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Melissa Vickers
2025 - Present
2029
0
Melissa Vickers (Democratic Party) is the Florida Ninth Judicial Circuit Public Defender. She assumed office on January 7, 2025. Her current term ends on January 2, 2029.
Vickers (Democratic Party) won election for Florida Ninth Judicial Circuit Public Defender outright after the general election on November 5, 2024, was canceled.
Vickers completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. Click here to read the survey answers.
Biography
Melissa Vickers was born in Jacksonville, Florida. She earned a bachelor's degree from the University of South Florida in 1995 and a law degree from Nova Southeastern University in 1998. Her career experience includes working as a attorney.[1]
Vickers has been affiliated with the following organizations:[1]
- National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers
- Florida Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers
- Central Florida Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers
- George C. Young Inns of Court
- Orange County Bar Association
- Osceola Bar Association
- Central Florida Association of Women Lawyers
- Paul C. Perkins Bar Association
- Hispanic Bar Association of Central Florida
- League of Women Voters,
- Tiger Bay
- Winter Park Planning and Zoning Board
Elections
2024
See also: Municipal elections in Orange County, Florida (2024)
General election
The general election was canceled. Melissa Vickers won election in the general election for Florida Ninth Judicial Circuit Public Defender.
Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Florida Ninth Judicial Circuit Public Defender
Melissa Vickers defeated Lenora Easter in the Democratic primary for Florida Ninth Judicial Circuit Public Defender on August 20, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Melissa Vickers  | 64.5 | 97,175 |
 | Lenora Easter | 35.5 | 53,526 | |
| Total votes: 150,701 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Endorsements
Vickers received the following endorsements. To view a full list of Vickers's endorsements as published by their campaign, click here.
Campaign themes
2024
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Melissa Vickers completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Vickers' responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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I served on two Grievance Committees for The Florida Bar and is past Chair of the Criminal Law Committee for the Orange County Bar Association. I am a former 1st Vice President of the League of Women Voters of Orange County and is currently the Chair of the Government Committee. Currently a member of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, Florida Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and the Central Florida Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers where I served for years on the Board and as President. I am a member of the George C. Young Inns of Court, Orange County Bar Association, Osceola Bar Association, Central Florida Association of Women Lawyers, Paul C. Perkins Bar Association, Hispanic Bar Association of Central Florida, League of Women Voters, and Tiger Bay. I have volunteered as a judge at Moot Court and Mock Trial competitions for the University of Central Florida. Melissa also served as a member of the City of Winter Park Planning and Zoning Board.
Married 22 years to Doug Thomas and has twin boys who are 19 years old.- My experience and community partnerships are unmatched. I have the experience and community partnerships to run this office starting on day one. I have spent the past 23 years building relationships in the community and with other criminal justice agencies. When I was in management at the Public Defender's Office, Judges, State Attorneys and other criminal justice leaders contacted me to discuss issues and solve problems. I have represented clients in every type of case from misdemeanors to working on death penalty cases. I have trained hundreds of attorneys throughout the years and know how mentor and motivate.
- Clients need more trust and communication with the attorneys and staff. Clients do not get to choose and hire their attorney when in need of services by the Public Defender's Office. It is important to work with clients to gain their trust and the first step is communication. Whether it be in jail, phone, email or texting frequent communications with clients is the key to building trust. Along with the communication comes education of the clients. It is vital to educate the clients on their cases, evidence and possible consequences.
- We need to change the way we handle cases involving clients who are homeless and/or have mental health issues. Locally, there are 1,000 more people in jail now than last year and many are homeless and/or have mental health issues. We need to get these clients out of the jail and provide services through community partners. If Judges are not setting reasonable bonds then our office should be filing the appropriate motions to have people with low level non-violent crimes released from jail.
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
See also
2024 Elections
External links
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Candidate Florida Ninth Judicial Circuit Public Defender |
Personal |
Footnotes
