Jeff Sheridan took the post of assistant district attorney for the county, and began work Feb. 9.
Sequoyah County District Attorney Richard Gray said Sheridan has been a prosecutor for the majority of the time since he graduated from law school in 1987.
"He is a very competent, very seasoned prosecutor," Gray said.
Sheridan takes the place of Steve Ramm, who resigned from the position in January amid "Peeping Tom" allegations.
Sheridan has 13 years of prosecution experience in Bryan and Muskogee Counties, and continues to live in Muskogee. He said that he was an intern in Tulsa and Muskogee Counties, and was later an assistant district attorney in Muskogee.
He graduated from Northeastern State University in Tahlequah in 1982 with his undergraduate degree, and received his law degree from the University of Tulsa Law School in 1987.
He said he has known Gray for quite some time and has kept good communication with him over the years.
"I had the opportunity to come work for him and I took it," Sheridan said.
Sheridan said his focus is drug prosecution, and he will also be working with the drug court program.
He said all counties have drug problems, but northeastern and western Oklahoma have a major problem with clandestine methamphetamine labs. He said drug task forces and sheriff's offices have been successful, but since there are so many methods of manufacturing methamphetamine, it is difficult to stop the business of making meth.
Sheridan said everything is important, not only drugs. He said that other crimes are related to drugs, such as property crimes.
"The drug problem is multi-faceted," Sheridan said.
He said that the drug court program has been successful in the county, and he believes it will continue to be successful. Sheridan said those who are repeat offenders, especially in the manufacturing aspect, should go to prison.
Sheridan said since he has been in the county, he has found that many good people live here.
"There are very good intentions in law enforcement," Sheridan said. "They are committed to ridding society of drugs."
He said fighting the drug problem is a team effort between the district attorney's office and law enforcement.
