District 9 covers Orange and Osceola Counties. The seat is open because longtime Public Defender Robert Wesley is retiring.

The race for state attorney of Orange and Osceola counties will feature a suspended state attorney, Gov. DeSantis’ appointee, and whoever wins the Republican primary for the seat in August.

The state attorney’s offices of Florida’s Ninth and Fifth judicial circuits will join forces in hopes to prevent and prosecute animal cruelty cases at a new level.

Jeff Ashton, the prosecutor who handled the Casey Anthony case and who is now a judge in Orange and Osceola counties, will not be charged in an investigation into child abuse allegations, according to the state attorney handling the case.

Jeff Ashton, the prosecutor who handled the Casey Anthony case and who is now a judge in Orange and Osceola counties, is a subject of allegations related to child abuse, according to an executive order signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis.

Speaking at a news conference Monday at Reedy Creek Fire Station No. 4, Gov. Ron DeSantis commented on the recent shootings in Pine Hills for the first time.

Judges for the Ninth Circuit Court in Orange County now face a backlog that amounts to more than 18,000 cases per civil judge, according to data obtained by News 6.

Prosecutors with the State Attorney’s Office in the Ninth Judicial Circuit, covering Orange and Osceola counties, will independently investigate police officer or deputy-involved shootings in addition to the review conducted by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.

The Honorable Lisa T. Munyon will make history this summer as the first female Chief Judge of the Ninth Judicial Circuit. “I am truly humbled by the support of my colleagues,” Chief Judge-Elect Munyon said. Together, the judges of this circuit will continue to serve our community well.”AdWe are pleased to announce that the Honorable Lisa T. Munyon has been elected as the first female Chief Judge of the Ninth Judicial Circuit. pic.twitter.com/E4JrWfdsdZ — Ninth Circuit Court of FL (@NinthCircuitFL) February 10, 2021According to a release from the Ninth Judicial Circuit, Chief Judge-Elect Munyon is a double Gator, receiving both her undergraduate and law degrees from the University of Florida. Chief Judge-Elect Munyon will assume her new role on July 1 and succeeds the Honorable Donald A. Myers, Jr.

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – The new state attorney for Florida’s Ninth Judicial Circuit is getting to work by filing charges in several high-profile cases. New court filings show charges filed in two, unrelated cases involving an Orlando rapper and a former UCF football player. Unrelated to that case, Worrell has also filed a felony charge of carrying a concealed firearm without a permit against 22-year-old Antwan Collier. Collier was a defensive back for the UCF football team at the time of his arrest. In the days following the incident, UCF athletics announced Collier and three other athletes involved in the incident had been let go from the team.

The State Attorney’s Office for the Ninth Judicial Circuit, which oversees cases in Orange and Osceola counties, unveiled three new diversion programs Monday. The new programs target those caught driving with a suspended license and combat human trafficking and underage drinking. The State attorney’s office is also working with two University of Central Florida students to dissuade underage drinking. The pilot initiative aims to help victims of human trafficking avoid prostitution charges and potentially get help. The goal is to end that cycle.”Rossman said in 2019, there were close to 120 prostitution offenses that crossed the state attorney’s office.

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – People who are arrested on charges of resisting law enforcement without violence may not necessarily face jail time under outgoing State Attorney Aramis Ayala’s new policy. She laid out her new diversion program Tuesday saying, effective immediately, her office will change the way it prosecutes resisting an officer without violence cases. Ayala said this new diversion program is focused on education and mitigating injustice within the community. Ayala admitted during the news conference she had not spoken to local law enforcement about her office’s new diversion program. But these decisions should be thoughtful, and carefully considered by all members of the law enforcement community and their stakeholders.

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. The Orange County teachers union declared a win Monday after a Ninth Judicial Circuit judge ordered the school district to begin disclosing coronavirus cases and locations within Orange County Public Schools worksites. The Orange County Classroom Teachers Association, or OCCTA, submitted a public records request for a list of worksites where there are or have been confirmed COVID-19 cases. All Orange County students began virtual learning last week. However, that could change based on the Orange County School Board meeting happening Monday night. The board is set to vote on possible delays to the in-person school start for middle and high school students.

ORLANDO, Fla. – Grammy-Award winning singer and songwriter John Legend is paying attention to Florida politics, specifically several upcoming elections for local state attorney seats. The current Orlando-area state attorney Aramis Ayala said last year she would not be seeking re-election. Worrell, former chief judge of the Ninth Judicial Circuit Belvin Perry; current assistant state attorney in Orange-Osceola Deborah Barra and Ryan Williams, a longtime assistant state attorney in Florida’s 9th and 5th Judicial Circuits, have all announced they are running. Worrell, a criminal justice attorney, faces the three other candidates in the Aug. 18 Democratic primary. The goal of the political group is to “elect prosecutors who will fix our broken criminal justice system,” according to its website.

Officials with the Ninth Judicial Circuit of Florida announced Thursday that the courts in Orange and Osceola County would be reverting to phase one of reopening operations after a recent spike in COVID-19 cases in the area. The Florida Supreme Court outlined a four-phased approach to court operations during this pandemic that requires very specific criteria to be met at each phase. With the changing landscape in our communitys health conditions in both Orange and Osceola counties the Ninth Judicial Circuit no longer meets the Supreme Courts criteria for Phase 2 operations (see AOSC20-23). Under phase one operations, the courts will remain open for essential hearings, with remote proceedings when in-person hearings are not practical. The courts will remain under phase one operations until criteria for both phase one and two are met.