East Lee Co GOP Meeting

Come join the East Lee Co. Republicans as they host Kathleen A. Smith Public Defender for the 20th Judicial Circuit. In 2008, Ms. Smith was elected Public Defender for the 20th Judicial Circuit serving the citizens of Charlotte, Collier, Hendry, Glades, and Lee Counties.

BIO

n 2008, Ms. Smith was elected Public Defender for the 20th Judicial Circuit serving the citizens of Charlotte, Collier, Hendry, Glades, and Lee Counties. She is the third elected Public Defender for the circuit and the first woman to serve in this role. Ms. Smith obtained her BA and Law Degree from The University of Florida and earned her master’s degree in public administration from Florida Gulf Coast University.

Ms. Smith began her law practice as an assistant Public Defender in 1990. She specializes in representing client’s living with mental illness and is a past recipient of Advocate of the Year awarded by Lee Mental Health. Furthermore, Ms. Smith was honored with a Florida Senator’s Proclamation for her advocacy on behalf of mentally ill clients. Because of her passion to assist clients living with and recovering from mental illness and substance abuse issues, Ms. Smith was appointed on behalf of the Florida Public Defender Association to serve on the Supreme Court’s Substance Abuse and Mental Health Task Force as well as the Supreme Court’s Steering Committee developing Standards for Florida’s Problem-Solving Courts.

In addition to Ms. Smith’s role as Public Defender for the 20th Circuit, she is also very involved in the community. Ms. Smith was recently selected to serve as 2024 President of the Lee County Bar Association after serving on their executive committee for the previous 4 years. Furthermore, she will finish her third term as President of the Fort Myers Republican Women’s Club in December and is a past recipient of their coveted G.E.M. award.  She was also bestowed the 2021 Woman of Distinction award for Elected Government Leaders from the “Ladies Leaning Right”. She’s also taught as an adjunct professor at Florida Gulf Coast University focusing on Constitutional Criminal Procedure. And lastly, she has served on the Board of Directors for many local organizations including the PACE School for Girls in Lee County, Southwest Florida Addiction Services, Lee Mental Health Inc., Hope Clubhouse and the Lee County Homeless Coalition in an effort to bring attention to and find solutions for societal issues that compromise the quality of life in our community.

Putting her Public Administration degree to good use, Ms. Smith’s office is a 3 time recipient of the prestigious Prudential Davis Productivity Award recognizing major government improvement initiatives.