Winter Haven lawyer becomes second candidate in race for public defender

A second candidate is seeking to succeed Rex Dimmig as public defender for the 10th Judicial Circuit.

Christopher Desrochers, a Winter Haven lawyer, filed this month to run for the position as a Republican. Dimmig, first elected as public defender in 2012, is not seeking a fourth term.

Blair Allen, an assistant public defender, filed for the election in October 2021, also as a Republican.

Desrochers, 57, is a Polk County native and a graduate of Winter Haven High School. He earned degrees from Polk State College and Florida Southern College before graduating from the University of Florida College of Law.

Desrochers has been in private practice since 1992, almost all of that time operating his own firm in Winter Haven. He specializes in real estate, business law and estate planning but said he offers “unadvertised specials” in criminal defense.

He said that he has served as a court-appointed lawyer for state and federal cases. Though he stopped handling state cases after Florida changed its compensation structure, Desrochers said he remained available for guardianship cases.

He said he has been a contract appellate attorney for the Public Defender's Office for about 15 years.

The 10th Judicial Circuit, based in Bartow, covers Polk, Hardee and Highlands counties. The office, which has a staff of about 115, provides trial lawyers for defendants who cannot afford to hire private attorneys. The circuit is one of five in Florida that also handle appeals to state courts.

Desrochers said he decided to run after being approached by a group of people who “presented a need.”

“Quite frankly, the Public Defender's Office is an extremely important part of our judicial system,” Desrochers said. “Probably close to 85% to 90% of all defendants wind up using the public defender as either their primary counsel of record, or at least some part.”

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He added: “So when you've got 85% of the people relying on one organization to basically provide services to them, that's important. You basically need somebody who's ready from day one to do that. That’s me.”

Desrochers said he is prepared to handle not only the details of managing cases but also the “diplomacy” of dealing with elected officials seeking to make changes to the court system.

Allen, who joined the public defender’s staff in 2007, has reported more than $56,000 in campaign contributions.

The deadline to file for the public defender's race is April 26.

Gary White can be reached at [email protected] or 863-802-7518. Follow on X @garywhite13.

This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Winter Haven lawyer files to run for public defender