State Attorney’s Office’s 2022 Citizens Academy
State Attorney Brian Haas
The State Attorney’s Office is accepting applications for the 2022 Citizens Academy.
The seven-week program will run from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. each Tuesday starting September 20th in the Bartow courthouse. The Academy gives residents in the 10th Circuit an opportunity to learn more about the criminal justice system. Citizens will hear from some of the top prosecutors in the circuit about how they develop cases then take them to trial.
Please fill out and complete the application below.
Citizens Academy Application 2022
Completed application should be emailed to communications10@sao10.com or returned to:
ATTN: Administration
The State Attorney’s Office
255 N Broadway Ave., Second Floor
Bartow, FL, 33831
A Polk County Jury convicted Dontae Williamson of Robbery with a Firearm. Williamson entered Advance America in Lakeland FL and pointed a firearm at the clerk demanding money from the register and fled the scene with $450 in stolen cash. Williamson has six prior felony convictions and is set for sentencing September 12th. State Attorney Brian Haas thanks Assistant State Attorney Katherine Artman and the Polk County Sheriff’s Office for their hard work on this case.
Thomas Lucas, 31, of Lakeland was convicted and sentenced to Life in Prison for Robbery with a Firearm and Burglary of a Dwelling with an assault while Armed with a Firearm. Lucas entered a Lakeland home with a firearm through an unlocked door and demanded one of the victims empty the money out of her safe. Lucas threatened to shoot a second victim if he tried to leave the home. Lucas fled the scene with the money and was later apprehended by law enforcement. State Attorney Brian Haas thanks Assistant State Attorney Josephine Colon and the Polk County Sheriff’s Office for their work on this case.