ORLANDO, Fla. — Surrounded by supporters on a chilly Tuesday morning, Monique Worrell climbed the steps of the Orange County courthouse complex where she had spoken after the governor suspended her in August 2023 as Orange-Osceola state attorney — only this time she was returning newly reelected.

“This moment represents more than a return, it represents a renewal,” Worrell said, “A renewal of trust, of commitment and the promise that justice is not simply about punishment but about prevention, rehabilitation and creating opportunities for positive change.”

She added: “Today we stand united not just to rebuild but to move forward boldly forward with purpose and with clarity.”

The atmosphere was different from 18 months ago, when she lambasted Gov. Ron DeSantis after he accused her of incompetence and neglect of duty. This time she celebrated her comeback, which began as a walk to the courthouse and culminated in a swearing-in ceremony led by state Rep. LaVon Bracy Davis, D-Ocoee.

But the proceedings were also marked by a sense of suspense amid an ongoing grand jury investigation believed related to her previous term in office — a probe local Democrats had worried might even block Worrell’s return to her previous post. Worrell tried to brush off those concerns and focus on her victory as she spoke to the crowd.

In her remarks, she said she will begin her term reviewing work done by predecessor Andrew Bain, a DeSantis appointee as top prosecutor for the Ninth Judicial Circuit to whom Worrell handed a decisive electoral defeat in November.

She pledged to “keep what is working and remove what is not, and have the wisdom to know the difference.” Among her initial moves are to review Bain’s adult civil citation program and reconvene a Violent Crimes Task Force she said he scrapped.

Worrell last week declined to discuss the secret proceeding in Polk County, where she arrived in court Friday morning with a legal team to testify before the grand jury. It’s not clear what the accusations are nor is it known if she’s the target of the probe said to be led by State Attorney Bill Gladson of the Fifth Judicial Circuit.

Worrell again declined Tuesday to talk about her court appearance in Polk.

“Today I am focused only on fulfilling the will of the people and the voters,” she said. “That is my only focus.”

Worrell’s supporters point to a mysterious Dec. 10 executive order by the governor’s office as likely containing Gladson’s appointment to investigate Worrell — but that order remains sealed. In a letter Friday, state Democratic lawmakers in Orange County wrote that “any attempt to circumvent” Worrell’s election win “not only threatens the integrity of our democratic processes but also disenfranchises the voters who entrusted her with this responsibility.”

Her 2023 removal — after months of accusations she failed to prosecute criminals aggressively — mirrored that of Andrew Warren, state attorney in Hillsborough County before DeSantis removed him in August 2022 in part for signing a letter pledging not to prosecute those accused of seeking or providing abortions and another criticizing laws restricting treatment for transgender people.

Like Worrell, Warren faced a well-funded opponent backed by the governor and dubbed the “law and order” candidate. Unlike her, though, he lost to his successor, Suzy Lopez, who took office Tuesday nearly two hours after Worrell.

DeSantis, who was in attendance, didn’t mention Worrell as he spoke just before Lopez was sworn in by state Attorney General Ashley Moody and former state AG Pam Bondi, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for U.S. attorney general. The governor referred to the women, all from Hillsborough, as “a Murderer’s Row of prosecutors that would make any criminal blush.”

DeSantis has dodged questions about whether he will again seek Worrell’s removal and has not publicly spoken about the Polk grand jury proceedings.

But at the Lopez ceremony he offered this comment, without naming names: “There is no room for prosecutors who come in and pursue a political agenda and elevate that political agenda over the rule of law and holding criminals accountable.”

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