ORLANDO, Fla. — Florida’s attorney general seemed to signal this week that Orange-Osceola State Attorney Monique Worrell was again in GOP leaders’ sights, just months months after Central Florida voters returned her to office.

James Uthmeier took to social media late Thursday to denounce a new policy of Worrell’s office, calling it “contrary to the essential duties of a prosecutor” and saying he would use “every tool available to step in and protect the people of Central Florida.”

His post came hours after Worrell — removed from office by Gov. Ron DeSantis in 2023 — announced a new policy to address a backlog of cases brought by law enforcement, many of which she said cannot be prosecuted.

Worrell said during a news conference Thursday that there are more than 13,000 “nonarrest” cases forwarded by law enforcement for prosecutors to review. In these cases, there was not enough evidence for an immediate arrest. A three-page memo from the State Attorney’s Office shared with The Orlando Sentinel says the majority of those cases either lack the probable cause needed to arrest the suspect or enough evidence to bring the case to trial.

The sheer number of such cases — paired with a shortage of attorneys to review them — leads to delays and wastes attorneys’ time, Worrell said.

“I’ve never wanted to just be tough on crime, we also have to be smart on crime,” Worrell told reporters. “I consider this another smart justice initiative where we can acknowledge the inefficiencies in our system and we take steps forward to ensure that we address those inefficiencies so that we can deliver swift justice, not only for our victims but also the offenders — for our community as a whole.”

The move prompted concerns from the Orange County Sheriff’s Office and quickly already made her a target of critics in Tallahassee.

Uthmeier lambasted the policy and said “(George) Soros-backed prosecutors do not have the right to put Floridians at risk.”

A group backed by the billionaire spent money on ads for Worrell during her first campaign for state attorney.

Uthmeier also said his office will review Worrell’s policies and their effect.

“As Attorney General, state law gives me general supervisory authority of State Attorney Worrell’s office, and I will direct my office to review her policies and their impact on public safety,” he wrote on X.

Uthmeier’s statement ignited speculation that state officials are sowing the seeds of a repeat of when DeSantis suspended Worrell, a progressive Democrat, on allegations of incompetence and neglect of duty. Worrell denied those allegations, and voters reelected her in November.

In an interview Friday with the Sentinel, Worrell brushed off concerns about her potential removal.

“I look forward to hearing from Mr. Uthmeier’s office on how he thinks we should deal with the 13,000 cases that we have sitting on the shelf with no prosecutors to review them,” she said.

This is not the first time that Worrell’s supporters worried she could be removed from office again. In the weeks after her election victory, she was the subject of a grand jury investigation in Polk County that reportedly probed actions taken before her suspension. Still, she took her oath of office in January in front of the Orange County Courthouse.

To date, the grand jury investigation has not led to any charges against her.

To address the backlog of nonarrest cases, Worrell’s new policy lays out which them will be accepted by prosecutors: homicides, sex crimes, human and drug trafficking, child abuse, animal cruelty, a breadth of economic crimes, cases involving use of civil citations and certain cases investigated by the Florida Wildlife Commission. Other nonarrests can still be forwarded to the State Attorney’s Office but not without an arrest warrant, according to the memo.

The Sentinel reached out to some of the region’s largest agencies for comment, including sheriff’s offices in Orange and Osceola counties, the Orlando Police Department and FWC.

As of Friday afternoon, only the Orange sheriff’s office responded, saying it opposed the new policy and had tried to get Worrell to pause implementation to address its concerns.

“We are not supportive of the policy in its current form as it could deny prosecution in some domestic violence and firearms cases and deny justice to some victims of those crimes,” the agency’s statement read. “To ensure the safety of our residents and visitors, the Orange County Sheriff’s Office intends to continue sending misdemeanor, non-arrest cases to the State Attorney’s Office when appropriate. We would welcome the opportunity for true collaboration in this matter.”

Worrell also said she will meet with representatives of Harbor House of Central Florida, a network of shelters for survivors of domestic violence, after CEO Michelle Sperzel emailed seeking to clarify the policy’s impact on such cases.

The policy, she added, doesn’t say her office will no longer prosecute nonarrest cases. Instead, it calls on law enforcement to solidify investigations before presenting them to prosecutors because it lacks enough attorneys to efficiently review the massive backlog.

“This isn’t a political function; this is purely an administrative function — how can I make sure that those lawyers are utilizing their time most efficiently?” she added. “That is not by reading cases where law enforcement has already determined that a crime hasn’t been committed. Instead, that is by processing cases where an arrest has been made and a packet has been provided that we can then take forward and prosecute a case.”

The backlog was a problem long before Worrell’s administration.

In 2013, a review by WFTV found nearly 9,000 nonarrest cases were awaiting review, a figure cited Thursday by Worrell. While many ultimately are deemed viable for prosecution, others — sometimes lacking probable cause, the lowest standard for arrest — are abandoned.

Worrell cited a few such cases during her interview with the Sentinel, including two incidents she said were presented even though law enforcement determined no action was needed.

“When it gets to the state, what am I supposed to do with that?” she asked.

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