Name: Adam Frankel
Date, place of birth: Toledo, Ohio
Campaign website: www.VoteFrankel.com
Occupation: Defense Attorney
Education:
⦁ The University of Toledo College of Law, Toledo, Ohio, Juris Doctor, 1997
⦁ The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, Bachelor of Arts, Political Science, 1994
Work history, past 15 years, starting with the most recent.
Office of the Public Defender, 15th Judicial Circuit, Palm Beach County, FL, Assistant Public Defender, 1999 – 2001
Adam Frankel, P.A., Delray Beach, FL, Solo Practitioner, 2001 – Present
City of Delray Beach, Delray Beach, FL, City Commissioner, March 2018 – March 2024; March 2009 – March 2015
Palm Beach County Office of the State Attorney, State Attorney’s Sober Homes Task Force, July 2016 – June 2018
Why are you running for this office, and what makes you the best candidate?
I am running for Public Defender to continue my service to this community. I served as a City Commissioner in Delray Beach for 12 years. For all five times I ran for that position, I continuously received the support and endorsement of our city union workers, police union and fire union. At the same time, I have over two decades of experience as a Criminal Defense Attorney running my own private practice. In my time as an elected official, I established strong relationships with all types of stakeholders including business and nonprofit leaders, law enforcement, legal professionals, religious leaders, community advocates and other local, county and state elected officials, on both sides of the aisle. I plan to use these relationships to improve the Public Defender’s Office by bringing in new ideas and creating new partnerships to assist our efforts in defending those who need it the most.
Although I previously worked at the Public Defender’s Office, I also gained a wealth of knowledge and experience outside that office, giving me a different perspective on how it operates and how it could improve. As current Public Defender Carey Haughwout did when she was first elected, I believe I will bring a fresh perspective that would benefit the office more so than my opponent, who has spent decades there becoming complacent with the status quo. I believe every organization can be improved in some way, and my plan is to update office technology to make work more efficient, fight for more funding in order to hire additional staff, expand the mental health services that our office already provides, especially for juvenile defendants, and strongly advocate for additional job and skill training for eligible offenders.
Have you ever been arrested, charged or convicted of a crime, received a withheld adjudication or had a matter sealed or expunged? If yes, explain.
No.
Have you been a plaintiff or defendant in a civil action, including bankruptcy or foreclosure or had a restraining order issued against you? If so, explain.
Yes – Civil dispute over fees.
Salaries for assistant public defenders remain low despite recent raises, and turnover averages 20 percent. How will you address chronic turnover?
What our Public Defender’s Office needs is more funding, a lot more. It’s not about how much we can stretch a dollar, it’s about how we present ourselves to those who decide how funds are allocated. We must show that our office is cutting-edge, that we have detailed plans for improving workflow, addressing recidivism, and cultivating a staff and office culture that will keep great assistant defenders working with us, not only because they have the passion and heart for public service, but because they believe in the direction we are headed as an office. I believe the office currently lacks that type of leadership, and I am running because I know I have the track record and relevant relationships with community and elected leaders to improve our office and not settle for the status quo.
Staffing is so poor in the Miami-Dade Public Defender’s Office that it uses artificial intelligence (AI) for case preparation and research. Do you support this and would you use it?
As with all new technological revolutions, it is inevitable that the use of artificial intelligence (AI) will become a common tool used by everyone in the coming months and years. Rather than avoid it, we must prepare and educate ourselves on how best to employ it, all while keeping in mind the balance needed to ensure that human beings are not disadvantaged along the way. I would like to learn more about how our neighbors in Miami-Dade are using AI currently as well as research expert opinions of adopting this type of technology.
Additionally, I believe that the responsible use of AI in our PD’s office would work towards the goals I expressed above in terms of presenting a comprehensive plan to improve and advance the office. I believe that all technology that can help to alleviate dubious or menial tasks currently being done by humans will allow our staff to do the critical analysis needed to provide better outcomes for the public. I will always believe in maintaining an office that is human-centered, but I also believe that AI can help to revolutionize the work we do, so for that reason we must embrace it, within reason.
