State attorney denies accusations of mishandling public records, announces policy changes

State attorney denies mishandling public records

Orange-Osceola State Attorney Monique Worrell is pushing back against a lawsuit accusing her office of mishandling public records and launching what she calls a politically motivated criminal investigation. Worrell called the allegations "baseless" and said she is taking steps to prevent similar claims in the future.

ORLANDO, Fla. - Orange-Osceola State Attorney Monique Worrell is pushing back against a lawsuit accusing her office of mishandling public records and launching what she calls a politically motivated criminal investigation. Worrell called the allegations "baseless" and said she is taking steps to prevent similar claims in the future.

What we know:

A 14-page lawsuit filed this week accuses Orange-Osceola State Attorney Monique Worrell and members of her administration of failing to preserve public records and using private email accounts to store official documents.

The lawsuit, filed this week by William Eric Edwards, alleges that Worrell’s former chief of staff, Keisha Mulfort, used private Gmail accounts to store public records during Worrell’s tenure in 2023. According to the suit, Mulfort deleted or withheld the records when she left the office, and Worrell, along with others, failed to preserve official communications in violation of state law.

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The suit also alleges that during an investigation conducted last September—after Worrell had been suspended from office—it was discovered that Worrell, Mulfort and others had "intentionally and systematically" failed to preserve public records under Worrell’s direction.

According to the filing, findings from Edwards’ investigation were forwarded to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and State Attorney Bill Gladson of the Fifth Judicial Circuit for a possible grand jury review, though the probe did not result in an indictment.

What we don't know:

The status of any grand jury proceedings remains undisclosed, and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement has not commented. 

What they're saying:

Worrell denied the accusation during a news conference Thursday.

"The lawsuit falsely states records were destroyed at my direction," Worrell said. "Let me be very clear: there was no such direction ever given by me to anyone on my team during my time in office."

Worrell criticized the investigation as politically motivated, accusing the previous administration of pursuing a criminal case under the guise of an administrative review.

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"The appointed executive team intentionally conducted a criminal investigation under the pretense of an administrative investigation," Worrell said, "for the sole purpose of ensuring the defamatory and false information used to convene a grand jury would become public in the event there was no indictment."

What's next:

In response to the controversy, Worrell said she is implementing new policies to clearly separate criminal investigations from administrative matters moving forward.