Carlos Martinez sworn in for fifth term as Miami-Dade public defender; highlights mental‑health reforms and hiring push

Carlos J. Martinez was sworn in to begin a fifth consecutive term as Miami‑Dade public defender on a day of tributes, family remarks and program highlights, and used his oath ceremony to outline policy priorities for his office.

Martinez thanked colleagues and family and said he will press county and justice partners to change how the system handles people in mental‑health crisis. "I will be meeting with Kathy, and, with our chief judge and with our sheriff and, the president of the day chiefs soon, to have a discussion about having regular meetings where we are evaluating what's happened in the last month, 2 months with arrest, people who should not have been arrested, but instead should have been handled in a different way," Martinez said during his remarks.

The nut of Martinez's message was operational: reduce delays in treatment, expand front‑line mental‑health responses and continue recruiting and retaining attorneys. Alisa Quezada, a longtime colleague, said…