St. Lucie County to reopen county attorney search after candidates withdraw

County staff told the St. Lucie County Board of County Commissioners that several applicants for the county attorney search had withdrawn, leaving an insufficient pool for scheduled interviews, and the board agreed to ask the recruiter to reopen the search for roughly 30 days.

George, a staff representative, said he received emails from the recruitment consultant and that the consultant reported some candidates had withdrawn. The consultant also indicated that several higher‑level candidates had been screened out because they believed the board would not meet their expected salary range, staff said. County staff recommended reopening the search and broadening outreach, including to the Florida Association of County Attorneys and other marketing channels.

Commissioners expressed support for reopening the process. Commissioner Lee noted that a second round of recruitment is included in the consultant contract at no additional charge. Commissioners asked staff to proceed with the recruiter to seek another pool of candidates; staff said they would send the message that salary expectations should not preclude submission and that the board could negotiate with candidates if it found a preferred applicant.

A timeline was discussed informally: staff suggested a roughly 30‑day secondary search window and, if that is not successful, considering a second recruiting firm. The board did not take a formal roll‑call vote on the recruitment direction; the transcript shows consensus among commissioners to proceed with the consultant and restart the candidate search.

Michael Manning was identified in the transcript as the county's performance innovation navigator and the consultant had been coordinating the search. Staff said they would proceed to reinitiate outreach that evening.