Interim prosecutor sworn in

The long-time chief deputy who has been acting as Johnson County prosecutor in recent months became the official interim prosecutor on Wednesday afternoon.

Less than an hour after former Johnson County Prosecutor Brad Cooper was convicted on multiple felonies, sentenced and removed from office in a Hancock County courtroom, Joseph Villanueva was sworn in as interim Johnson County prosecutor by Johnson County Circuit Court Judge Andy Roesener, 35 miles away in a Johnson County courtroom.

"It’s time to heal, and it’s time to start moving forward. We had a bad day today, and we’re going to have a bad day tomorrow. To all our staff here, and family and friends, keep your heads up. We will get through this. And remember, the people of Johnson County are the ones we are here to represent," Villanueva said.

"Any personal issues, any things being said about us, we need to deflect, because our job is to protect our citizens and do that at all costs."

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Villanueva was surrounded by family, friends and much of the staff of the prosecutor’s office, including all deputy prosecutors who had to be sworn in again as well.

"Surreal," he said when asked how it felt to officially be the county’s prosecutor. "It’s something that I’ve thought about for quite awhile."

Villanueva is one of several candidates for a Republican Party caucus to officially replace Cooper as prosecutor, which has not been scheduled yet. Whoever wins that caucus will fill the remainder of Cooper’s term. Voters just re-elected Cooper in November. 

Villanueva has already spearheaded some changes within the prosecutor’s office, including reorganizing staffing levels in some of the courts and streamlining other processes, he said. He plans to announce more changes, goals and plans during a news conference on Thursday morning.

"We have a staff that is dedicated to protecting the citizens of this community, and that is and will always be our priority. Whatever issues we had that occurred within this office are gone now. It is time for us to focus on our cases."