tourists getting drunk and fighting each other, stealing or attacking theme park workers are arrested for their crimes with some needing representation from Vickers’ Office.

It’s hard to know the true impact of Central Florida’s legal system, since Vickers said her Office doesn’t track how many clients are out-of-state tourists versus locals.

“We’re the third-largest circuit populationwise in Florida,” Vickers said. “But if you account for visitors and tourists and all of that, we’re probably much larger than we seem.”

Her Office handles everything from DUIs up to death penalty cases. Recently, Vickers’ Office represented Stephan Sterns, who was sentenced to life in prison this year for murdering his 13-year-old stepdaughter Madeline Soto in one of the region’s high-profile murder cases this year.

Vickers warned that her Office is underfunded as the numbers of cases rise. She recently advocated to state lawmakers for more funding at last month’s Orange County delegation meeting ahead of the upcoming 2026 Legislative Session.

The 9th Circuit is getting two new criminal Judges, but no additional state funds are allocated for the State Attorney’s Office, the Public Defender, the Clerk of Court or extra deputies — all the other expenses in the courtroom, Vickers said.

“We’re asking the Legislature to fund the entire courtroom,” Vickers said. She wants the Legislature to fund $714,000, plus benefits, for her Office to hire six lawyers, two legal assistants, an investigator and a social worker. 

Through the Florida Public Defender Association, Vickers is aiming to get more state funding to increase public defender salaries from $70,000 to $80,000.

Vickers said increasing her lawyers’ pay would put it in line with other large counties. 

Her Office employs 192 people, which includes 127 lawyers.

Some are moonlighting as Uber Eats or Lyft drivers as they pay off their law school debts on their public salaries, Vickers said.

Vickers added that she and the Orange-Osceola State Attorney’s Office communicate regularly and work together to keep starting salaries at $70,000, so at least they don’t compete with each other in hiring. With other counties, however, that’s a different story, she said.

Vickers is also seeking an increase for money used to hire experts, conduct depositions and other expenses for cases, to $575,000. According to Vickers, dividing the number of cases by her current due progress funds costs $24.77 per case, which she said is smaller than other larger circuits.

“I’m not asking for above and beyond,” Vickers said. “I just want to be treated equally and fairly.”