COLDWATER, MI (WTVB) – Branch County Prosecutor Valerie White has announced that local attorney Zachary W. Stempien has been hired to fill the vacant position of Branch County Chief Assistant Prosecutor.
Stempien has been employed as an associate at HaasCaywood PC, handling criminal, civil and family law cases.
He has interned for Judge Amy Ronayne Krause in the Michigan Court of Appeals and Branch County Circuit Court Judge Bill O’Grady.
Stempien graduated from Central Michigan University with a degree in Organizational Administration and obtained his Juris Doctor at Western Michigan University Cooley Law School, where he graduated magna cum laude.
White said a statement that she released on Wednesday that in her search for an attorney to fill the role of Chief Assistant, she was looking for “a person who would carry out the duties of this job with professionalism and a willingness to work hard for the People of Branch County.”
Stempien is a Branch County native. He has coached football, basketball and baseball for Coldwater schools and serves on the City of Coldwater Planning Commission.
The hiring of Stempien brings the number of prosecutors in White’s office back up to three. It is expected to ease the workload White and Assistant Prosecutor Scott Smith have had to carry ever since the resignation of former Prosecutor Ralph Kimble became official January 1, 2019.
