The winner of a Tuesday, Aug. 20 primary open to all voters will become the first public defender besides the retiring Carey Haughwout to hold that title in Palm Beach County in nearly a quarter century.
The race pits a Royal Palm Beach resident and the current No. 2 person at the Palm Beach County Public Defender’s Office, Daniel Eisinger, against longtime Delray Beach City Commissioner Adam Frankel, an attorney who worked at the agency himself early in his career.
Haughwout has run the Palm Beach County Public Defender’s Office, serving the 15th Judicial Circuit, since 2001. She is retiring after six terms in office.
With no Republican in the running, the primary contest between the two Democrats — Eisinger and Frankel — effectively decides who heads an agency that makes sure all defendants get legal representation, regardless of their ability to pay. That means oversight of 100 attorneys, 100 staff members and an $18 million annual budget, in what Eisinger said amounts to the largest criminal defense firm in the county.
“I’m the one who has been in the trenches every day,” Eisinger said.
Frankel argues that perspective from both inside and outside the job can help an office that has been good but “could be great.”
Eisinger, Haughwout’s chief assistant, received her endorsement last fall as “perfect for the position.” He emphasizes maintaining and building on the office’s achievements, including an initiative he spearheaded to create a misdemeanor mental health court. There, low-level offenders for charges like trespassing can receive treatment and social services instead of time behind bars.
Public defender is not a job for figurehead leaders, he said.
“I truly have dedicated my career to this kind of work,” Eisinger said.
For his part, Frankel, who stepped down as a Delray Beach commissioner earlier this year, touted endorsements from police groups, including the Fraternal Order of Police in April.
“The public defender’s office does a good job, but I think it could do a great job,” Frankel said at a candidate forum July 1 hosted by the Baywinds community east of Royal Palm Beach. “There could be several improvements that I see that can be brought in, as the candidate who has worked both inside and outside the office.”
For example, he wants to bring a juvenile mental health court to Florida and Palm Beach County, similar to what states such as Texas and California have now. He wants to update what he calls an antiquated web site. And he would like to explore making job training part of case resolutions that often include a community-service component, such as sweeping floors or picking up trash on the beach.
Eisinger raised more than $132,000 in campaign contributions by July 8, according to the Florida Department of State’s Division of Elections database. Frankel collected more than $84,000.
Eisinger, who has three children with wife Amy, attended Suncoast High School before earning an undergraduate degree and then a law degree from the University of Florida. He joined the public defender’s office in 2003. Eisinger went on to become a member of the Florida Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and co-chair of the West Palm Beach Task Force for Racial and Ethnic Equality’s Criminal Justice Subcommittee, among other roles.
“I am running because it would break my heart to see the office take a step backward,” Eisinger said at the July 1 forum. “I’ve worked too hard, too long, poured my sweat into it, my blood, 50-60 hour weeks, to see our office take a step backward. We’re known for being one of the best offices in the nation, and I do not want to see that go back now.”
Frankel was born in Toledo, Ohio, earning an undergraduate degree from the Ohio State University and a law degree from the University of Toledo. Not long after graduating, he moved to Delray Beach, serving as an assistant public defender from 1999 to 2001. He then set up a private practice in criminal defense.
He served five terms as a Delray Beach city commissioner starting in 2009, including a stint as vice mayor. Community and professional roles include service on Palm Beach County’s Tourist Development Council and the Florida Public Pension Trustees Association.
The candidates agree on some things, such as they don’t view this as a particularly partisan job — even if the decisive voting occurs in a primary. It is open to all voters regardless of party affiliation.
“Being that I served 12 years on the Delray Beach City Commission, the people who came in for help, we didn’t ask if they were Republicans, or Democrats, or independents, whatever, we helped everyone,” Frankel said. “That’s how I envision this position.”
Learn more about Eisinger’s campaign at www.danieleisingerforpublicdefender.com.
Visit www.votefrankel.com to learn more about Frankel’s campaign.
