‘We get to write the next chapter’: Alexcia Cox, Palm Beach County’s new State Attorney, makes history

Image via Alexcia Cox.

Alexcia Cox just cemented her place in South Florida history.

At a ceremony on the 11th floor of the Palm Beach County Courthouse, Chief Judge Glenn Kelley of the 15th Judicial Circuit swore Cox in as the county’s new State Attorney.

She is the first woman and Black person to hold the job.

Cox, a Palm Beach County native and career prosecutor, recognized her boundary-breaking oath-taking as “a big moment.”

She asked her 112 Assistant State Attorneys, sworn in by retired Judge Krista Marx, to continue their Office’s mission with a renewed passion.

“This moment does not just belong to me; this is our moment. The voters in Palm Beach County gave us a blank piece of paper, and together we get to write the next chapter in the story of our Office’s history,” she said Tuesday.

“Every day, when you grab your files or your laptop and you head over to court, remember that people all across Palm Beach County are looking to us for safety, for justice, for help, for restitution, for fairness.”

Cox, 45, spent 18 consecutive years with the Palm Beach County State Attorney’s Office, rising to the role of Deputy Chief Assistant State Attorney before mounting a bid in June 2023 to succeed outgoing State Attorney Dave Aronberg.

She won a close contest in November, outpacing Republican Sam Stern by just under a percentage point despite being at a marked funding disadvantage.

But Cox had some edges, including more than 75 endorsements from current and former elected officials, including Aronberg, four Democratic members of Congress, Palm Beach Sheriff Ric Bradshaw and Palm Beach Clerk Joseph Abruzzo.

Broward’s top prosecutor, State Attorney Harold Pryor, also supported Cox. So did the Palm Beach Post.

Cox said she is eager to lead her office in holding criminals accountable.

“We get to continue standing up for victims,” she said. “We get to continue working with our law enforcement partners and community stakeholders to keep our community safe.”

Marx, a former Assistant State Attorney in the Office, said she looks forward to the day when Black women taking powerful positions is commonplace.

“But it is extraordinary today,” she said. “We are here witnessing history. And Alexcia Cox has earned this through years and years of hard work and dedication.”