The professional legal services of the Swartz Law Firm are available for Floridians throughout the Sunshine State. The Greater Tampa area is another one of the larger Florida communities proudly served by the Swartz Law Firm. As the county seat for Hillsborough County, Tampa metropolitan area is the largest city in the county with a population of almost half a million. Across the Hillsborough Bay lie the towns of Clearwater and St. Petersburg, making it the second largest metropolitan area of Florida, next to the Miami and Ft. Lauderdale area. It is projected by the U.S Census that the population of Florida will surpass New York, making it on the third most populated state in the nation.
Tampa is part of the Middle District of Florida, which stretches over 350 miles from the Georgia border in the northeast to the southwestern coast of Florida, as south as Naples. The Tampa federal courthouse is one of the five divisional courthouses that make up this federal judicial district, which is the home courthouse for federal judges. Covering 35 of Florida’s 67 counties, this district covers more geographic area than the Northern or Southern Districts.
As any metropolitan area grows, so do the statistics for criminal activity and Tampa has been no exception. Violent crimes including property crimes such as burglaries, thefts and robberies have grown along with violent crimes such as murders, sexual offenses and armed robberies. According to its annual police department crime summary, for the year 2012 crimes involving drugs and narcotics continue to grow, outnumbering other categories. Violent crimes and drug crimes outnumber white collar crimes by a significant margin. While the crime rate has declined significantly over the past decade, drug and narcotic related offenses are still prevalent in certain areas, having a negative impact on communities and the well-being of many of its citizens.
Violent offenses, sexual offenses, property offenses and drug offenses are usually prosecuted by the Hillsborough State Attorney’s Office, in the Thirteenth Judicial Circuit of the Florida state courts. The main office for the State Attorney is located at 419 N. Pierce Street with satellite office in Plant City. As the largest community in the county, the Tampa Police Department investigates and handles a significant number of criminal cases prosecuted in the Hillsborough criminal court system. Law enforcement throughout the county is conducted by the Hillsborough Sheriff headed by Sheriff David Gee.
Major drug offenses and economic offenses such as fraud are generally prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Office, with headquarters in Tampa. As one of the busiest federal prosecution offices in the country, the office directs the satellite offices in Orlando, Jacksonville, Ft. Meyers, and Ocala. The prosecutions out of this office also include child pornography offense, sex trafficking, tax frauds, counterfeit currency, identity theft, and weapons offenses.
If you are accused of a crime or the subject of a criminal investigation, Florida Bar board certified attorney Ken Swartz will aggressively defend you and protect your rights.