Schuylkill County’s newest district attorney brings with him years of experience from both sides of the courtroom.

Michael A. O’Pake, who graduated from Dickinson School of Law in 1988, worked 22 years, from 1992 through 2013, as an assistant district attorney.

In late 2013, he became a public defender.

Now, he’s back in the prosecutor’s seat, having been elected in November over incumbent Christine A. Holman.

O’Pake, 54, of Norwegian Township, was among those officials sworn into office on Dec. 28.

“I want to send a message to criminals. They no longer are going to control the criminal justice system in Schuylkill County,” he said. “The criminal justice system is going to be controlled by the district attorney’s office.”

O’Pake cited the team he’s assembled, a mix of current, former, and new prosecutors.

“I think the experience that I’ve brought into this office conveys that message,” he said.”

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He brings with him former Chief Public Defender Michael J. Stine, who will be first assistant district attorney.

Jennifer N. Foose and A.J. Serina, both of whom served under Holman, are staying on.

Foose and Stine will be the only full-time staff.

Also joining the team are Karen Byrnes-Noon and Claude A. Lord “Cal” Shields, both former district attorneys for whom O’Pake worked as an assistant.

They’ll be joined by Thomas J. Campion Jr. and William C. Reiley. Reiley will be assigned to the county’s drug court, which began a year ago.

Byrnes-Noon will be assigned to indirect criminal contempt and domestic violence cases.

Rounding out the team are Thomas P. Pellish and Julie A. Werdt.

“They are two of the brightest, most aggressive attorneys in Schuylkill County,” O’Pake said.

Kathleen Reidlinger, who worked as an investigator for the public defenders office, will come on board to research discovery for the district attorney’s office.

Discovery is any information the commonwealth has regarding its investigation, arrest and prosecution of any defendant, which must be shared with the defense.

“For a number of years, the discovery process has been a problem in the district attorney’s office,” O’Pake said. “Kathleen is going to fix that for me.”

Eric M. Lieberman will handle juvenile prosecutions.

By his first day in office, O’Pake had set his first top three priorities:

• To address Schuylkill’s ongoing problem with prison overcrowding by moving defendants through court and sentencing faster.

• To whittle the bench warrant list by bringing former chief detective Dennis Clark back to that position.

His first assignment will be to bring in those wanted on bench warrants.

• And to go through a list of 1,300 cases that he learned 10 days ago were scheduled for trial in the February term of court, reviewing, prioritizing and sorting.

He also plans to bolster the relationship with police by eventually visiting each department.

“I want to make sure the police know we’re a team,” he said. “I want to let them know we’re serious about prosecuting the charges that they bring.”