ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – Twenty-eight days ago, Gov. Ron DeSantis announced he was removing State Attorney Monique Worrell and appointing Andrew Bain to take her place.
The move has faced criticism from groups that call the governor’s decision a political power play, but Bain says he plans on using his time in office to push back on violent crime and the toll it is taking on our youth.
Bain sat down with News 6 reporter Catherine Silver for an interview Wednesday afternoon to discuss the changes he has made so far, and his plans for the future.
“It’s going real well,” Bain said. “We’re reaching some really good strides. We’re reaching some of our goals, and really excited for the future what we can do in this office.”
When asked about how he learned he would be offered the role of State Attorney of the Ninth Circuit, Bain said he received a call about two weeks prior to the public announcement.
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“So, I got a pre-call, um, from a friend that kind of knew before I did and it was like, ‘Hey, you’re probably going to get a call from the governor’s office,’” Bain said. “I began to kind of lament at that moment. I had just started a new six year term as an Orange County judge. I was just starting to finally groove, you know, being a dad and trying to fit that into my busy life. There were a lot of people that were going to be upset about what was going to happen. They were going to have a lot of emotional reactions to it.”
Bain said he agreed to take the position because of his call to service.
“He had to tell me go serve at that point, so that’s what I did,’ Bain said. “I couldn’t really look at my kids and tell them, ‘Hey, you had the opportunity to help the people in your community and you chose not to.’ I knew it was going to cost a lot for my family, but I felt like service was more important.”
Bain may be new to the role of state attorney, but he is not new to the Ninth Circuit. After playing football at the University of Miami, he graduated from law school at Florida A&M and started his career as a prosecutor in Orange and Osceola counties in 2013. Then in 2020, he was appointed as a judge by Gov. Ron DeSantis.
When Bain was announced as the governor’s choice for Monique Worrell’s replacement, he quickly set the tone by sending out a memo to the public outlining his 100-day plan. It promised a “victim first” prosecution against violent crimes, drug trafficking, and major criminal offenses, along with stronger relationships with law enforcement and “second chance” programs designed to enhance diversion programs already in existence.
Bain says he is not sure if he has a tougher approach than Worrell when it comes to prosecuting cases, but he did speak about his experience as a judge and former assistant state attorney in Orange County.
“I can only see what I saw from where I was sitting on the bench, what I witnessed when I was at the jail in 2021, as a citizen living here in the community has been dealing with,” Bain said. “I was on the campaign trail last year and a lot of questions were about, ‘What’s going on in our community? What’s going on with the violence?’ I’m not sure if those different philosophies are going to be different, I just know that something needed to be done. I respect her for the work she did here.”
Bain acknowledged the challenges of the job as he heads into another month in this position.
“This is a crazy job. You have hundreds of employees,” Bain said. “It’s a lot to handle.”
He also spoke to us about the toll violence is taking on our youth, and where he thinks he can help find solutions.
“When you feel like you can’t learn, the system, especially our school system, turns its back on you, makes you feel like you’re not enough,” Bain said. “And then if you don’t have the support like I did when I was growing up, you know, I had two great parents that supported me. If those kids don’t have that then we’re just setting them up to be, you know, in my ball park when they start getting into middle school and high school.”
“What does that say about our community?” asked News 6 Reporter Catherine Silver.
Bain responded, “I think it says that we can do better. My office has been focused on doing better. Even this past week I’ve been meeting with community partners to say, ‘Hey, this is a problem in our community you may not know about, but if you can help me fill this gap, I can help save some of these kids. At least get them in the right position to help them succeed, make a right decision, so they can tell a gang, ‘No.’”
Bain’s office released a statement Wednesday following the shooting death of a 6-year-old child in Orlando last week saying “the murder of children by gang and gun violence will not be tolerated.”
Prosecutors say the little girl was killed, and her mother was injured, by gang and gun violence and the result has sent shockwaves through the community.
“It’s senseless,” Bain said. “My youngest daughter turns 6 on Saturday, so it’s something that kept me up for days and days until we got word that finally we started getting suspects, we started making arrests, and things like that.”
When asked how his office will handle the prosecution of the suspects in this case, Bain said they will have to “evaluate.”
“We will have to look at it. It’s an individual basis for the people involved in the shooting, and you know, it’s an active investigation so I can’t say much about the details of that, but we’ll definitely take hard looks and hard stances against gun violence and gang violence in our community.”
It’s the violence, especially among young offenders, that prompted criticism of Bain’s predecessor. The executive order that removed Monique Worrell from office claimed her policies allowed juveniles to evade incarceration.
“What the law says is what you need to do, so when the juvenile justice system, the Department of Juvenile Justice, when their capacities are met the juvenile justice system is there for restoration,” Bain said. “There is no program for a juvenile killing anyone. There is no program in DJJ for that, so there’s nothing for us in the criminal justice system but to charge them as an adult.”
Bain says one of his goals in office is to change the culture. When asked to elaborate on that he told News 6 that it involves changing the way people work on cases, and how they are going to impact the public and victims.
As he continues to work on his 100-day plan, he says he will restore the community’s faith in his office.
“You’ll feel it in the streets. You’ll feel it because the community can see what we’re doing,” Bain said. “Our job is to show you all the things that are going on. So, all the homicide wins we’re having, all the sexual battery wins we’re having, all the violent criminals that we’re putting away, but at the same time showing all the non-violent offenses that we’re diverting and that we’re getting people back on track and we’re helping people out of this system that will eventually trap them if they stay in it. Those are the things that the whole public needs to see and once you see what’s going on and then you can easily trust.”
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