Beginning at 1 p.m. today, the Duval County Office of Public Defender Matt Shirk will start its move to the Jake Godbold City Hall Annex Building at 407 N. Laura St. The office moves from 25 N. Market St., where it has operated since 1996. Crews have segmented the moving plan to coordinate a floor-by-floor move with a strict, daily schedule to ensure minimal interruption of the law office operation. The move should be completed Oct. 25.
The Public Defender’s Office has added staff. Two new attorneys join the Duval County office as assistant public defenders, both in the Misdemeanor Court Unit. Also, a new mitigation specialist/investigator joins the Capital Crimes Unit.
• Gary Shumard accepted an appointment to the County Court Unit on Sept. 12. From Wauchula, he graduated from Wake Forest University School of Law in May. He served as a law clerk in Florida’s10th Judicial Circuit as well as an intern in both the District Attorney and Public Defender offices in North Carolina.
• Robert Terry was named an assistant public defender in the County Court Unit on Sept. 23. The Jacksonville native spent nine years in law enforcement, five as a sheriff’s deputy in St. Johns County, before he began pursuing a law degree. He earned his Juris Doctor from the University of Florida Levin College of Law in May.
• Joanna Pajcic joins the Capital Crimes Unit as an investigator/mitigation specialist. Her appointment took effect Sept. 5. Previously, she was a fifth-generation police officer in the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office, where she spent eight years before leaving the workforce to raise a family. She was the first woman in the sheriff’s office to serve as a robbery detective. She is a Jacksonville native and attended the University of North Florida.