Candice K. Brower

Florida’s five Criminal Conflict and Civil Regional Counsels are again pushing legislation to address various legal glitches and ensure their attorneys are treated the same as assistant public defenders and assistant state attorneys.

Candice Brower, the CCCRC for the area covered by the First District Court of Appeal, said this year’s bills are close to last year’s effort to address several minor issues that have lingered since the CCCRC system was created in 2007. The CCCRC’s are charged with representing indigents in criminal cases when the circuit public defender has a conflict and representing indigent parents when the state seeks to terminate their parental rights, among other duties.