Katherine Fernandez Rundle, Miami-Dade County’s top law enforcement officer, is the County’s and Florida’s first Cuban American State Attorney (SA). She is a nationally recognized leader and pioneer of Smart Justice programs who has always treated offenders as individuals, helping those she could and punishing those she must. She has implemented many ground-breaking innovations that divert people from the traditional criminal justice system and address their criminogenic needs as appropriate, including:

• Civil Citations – juvenile and adult;

• Florida’s only prosecutor-led Child Support Program; •The nation’s first Drug Court, leading to a national movement;

• Mental Health Court;

• •Veteran’s Treatment Court;

• The “Second Chance” Program, which provides monthly Sealing and Expungement opportunities;

• Implementation of Amendment 4, which restored the right to vote for eligible returning citizens who completed their sentences.

Through her tireless efforts, she has helped Miami-Dade County reduce its reliance on incarceration, saved tax dollars, and made our community safer. While Miami-Dade County has the second lowest jail incarceration rate in the state and the lowest prison admissions rate in the state, the crime rate is also down almost 70% since SA Fernandez Rundle was first appointed.

SA Fernandez Rundle pioneered the fight against the sex trafficking of our children with her Human Trafficking Task Force, a cooperative multi-agency law enforcement effort aimed at arresting and prosecuting those who prey on our children and our youth while finding ways to rescue and build a safety net of services for these seriously traumatized victims.

Under the leadership of SA Fernandez Rundle, her office is in the forefront in response to crimes committed against persons that are motivated by hatred for a person’s race, religion, national origin, ethnicity, sexual orientation, homeless status or age. To that end, the office has had for some time, a “Hate Crimes Unit” made up of prosecutors who have volunteered to work these special cases from investigation through all stages of prosecution, including 24/7 duty calls.

She created Anti-Gun Violence Units in cooperation with the Miami-Dade, Miami Gardens, and City of Miami’s Police Departments. he embedded prosecutors and homicide investigators in the neighborhoods they serve to facilitate investigations and prosecutions by building relationships with residents, gathering intelligence, responding to the scenes of all contact shootings, helping to locate and secure the attendance of victims and other essential witnesses, and assisting the line prosecutors in court.

Last year, SA Fernandez Rundle formed a joint public-private work group to fight elder and vulnerable adult exploitation and abuse (EVA). The group aims to use best practices to foster cooperation among key stakeholders on those issues and policy initiatives related to the abuse and neglect of elder and vulnerable adults.

SA Fernandez Rundle received her bachelor’s degree from the University of Miami and both her post-graduate and law degrees from the University of Cambridge Law School in England.