Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
Local attorney R. Steven Hearn wants to return to a position he held from May 1969 to January 1978 - that of Kosciusko County prosecutor.
Hearn replaced Allan A. Rasor as prosecutor in 1969 when Rasor was appointed judge of the newly created Kosciusko County Superior Court.
Hearn, now 64, was just a kid then, with three years of private practice under his ledgers.
At that time the prosecutor's position was part-time and Hearn was paid $10,000 per year from state funds. Currently, the county contributes an additional $5,000 toward a full-time prosecuting attorney's salary in addition to the $90,000 state-mandated amount.
Hearn, a Republican, said the possibility of returning to the prosecuting attorney's office has been brewing for years.
"Several people have approached me over the years to run as prosecutor," the North Manchester native said recently, "but then there are always people unhappy with public officials. That number has steadily increasing and now I'm being urged to run."
Hearn said he wants to restore the county's former reputation as having a good judicial system.
"We used to have a lot of high profile criminal trials here. Due to pretrial publicity, many cases would come from Allen County, where Walt Helmke was prosecutor. He was the master," he said.
"The prosecuting attorney should win 99 percent of his cases. He picks and chooses them, based on the evidence gathered by the police department.
"The police department is not comfortable with the current state of affairs. It's not what it used to be. There is a lack of leadership at the top."
Now a partner with Armey and Hearn, Warsaw, Hearn said he met with the police department on a regular basis back in his prosecuting days.
"They all knew where I stood and I knew where they stood. They have to find the evidence to prove the case. I feel there is no direction for them now.
"I want to re-establish credibility and reopen communications," he said, adding, "It's time to give something back to the community."
Hearn graduated from Manchester High School in 1955 and received his bachelor's degree from Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas.
He received his law degree from Indiana University in 1966.
He serves as the chief legal counsel for the American Power Boat Association and is a member of the Kosciusko County and Indiana State Bar associations.
In private practice Hearn was a partner with Rasor, Harris, Lemon and Reed, Warsaw, and Reed and Hearn, Syracuse.
His wife, Dolores, is a school psychologist. They live near Leesburg. The couple have three adult children: Edward, of Valparaiso; Richard, of Dayton, Ohio; and Elizabeth Hearn-Chea, of New Jersey; and four grandchildren.
