Staff Reports
Bartholomew County Prosecutor Bill Nash said he won’t seek the Republican nomination for prosecutor in 2022 when his current term ends.
Nash, who is in his fifth four-year term as county prosecutor, has served in the role more than 18 years.
Nash is a 1982 Columbus North graduate who earned his two undergraduate degrees from Indiana University in 1986. After receiving his law degree from Northwestern University in 1990, Nash worked as an attorney in California before returning to his hometown to join the Jones, Patterson and Tucker law firm.
In November 2002, Nash pulled off an upset by narrowly defeating incumbent Joe Koenig, a Democrat who had served as county prosecutor for 24 years.
In the subsequent elections, Nash ran unopposed on both the primary and general ballots.
In a statement to the newspaper, Nash said he would finish his current term as prosecutor, but declined to say what his future plans might be.
Among the changes to the prosecutor’s office since Nash took over were partnering with local law enforcement in January 2015 to form the Bartholomew County Joint Narcotics Enforcement Team. The team, made up of Columbus police, Bartholomew County Sheriff’s deputies and an assigned deputy prosecutor, work together to map out connections among those being investigated for drug trafficking.
Nash also endorsed an adult drug treatment court when it was proposed, which is now in place under the supervision of Bartholomew Circuit Court Judge Kelly Benjamin.
