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New head of criminal division appointed to replace Bush
The Vindicator (Youngstown)
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Atty. Rebecca Doherty has been tapped to replace Atty. Robert E. Bush Jr. as chief of the criminal division of the Mahoning County Prosecutor's Office.
YOUNGSTOWN
The resignation of the former chief of the criminal division of the prosecutor’s office will mean changes in the Mahoning County office, but each employee will be doing a little more to keep the office flowing smoothly.
Atty. Robert E. Bush Jr. left the prosecutor’s office at the beginning of the year to assume duties as the new director of the Department of Job and Family Services. Bush has been the head of the criminal division in the prosecutor’s office.
Atty. Rebecca Doherty has been tapped to replace Bush as chief of the criminal division. The move means a 22 percent pay increase to $81,000 a year.
Prosecutor Paul Gains said Doherty’s former position as an assistant prosecutor is not expected to be filled. He said Doherty is the natural choice to replace Bush.
“She has a wealth of experience and is a career prosecutor with the needed temperament to bring people together,” he said. “I choose the best people for the job. She is an extremely competent lawyer.”
Doherty said the absence of Bush means the prosecutor’s office is down by about three prosecutors because others also have left the office and not been replaced. She said the reduced staff should not be a major issue in the office because each prosecutor will carry more cases and do more work.
Doherty said a lot of the work that comes with the new position is administrative, but she intends to handle those duties and remain in the courtroom.
“It’s going to be a little different than what Bob did because I am going to handle cases and remain very active in the courtroom,” she said. “I have to figure out a way to do everything I need to do and stay active in the courtroom.”
There are 11 attorneys in the prosecutor’s criminal division who fall under Doherty’s umbrella. Each of the five county courtrooms has an attorney assigned to handle cases in that courtroom. There are also attorneys assigned to special cases such as violence against women and children, and a prosecutor for drug task-force cases.
One thing Doherty said she plans to do immediately and going forward is make way for more interaction between the prosecutor’s office and the various law-enforcement agencies that work with the prosecutor’s office.
“I want the relationship between this prosecutor’s office and law enforcement to stay as it is and even get better. We have a good relationship, but I would like to see more interaction,” she said.
Doherty attended the University of Akron as a criminal-justice major, then attended law school at the University of Akron School of Law. She graduated from law school in 1991.
Doherty has worked for the Summit County prosecutor’s office and spent time in private practice before coming to the Mahoning County Prosecutor’s Office in 2009. She has had years of trial experience.
“There is not much in the court that I have not seen,” she said. “I want the public to know just how hard the attorneys in the prosecutor’s office work. We have a great staff.”