Phil Archer

Public defenders and state attorneys have what might seem, in a normal year, an unusual budget supplication for state lawmakers who soon will be grappling with Florida’s 2021-22 fiscal plan.

“It’s ‘Leave us alone.’ That’s our number one budget request,” said 18th Circuit State Attorney Phil Archer, president of the Florida Prosecuting Attorneys Association. “Our universal request that we have expressed to the governor and legislative leadership in both houses was not to have any budget cuts in the upcoming budget.”