St. Joseph County Prosecutor Kenneth P. Cotter has been elected chairman of the Indiana Prosecuting Attorneys Council Board of Directors. He was elected to the post during the IPAC 2018 Summer Conference in French Lick. Vice chair of the board is now Lisa L. Swaim, Cass County Prosecutor and secretary/treasurer is Anthony Quinn, Dubois County Prosecutor. Washington County Prosecutor Dustin Houchin is the outgoing IPAC Board Chairman.
The 3-day summer conference for county prosecutors and their deputies featured a presentation by Dr. Anna Lembke of Stanford University who discussed her personal experience in treating people dealing with addictions to prescription drugs. She said there is a direct correlation between the massive increase in prescriptions for opioids to the spike in opioid related deaths.
Upon his election, Prosecuting Attorney Kenneth P. Cotter said, “I am honored to serve in this capacity. I look forward to working with the Council, and I believe our work will help citizens in my jurisdiction of St. Joseph County as well as citizens across the state of Indiana.” Cotter took over as the St. Joseph County Prosecutor in 2015 after serving nearly 20 years as a deputy prosecuting attorney (12 of them as a Chief Deputy. He was formerly IPAC Vice Chairman and a member of the Board of Directors. Cotter’s philosophy for prosecution is straight-forward but heartfelt: we need to keep violent criminals off our streets, rehabilitate those who can contribute to our community, and make sure that victims of crimes are always respected.
Elected for a two-term to the board of directors was Delaware County Prosecutor Jeffrey L. Arnold, St. Joseph County Prosecutor Kenneth Cotter, Monroe County Prosecutor Christopher Gaal, Wabash County Prosecutor William Hartley, Jr. and Dubois County Prosecutor Anthony Quinn.
Prosecutors elected to a one-year term on the board of directors were Bruce Aukerman (Vermillion County), Terry Curry (Marion County), Dustin Houchin (Washington County), Daniel Murrie (Daviess County) and Lisa Swaim (Cass County).
CUTLINE: St. Joseph County Prosecutor Kenneth P. Cotter is the new chairman of the Indiana Prosecuting Attorneys Council.
