by Max Marbut
Staff Writer
“My priority is that our core function remain prosecution,” said State Attorney for the Fourth Judicial Circuit Angela Corey of the effect her taking office has had on North Florida’s law enforcement system.
Corey began restructuring the State Attorney’s Office as soon as she was sworn in, but that didn’t mean trimming the legal staff.
“We have the same number of lawyers now as we did when I took office and we may be able to add two or three more by the end of the summer,” she said. “We were able to decrease our staff in the area of supervision of diversion programs.”
The most visible changes on the 14th floor of the Courthouse Annex at the corner of Bay and Newnan streets is the decor. When the building opened almost 50 years ago, what is now Corey’s and her staff’s space was the mayor’s office suite. The look was definitely “1960s-era government chic” with lots of dark wood paneling and furniture.
The look never changed much even after City Hall moved to 117 W. Duval St. and the Jacksonville Economic Development Commission moved into the space. When the State Attorney’s Office arrived after the JEDC moved to the Police and Fire Pension Fund Building, Corey’s predecessor didn’t make any decorating changes other than replacing some carpet here and there.
That wasn’t the case when the first female State Attorney in the history of the Fourth Judicial Circuit moved in.
The biggest change is in Corey’s office, which was inhabited by former Jacksonville mayors from Haydon Burns to John Delaney. Gone is the dark wood and metal window blinds. They’ve been replaced by white paint and sheer curtains which may be temporary decor.
“The curtains are an experiment,” said Corey. “I’d like to keep the sun out but I don’t want to lose the view.”
While the look of the office has drastically changed in terms of the decor, Corey said it was a very frugal process that didn’t require any public funds other than to replace some worn carpet.
“Everything I brought in to decorate with I found at estate and garage sales,” she added.
Corey plans to take that same philosophy to the State Attorney’s Office’s next new location at the Duval County Unified Courthouse Facility.
“We have already toured the old federal courthouse,” she said. “We want to make sure we end up with an efficient and beautiful space while saving the taxpayers money.”
356-2466