For the first time in decades, Hillsborough County has a new public defender.

TAMPA — It’s the first time since 1993 that a changing of the guard ceremony was held at the Hillsboro Public Defender’s Office. So the scene inside the county’s largest courtroom earlier this month when Lisa MacLean raised her hand and took the oath to support and defend the Constitution had a touch of history.

The oath was the culmination of what MacLean had been thinking about for years, realizing his future. She was elected last August to head the office, which provides legal representation to criminal defendants who cannot afford a lawyer.

Her oath officially named the successor to Julian Holt, who retired after more than 30 years as a public defender.

Almost two weeks later, MacLean is thinking about new gigs.

“I kept telling everyone who asked me how I was doing that this was the best job ever,” she said.

Mr. MacLean has practiced law in Tampa for more than 30 years. She has worked on both sides of the courtroom, starting as a prosecutor in the office of the late Hillsboro State Attorney Bill James and working for Holt after first being elected public defender in 1992. He went into private practice and founded his own defense company in 2006.

Along the way, MacLean earned the respect of a wide cross-section of Tampa’s close-knit legal community and a reputation as a tenacious advocate for his clients.

“As a prosecutor, the defense liked her,” Hillsboro Circuit Judge Samantha Ward told the audience at McLean’s subpoena ceremony, “and they liked her as a defense attorney.” , that’s really all you can ask for in this job here in the criminal justice system. As you know, this job can be very harsh at times.”

Ms. MacLean sometimes tells the story of an early case she defended involving a man accused of arson. He was an elderly man who lived in a public housing complex off North Florida Avenue. One day he fell in his apartment and injured himself. He cried out for help, but no one came. So he grabbed a nearby lighter and used it to light the fan to get someone’s attention.

It was a typical public defender case. MacLean took it to court and was acquitted.

Her first official duties since taking office included hiring two experienced attorneys. One is a senior prosecutor and the other is a longtime private defense attorney.

Kimberly Hyndman will become MacLean’s chief of staff and oversee much of the office’s day-to-day operations. It’s a role similar to the one Hindman held in the state attorney’s office during the Andrew Warren and Susie Lopez administrations. Mr. Hyndman previously served as a senior prosecutor under State Attorney Mark Ober, handling murder cases and other major cases.

Mr. MacLean praised Mr. Hyndman’s organizational knowledge and management experience.

She also hired William Knight as Chief of Major Crimes. Mr. Knight is a widely respected criminal defense attorney known for taking on difficult cases and was the last candidate to run for office in Mr. Holt’s last contested election in 2004. Mr. Knight worked in Mr. Holt’s office before entering private practice.

The Tampa native is the great-grandson of Peter O. Knight, the namesake of Davis Island Airport.

Part of Mr Knight’s role is to visit courtrooms and provide guidance and advice to lawyers when issues arise. MacLean said Knight, a certified criminal trial attorney, is well suited for the role.

She has other plans. In her campaign, she expressed interest in leveraging artificial intelligence and other technologies to enhance the office’s operations for clients.

But for now, her priority is listening.

At the end of her first week on the job, she hosted a donut get-together for employees. She will be presenting a “listening tour” and meeting with everyone in small groups to hear their thoughts on how the office is run and what could be improved.

She hopes to build on her predecessor’s work while exploring ways to better serve the office’s customers.

Standing before a crowd that included judges, prosecutors and defense attorneys at this month’s convocation, MacLean spoke about the importance of public defenders in promoting the greater good.

She cited a legal dissent by Judge David Gersten of the Third District Court of Appeals, which said, “Public defenders protect the downtrodden and the poor, preventing violations of our protections and actually is protecting us all.”

“The job of defending the Constitution every day doesn’t just work for our clients,” MacLean said. “It works for all of us.”