Lou Frost

Louis O'Melville "Lou" Frost Jr. (September 19, 1931 – January 16, 2008) was an American lawyer who served for 36 years as the elected public defender for Florida's Fourth Judicial Circuit, which consists of Duval, Nassau, and Clay counties. He was a local legal institution who nurtured the careers of hundreds of young lawyers, with two dozen appointed to state and federal judgeships, and one seated on the Florida Supreme Court.

Early years Frost was born in New York City, but his family moved to Jacksonville, Florida when he was seven years old. He was a 1949 graduate of Jacksonville's Landon High School, where he was named valedictorian. He received a degree in business from the University of Florida in 1953, the same year he married his wife, Shirley. He attended University of Miami School of Law before serving two years as an officer in the United States Army First Infantry during the Korean War. After leaving the Army, he completed his Juris Doctor degree at the University of Florida College of Law. and worked briefly in a Jacksonville private practice.

Career In 1959, then-county solicitor Lacy Mahon Jr. hired Frost as a part-time prosecutor. After Edward M. Booth was elected County Solicitor, he retained Frost on the staff, as well as Ed Austin. Frost first became acquainted with Austin in 1951 at the University of Florida when the former was a student and the latter was a teacher. A few years later, Frost was a First Lieutenant at Fort Sill, Oklahoma when Austin attended Officer Candidate School. They also attended law school together.

During the 1960s, the state attorney handled capital cases and grand jury indictments, while the county solicitor was responsible for all other cases. When Austin resigned to run for State Attorney in 1968, Frost was invited to change sides again, but he declined and was appointed to fill Austin's remaining term by Governor Claude Kirk. and a Master Mason, 33rd degree Scottish Rite, and a Jester.

Upon his retirement, Frost was interviewed by the Florida Times-Union: "It has been rewarding to see people whose careers I've helped and also to see people that we've defended turn the corner and turn their lives around. Those are the rewards that you never see, and those are the rewards that I've cherished."

More than 300 friends and colleagues attended a retirement celebration in his honor on February 24, 2005. They included judges, lawyers and politicians in the northeast Florida legal community, many of whom offered speeches in tribute.

State Attorney Harry Shorstein said, "Lou was your quintessential moral, ethical, caring person. The law can at times be very contentious, but Lou was always a gentleman."