5 Florida law and justice stories that defined 2025

TAMPA, Fla. — An ex-Tampa prosecutor became the nation’s top law enforcement official.

The governor carried out a surge in executions.

A cheating scandal rocked one of the state’s largest law enforcement agencies.

From cops to courts to the Department of Corrections, some of the year’s biggest stories grew from the Sunshine State.

Here is a roundup of five Florida law and criminal justice stories that mattered in 2025.

—Pam Bondi becomes US attorney general

Tampa’s own Pam Bondi ascended into the political stratosphere in January when President Donald Trump made her the U.S. attorney general.

Bondi, who got her start prosecuting street crimes in Hillsborough County and later served two terms as Florida’s attorney general, drew immediate scrutiny over whether she would resist pressure from Trump to punish his enemies.

The months since have seen praise from Republicans for her loyalty to Trump, while Democrats have accused her of politicizing the Justice Department.

She has used the department’s power to further Trump’s agenda on immigration while pursuing charges against people who have in the past prosecuted or investigated Trump. She fired government lawyers.

Locally, Bondi approved the firing of Michael Gordon, a Tampa-based federal prosecutor who was involved in some high-profile cases against the Jan. 6 Capitol rioters. Gordon filed a lawsuit challenging his dismissal, which remains pending.

In June, a coalition of 70 lawyers, law professors and two former Florida Supreme Court justices signed onto an ethics complaint against Bondi filed with the Florida Bar. The complaint accused her of “serious misconduct that threatens the rule of law and the administration of justice.”

The Bar quickly dismissed the complaint, saying it does not investigate sitting U.S. constitutional officers.

—Scandal rocks the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office

Four of Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister’s top commanders resigned and two others were fired after revelations that someone else had completed academic work for them.

It started with Anthony Collins, who had been promoted to chief deputy in April and whom many saw as Chronister’s potential successor. His resignation just four months later struck many as a surprise.

The Tampa Bay Times first reported that Collins’ wife had accused him of enlisting a former Pasco County man named Robert Roush to write papers for him while attending the prestigious FBI National Academy. The sheriff said Collins confirmed to him that Roush, who is not a law enforcement officer, wrote about half his papers.

Further reporting by The Tampa Bay Times revealed that two colonels and three captains also got help from Roush with academic and professional assignments that they submitted as their own.

Chronister, who a year ago turned away from an opportunity to run the Drug Enforcement Administration, said the scandal left him “heartbroken” and “livid.”

—Alligator Alcatraz becomes a symbol

As immigration dominated national headlines in 2025, the Florida facility known as Alligator Alcatraz became a symbol of the myriad controversies arising from the federal government’s aggressive push to remove undocumented people.

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier announced in June plans to convert an old airport in the Everglades into an immigration detention center capable of holding up to 3,000 people. Tents and trailers went up on the isolated airstrip within days.

Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem praised the project, which supporters touted as an effective tool in exacting the president’s deportation agenda.

Despite being branded as a place to house “deranged psychopaths,” many of the immigrants detained in Alligator Alcatraz had no criminal record. Lawyers for some detainees also said their clients had not been issued removal orders.

Then came the lawsuits. Some detainees in the facility said they were unlawfully denied access to legal counsel. Lawyers complained of being unable to locate or reach their clients. One case challenged the state’s authority to run the facility, as immigration is considered a federal matter.

Human rights advocates drew comparisons to concentration camps. Environmental advocates raised concerns that the facility opened without a required review.

Less than two months after the facility opened, a federal judge ordered the state to shut it down. That order was paused as the state appealed.

—Florida sees surge in executions

Florida saw more state prisoners executed in 2025 than in any other year in the modern era of capital punishment. From February to December, Gov. Ron DeSantis authorized 19 executions.

The governor previously went years without carrying out any executions. Asked recently about the reason for the surge, DeSantis said it comes down to the victims’ families.

“I kind of felt like I may have been letting some of them down,” he said.

Death penalty opponents have decried the surge. Some cases have seen men executed despite claims of intellectual disability and mental illness, which federal law prohibits. A recent court case accused the state of using expired drugs to conduct at least four lethal injections.

—James Uthmeier takes hold as Florida’s attorney general

James Uthmeier was little known to most Floridians before 2025. Now, he’s one of the state’s most high-profile public figures.

DeSantis appointed Uthmeier to be the state’s attorney general in February, replacing Ashley Moody, who left to occupy Florida’s vacant U.S. Senate seat. Uthmeier previously served as DeSantis’ chief of staff and ran the governor’s ill-fated presidential campaign.

Uthmeier quickly placed a decidedly conservative stamp on the office, vocally touting some court rulings while openly defying others.

After a state appeals court struck down a law banning the open carrying of firearms, Uthmeier declared open carry “the law of the state.” When the same court invited him to weigh in on the constitutionality of a law allowing minors to seek abortions without their parents’ consent, Uthemeier opined that the law violated parents’ rights.

When a federal judge blocked a law that made people who enter Florida illegally subject to criminal prosecution, Uthmeier told law enforcement he couldn’t prevent them from using the law to make arrests. His defiance led the judge to hold him in contempt of court.

At the same time, Uthmeier sits at the center of the Hope Florida scandal that has dogged DeSantis and spurred a criminal investigation.

As he runs to keep the office in 2026, Uthmeier has become a fixture in news conferences on local criminal justice matters. He snagged Trump’s endorsement and has raised more than $4 million, campaign finance records show. Whether voters embrace his approach remains to be seen.