Council to make Mike Dyer permanent county attorney

Posted On: June 2, 2020

Back in January, following the announced retirement of former longtime County Attorney Dan Eckert, the Volusia County Council talked about launching a national search for Eckert’s replacement. But after seeing the job that Mike Dyer has done leading the County Attorney’s Office on an interim basis for the last five months, council members have decided they already have the best person for the position.

The County Council made it official on Tuesday, voting to drop the word interim from Dyer’s title and give him the permanent position. All that’s left to do now is to negotiate a contract with Dyer that will be brought back to the council for final approval.

Now on his second stint with the county, Dyer has been serving as interim county attorney since Jan. 9. Dyer, who has a law degree from Florida State University, started in private practice with a Daytona Beach law firm before being hired by the county in November 2005 as an assistant county attorney. He left county government in April 2012 to become general counsel for the Volusia County School Board and remained in the position until returning to the County Attorney’s Office in January 2019. He has been interim county attorney since Jan. 9, 2020.

Citing Dyer’s legal work, responsiveness and oversight of his department, council members said they no longer feel the need to look elsewhere to fill the position.

“My thought was that we were going to look nationally,” said council member Billie Wheeler. “But I do think Mr. Dyer has absolutely exceeded my expectations. …You took off running and you made tough decisions from day one.”

Other council members agreed, and Tuesday’s vote was unanimous.

“He has proven very exceptional in the job he has done,” added council member Ben Johnson. “I think if we look around, we’re not going to do any better.”