LAKE COUNTY — After a turbulent time at the Lake County Prosecutor’s office, a new prosecutor has been appointed and on the job for over a month now, hoping to provide some much-needed stability.
Former prosecutor Greg Mick resigned just six months into his term. The prosecutor before that, Craig Cooper, resigned back in 2024, with a month left in his term. Cooper’s term was marred by clashes with local law enforcement.
Tom Evans comes to Lake County with a lot of experience, having been an attorney for 29 years.
17 of those years he served as a prosecutor with Barry, Clare, Montmorency and Luce Counties.
He said so far, it’s been great.
“I really have no complaints. There is a lot to do here, but I have no complaints about how things are going at all. It’s been going very well. My team here is great,” said Evans.
He said he is fully committed to the job.
“The big thing for here right now is to litigate the cases that we have and gain justice for those who have been wronged, particularly when there’s been a loss of life.
He said there are a few hurdles he’s trying to overcome since coming on board Oct. 7.
Evans said he still needs an assistant prosecutor, as he tries to catch up on cases.
“No offense to the attorney general. I appreciate the work that they did while they were here, but there is quite a bit of a backlog of complaint requests to deal with. And justice delayed can often be justice denied, so it’s a very high priority for me to begin those cases and litigate those cases in a way that’s fair and equitable,” said Evans.
The attorney general’s office was filling in, taking cases after Mick resigned.
Lake County Sheriff Rich Martin said he’s happy Evans is here.
“It’s kind of like driving a car with a donut tire,” Martin said. “The car still drove for the longest time when the Attorney General’s office was helping us. You know, we’re still getting down the road, but we’ve got to have good tires on it to actually have the best driving performance.”
Martin said the last two prosecutors were ineffective.
His hope for more solid prosecutions from Mick faded.
“We were cautiously optimistic that we would have a prosecutor that would stand up for the officers that work in this county and we didn’t see that,” said Martin.
He said the relationship with Mick’s predecessor, Craig Cooper, was rocky amid allegations of disorganization and poor communication.
The Lake County police unions passed a unanimous vote of no confidence in Cooper back in early 2023.
“He was ineffective and there were cases that we feel should not have been dropped, but because of the way it was prosecuted, the way it was handled, they were dismissed or, you know, go back to the jury trials,” said Martin.
Evans said he couldn’t speak about the former prosecutors’ abilities, but he knows what he brings to the table.
“I can just do the best that I can. Make ourselves accessible to the police, to be prepared for our cases, to prepare them for court and to assist them in their search warrants, advice in the field — anything I can do to collaborate with them,” said Evans.
Martin said he’s looking forward to a brighter future.
“Hopefully, we’re done with the past. We’re going to move forward right in a positive direction, and things are going to go closer to where they should be,” said Martin.