Review Panel on the Republican-Only Public Defender Choices

Bill White and Al Chipperfield, who have a combined 68 years working as public defenders in Jacksonville and Gainesville, will provide their perspectives on the candidates. Both are longtime friends and former colleagues of Charles Cofer, a county judge who stepped down after 17 years on the bench to run for the office against incumbent Public Defender Matt Shirk, also a Republican, who has been in the news for ethics violations. Cofer worked for more than 18 years as an assistant public defender before becoming a judge.