State attorneys, PDs need money to reduce turnover.

A half dozen years ago, the legislature boosted the starting salaries of rookie prosecutors and public defenders to lure them in the door. Now it's time for the second phase of trying to keep mid-level attorneys with three to six years experience, the group with the highest turnover rate.

That was the message 19th Circuit State Attorney Bruce Colton, president of the Florida Prosecuting Attorneys Association, delivered to the Senate Justice Appropriations Committee on January 26.

Ditto for public defenders, says Eighth Circuit Public Defender Richard Parker,