Volusia-Flagler Public Defender James Purdy to retire
Seventh Circuit Public Defender James Purdy said he will retire at the end of his current term in 2020 after 16 years in office in part to spend more time firing cannons.
Purdy, who is a volunteer at the historic Castillo de San Marcos National Monument in St. Augustine, is in his fourth four-year term as public defender.
Purdy, 65, said he has been practicing law for 40 years and it’s time to do something new.
“I’d like to travel and see the world and be with my wife (Marilyn),” said Purdy, who has been married since 1981.
Purdy’s public defenders represent clients who can’t afford their own criminal defense attorneys for the 7th circuit covering Volusia, Flagler, St. Johns and Putnam counties.
Purdy oversees 57 trial attorneys who handle 33,000 cases a year in the felony, misdemeanor and juvenile divisions. He also oversees 22 appellate attorneys.
Purdy said when he started the job in 2004 it paid in the high $120,000 or low $130,000. But now the position pays $169,000. He said that’s the same as state attorneys and district court of appeal judges.
Purdy’s chief assistant, Craig Dyer, described Purdy as a good boss who is always available.
“He is one of the few people that I know that is just really dedicated to getting a job done, just really conscientious,” Dyer said.
The two were in the same class at the same law school, Nova Southeastern University -Shepard Broad Law Center, but did not meet until Dyer and his family moved to Port Orange in 1989 and the two families wound up building homes about four doors down from each other.
“Jim is probably one of the most loyal people I have ever met. He is very loyal to his employees. He is dedicated to the jobs that he does," Dyer said. "I have never known anybody who works so hard at something, even in his hobbies he works hard.”
That’s exactly one of the things Purdy wants to do: dedicate more time to his passion for history by spending more time at the Castillo de San Marcos in St. Augustine.
“So I’ll be spending a whole lot more time at the fort trying to put smiles on people’s faces,” Purdy said.
He regularly makes the hour drive from his home to to the fort in St. Augustine, where Purdy dresses as a soldier to perform the 1740 Spanish cannon drill.
He has also dressed in late 1900 century Victorian attire with a bowler hat and a frock coat to talk to tourists about the history of St. Augustine and Henry Flagler.
And he has also played the part of an 1870’s ordnance sergeant. Every fort had one, he said.
“Even in times of peace, their job was to keep the cannons in good repair, the powder dry and the muskets oiled,” Purdy said.
Purdy said he has done a great job of hiring attorneys and setting office policy. But beyond that he credits his attorneys for a job well done.
“It ain’t about me,” Purdy said. “It’s about them. It’s not about me doing a good job. It’s about my people doing a good job.”
One policy he sets is how to approach a case.
“I also tell them that I want them to represent their clients in the manner that you would expect from an attorney that you hired to represent your own child," Purdy said. "People will cut corners in hiring an attorney to represent themselves but they will put everything into hiring an attorney to represent their child and that’s what I expect of them and I think that I’ve accomplished that."
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