TALLAHASSEE — Gov. Ron DeSantis on Thursday removed Hillsborough County State’s Attorney Andrew Warren from office for what he said was Warren’s disregard for his duty to enforce state laws, including a promise not to prosecute people who have abortions or their doctors , who carry them out.
At a press conference escorted by Tampa Bay police, DeSantis said Warren had “put himself publicly above the law” by signing letters saying he would not enforce laws banning gender-affirming care for minors or laws that restricting abortions.
Under a clause in the state constitution, DeSantis removed Warren, effectively firing him.
“Our government is a government of laws, not a government of people,” DeSantis said.
READ THE DISTRICT’S ORDER HERE
The suspension, which stunned observers, removed one of the state’s most outspoken prosecutors. Warren, a Democrat, has been a frequent critic of DeSantis, a Republican. He called the 2021 “anti-riot” legislation that DeSantis supported a misguided “solution in search of a problem.” He also questioned the need for the election security force that DeSantis helped create.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced the suspension of Hillsborough County State’s Attorney Andrew Warren during a news conference Thursday in Tampa. “Our government is a government of laws, not a government of people,” DeSantis said. [ DOUGLAS R. CLIFFORD | Times ]
On Thursday morning, Warren was escorted from his office. Later, at an afternoon press conference at the Shumaker law firm’s downtown Tampa office, Warren struck a defiant tone.
“I’m still the duly elected state’s attorney for Hillsborough County,” he said. Asked if he thought this would be his last act as a public servant, he simply said no.
Warren said he had not yet seen the governor’s order and did not say whether he would challenge the action.
He called the governor’s criticism “pure conjecture and lies” and suggested DeSantis has presidential ambitions.
“The governor is trying to overturn the results of fair and free elections, two of them,” he said. “People need to understand that this is not the governor trying to remove an elected official. This is the governor trying to overthrow democracy here in Hillsborough County.
He insisted he is “still the duly elected State’s Attorney for Hillsborough County” and accused DeSantis of “trying to subvert democracy here in Hillsborough County.”
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He said he has not had any cases involving abortion or gender-affirming care brought to his office and if he did, he would evaluate them on their merits.
He noted that the 15-week abortion ban, which DeSantis signed into law this year, violates longstanding Florida Supreme Court precedent finding that Florida’s constitutional right to privacy includes the right to an abortion. A judge has ruled the law unconstitutional, and the Florida Supreme Court has yet to hear the case.
Related: Who Is This Guy? How Andrew Warren Became the Face of Criminal Justice in Tampa
It is unclear whether Warren’s removal from office is final. Under Florida law, the Florida Senate must decide whether to reinstate Warren or remove him entirely. The Senate must send notice of an initial hearing within 90 days, according to Senate rules — putting that deadline for Warren’s case just days before Election Day in November. Warren could also choose to fight her suspension in court, which could delay that timeline.
DeSantis said Thursday that the decision to remove Warren was made when he noticed that prosecutors in Los Angeles and San Francisco were selectively prosecuting crimes. He said he asked his staff to look around Florida “to make sure it doesn’t happen here.”
After his team talked to police and prosecutors, Warren’s name came up repeatedly, DeSantis said.
“It all came back to this area here in the 13th Judicial District in Hillsborough County,” DeSantis said. “And the response we got was a lot of frustration on the part of law enforcement that criminals are being let go and crimes are not being prosecuted.”
DeSantis’ order did not cite examples of Warren not prosecuting individual cases. The state has no gender-affirming care laws that Warren declined to pursue. Instead, DeSantis’ order points to Warren’s public comments on abortion, transgender issues and office policies Warren has adopted.
But Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister said at Thursday’s press conference that police have had lingering frustration with Warren for not pursuing certain cases.
“I continue to work with my law enforcement colleagues who are personally frustrated with a state attorney who seems highly focused on empathizing with criminals and less interested in pursuing justice for victims of crime,” Chronister said.
Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister spoke in support of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ announcement of the suspension of Hillsborough County State’s Attorney Andrew Warren during a press conference Thursday in Tampa. “I continue to work with my law enforcement colleagues who are personally frustrated with a state attorney who seems highly focused on empathizing with criminals and less interested in pursuing justice for victims of crime,” Chronister said. [ DOUGLAS R. CLIFFORD | Times ]
Chronister’s comments were an abrupt break in the cordial public relationship between the sheriff and state attorney. Despite being from different parties, Warren endorsed Chronister in his 2018 campaign for sheriff, and Chronister touted the endorsement as an example of his bipartisan support in Hillsborough.
Thursday’s news conference included additional criticism of Warren from the heads of law enforcement agencies from neighboring counties, such as Pasco County Sheriff Chris Nocco and Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd. Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody also spoke in support of the suspension.
“Andrew Warren is a fraud,” said former Tampa Police Chief Brian Duggan. “It’s a terrible day that the governor had to come and clean up our mess.”
“neglect of duty”
Under the state constitution, the governor can remove public officials for malfeasance, official misconduct, neglect of duty, drunkenness, incompetence, permanent inability to perform official duties, or commission of a crime.
DeSantis’ order cited dereliction of duty and incompetence as the reason for Warren’s removal, citing in part a 1937 case law in which a Tampa prosecutor was accused of failing to charge people with gambling crimes.
Warren, the order said, “demonstrated his incompetence and willful defiance of his duties,” citing:
- Warren signed a June 2021 “joint statement” with prosecutors across the country “to use our discretion and not promote the criminalization of gender-affirming health care or transgender people.” Although the state has not passed such criminal laws, “these statements demonstrate that Warren believes she has the right to defy the Florida Legislature,” DeSantis wrote.
- Warren joined a similar June 24 statement with other prosecutors, saying “we refuse to use the resources of our offices to criminalize decisions related to reproductive health.”
- Warren instituted a policy not to prosecute “certain criminal offenses, including trespassing on a place of business, disorderly conduct, intoxication and prostitution.”
- Warren instituted a policy “against prosecuting crimes where the initial encounter between law enforcement and the defendant resulted from a non-criminal bicycle or pedestrian violation.”
“Warren effectively invalidated these Florida criminal statutes in the 13th Judicial Circuit, thereby undermining the rule of law, promoting lawlessness, and usurping the exclusive role of the Florida Legislature to define criminal conduct,” the order states.
The two joint statements were part of the Fair and Fair Prosecution group, a network of prosecutors across the country. He was the only Florida prosecutor to sign the statement on abortion, but Orange-Osceola State’s Attorney Monique Worrell also joined the statement on gender-affirming care.
Warren’s ouster came the same day the Florida Criminal Defense Lawyers Association sent letters to every elected state attorney in Florida — including Kathryn Fernandez Rundle of Miami-Dade and Harold Pryor of Broward — urging them to sign the abortion pledge .
Fernandez Rundle and Pryor, both Democrats, have been careful in their public statements since the US Supreme Court overturned the landmark Roe v. Wade abortion decision this year. On Thursday, both their offices declined to comment on Warren’s suspension.
As Warren’s replacement, DeSantis appointed Hillsborough County Judge Susan Lopez, a former district attorney whom DeSantis named to the judgeship last year.
DeSantis said he did not talk to Warren about his concerns before suspending him.
Hillsborough County State’s Attorney Andrew Warren, seen in June, was escorted from his office Thursday morning. He later said he had not yet seen Gov. Ron DeSantis’ order and did not say whether he would challenge the action. He called the governor’s criticism “pure conjecture and lies” and suggested DeSantis has presidential ambitions. [ LUIS SANTANA | Times ]
Clashes between the police and the prosecutor’s office in specific cases are not rare. Even DeSantis is selective in applying laws, federal guidelines and court precedents.
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