Prosecutors Roundtable May 2: Four decades and counting

Over the last 40 years four individuals have served as Putnam County prosecutor -- Del Brewer, Bob Lowe, Matt Headley and incumbent Tim Bookwalter.

On Thursday, May 2 DePauw Professor of Political Science Bruce Stinebrickner will moderate a discussion among these four men about the challenges and opportunities they have faced in their role as Putnam County prosecutor.

“Putnam County Prosecutors Roundtable: Four Decades and Counting” is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. in Watson Forum in the Pulliam Center for Contemporary Media on the DePauw campus (southeast corner of Elm and Locust streets). The public is invited to attend.

A reception for the four prosecutors and others who attend will follow in the Media Center immediately after the roundtable concludes.

The office of Putnam County prosecutor is without doubt one of the most important public offices in the county. In the four-plus decades these four individuals have held the office, significant changes of all sorts have occurred in the United States as a whole, in Indiana and in Putnam County. Presumably such changes have not left the office of Putnam County prosecutor unaffected. The roundtable discussion will provide an opportunity for looking back as well as looking ahead.

Prosecutor Del Brewer was first elected prosecutor in November 1978, serving eight years beginning in January 1979, before being succeeded by Bob Lowe in January 1987.

Prosecutor Lowe resigned as prosecutor, effective Dec. 1, 1996, after being elected to the Putnam County Superior Court. Lowe was succeeded by Prosecutor Matt Headley, who served until after his election to the Putnam Circuit Court in November 2004.

Succeeding Headley, Prosecutor Tim Bookwalter took over the office in January 2005 and, after winning elections in 2006, 2010, 2014 and 2018, is currently in his 15th year as Putnam County prosecutor.