TAMPA – Statewide prosecutor Nicholas B. Cox, a respected lawyer and native of Tampa, who began his career in prosecuting violent crimes in his hometown, will soon return to the Hillsboro State Attorney’s Office as a new chief assistant.
Hillsboro State Attorney Susie Lopez has chosen Cox to fill in the role of overseeing the office’s felony division, her office announced Tuesday.
In a statement in a news release accompanying the announcement, Cox said his return to the office would “make dreams come true.”
“We are proud to ensure that our prosecutors have the resources, training and guidance they need to hold criminals accountable when working together to enhance public safety. I will,” Cox said.
In a statement, Lopez said Cox’s “integrity and work ethic will enhance the work we do on behalf of our victims every day.”
Cox, 61, fills the vacancy created after former chief assistant Kimberly Hindman took a similar job at the Public Defense Department in Hillsboro last month.
Hindman was the chief assistant during his tenure as former Hillsboro State Attorney Andrew Warren, and continued to lead the office after Lopez was appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis in August 2022 to remove Warren.
For the first time since 2011, Cox served as a statewide prosecutor, an appointed position within the Florida Attorney General’s Office.
Offices usually focus on cases such as drug conspiracy, human trafficking, fraud, and child sexual exploitation. However, it has recently attracted attention as an entity that has indicted a series of voter fraud cases defended by DeSantis against felons who voted in the 2020 election.
Cox served as statewide prosecutors during the tenure of former lawyers Pam Bondy and Ashley Moody.
He is Bondi’s best friend. They together prosecuted a lawsuit in Tampa in the 1990s. He traveled to Washington, D.C. last month, and spoke about his appointment as U.S. Attorney General at a U.S. Senator’s confirmation hearing.
A graduate of Jesuit High School and the University of South Florida, Cox earned his law degree from Washburn University in Kansas. Cox worked as a Hillsboro County prosecutor for about 10 years in the late 1980s and early 1990s, dealing with murder and other serious felony. He left in 1997. He worked for a while in the Attorney General’s office and as a professor at the Department of Law at Stetson University. He also spent four years as a community director for children and families in Florida.
It is unclear who will take Cox’s position as statewide prosecutor.
Cox was appointed to another four terms in 2023. When interviewing for his work that year, he told the Judicial Nominations Committee that he believed that the best he could do for his prosecutors would be out of the way. ”
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“I really enjoy being a prosecutor,” he told the committee. “We really believe that we have an opportunity to do the right thing here every day.”
