JACKSONVILLE, Fla — Jacksonville's former public defender has lost his right to practice law for the next six months after The Florida Bar approved his voluntary guilty plea for the ethics violations committed when he held the job as revealed in a Times-Union investigation.
As a result of the conditional guilty plea, filed with the Florida Supreme Court and accepted by the Bar this week, Matt Shirk is suspended from practicing law and must have "proof of rehabilitation" prior to his reinstatement. He also is required to pay for the disciplinary costs.
Shirk is a private attorney in Jacksonville, handling criminal defense and immigration law. He could not be reached for comment following a text message and call.
As a Republican, he was first elected public defender in the 4th Judicial Circuit in Duval, Clay and Nassau counties in 2009, then re-elected to a second term in 2013. He lost his 2016 re-election bid to Republican Charlie Cofer.
As the elected public defender, he was subject to a state Code of Ethics for public officers, the 11-page plea to the Florida Supreme Court states. He was initially fined $6,000 for admitting to a number of those ethics violations, including inappropriate relationships with women he hired to work for him, building a private shower in his office with taxpayer money and serving alcohol in a city building, according to a Times-Union investigation.
Shirk's eight years in office were hounded by scandals. After hiring and fraternizing with three women — finding one on social media and the other two who worked at a nightclub — Shirk fired them when confronted by his wife. She would later file for divorce. Shirk and the women maintained they didn’t have sex.
"Respondent terminated them from employment at the Public Defender’s Office for the private benefit of himself, his wife and their marriage," the judgment states.
A grand jury recommended he be removed from office. But Gov. Rick Scott declined to do so, and Shirk was unwilling to step down.
The latest judgment against Shirk cites he violated a state statute that says no public officer "shall solicit or accept anything of value to the recipient," based on any understanding that it could influence any ensuing action. This was due to multiple incidents and "by hiring or directing the hiring of three women contrary to procedures, policies or qualifications, or outside of normal hiring practices."
The ruling also said Shirk further violated a specific part of the ethics statute that a public officer cannot disclose or use information not available to the general public for personal gain or to benefit anyone else. The ruling said Shirk revealed information on a former child client, violating attorney-client privilege in the high-profile case of 12-year-old Cristian Fernandez, who was accused of murder.
"After the child entered a plea and the Circuit Court withheld adjudication, respondent, in an interview to a documentary crew interested in the case, revealed his client’s defenses to the allegations of murder," the ruling said.
Shirk was initially investigated after the Florida auditor general issued a scathing report that documented how he misused staff and funds for personal gain and may have illegally deleted records, something he’s been accused of in the past as well.
Dan Scanlan: (904) 359-4549
