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Tuesday, February 11, 2025

Moving On

Former U.S. Attorney Zach Myers enjoyed Evansville collaborations

His service as the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana spanned only three years and three months. But Zach Myers says his office achieved much in that relatively short time, and he enjoyed his frequent trips down Interstate 69 from the state capital to Evansville.

The Indianapolis native resigned Jan. 18 ahead of the change of the U.S. presidential administration – that practice is common, he explains. Myers was unanimously confirmed in 2021 by the U.S. Senate. Until his successor is confirmed, First Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan Childress is serving as acting U.S. Attorney for 60 counties in the southernmost part of the Hoosier State.

Myers notes that the U.S. Attorney is the lone political appointee in an office of nonpolitical, professional staff, and he understood this upon taking the job.

“I was proud to serve in the administration I did, and I think every attorney general and president should have leadership that is aligned with their goals and vision,” Myers says. “Of course, it makes sense for every administration to have their own person.”

Myers says that while U.S. Attorney, he and his staff spent ample time prosecuting cyber crimes, in addition to several drugs and weapons cases. Along the way, Myers often was in hiring mode. He brought on board a significant chunk of the office’s staff, including about 35 percent of its lawyer force.

The U.S. Attorney’s office in Indianapolis also is preparing to change locations to the BMO Plaza building.

“It was a unique point in time in this office to really build,” Myers says.

Myers spoke to Evansville Business in April 2023 about the challenge to tamp down gun violence, a task made tougher by the presence of so many illegal firearms. He says he worked with Evansville authorities on that issue and others.

Evansville has the only staffed U.S. Attorney’s office in Southern Indiana, outside of Indianapolis, and he visited often. Offices in New Albany and Terre Haute are unstaffed.

“One of the things I really loved about this role was getting to know Evansville and the Tri-State area better,” Myers says. “It’s such a fun city. I loved staying Downtown, and you have a fantastic police chief, sheriff, and prosecutor, everybody across partisan lines, which don’t really matter in this work. … That was so gratifying, getting to know that community and the leaders there.”

Myers was the first Black U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana. Before his swearing-in ceremony in November 2021, he was Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland from 2014- to 2021 and Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana from 2011 to 2014.

He earlier worked in private practice at the Indianapolis firm formerly known as Baker & Daniels (now Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath). While there, his focus was business litigation and white-collar internal investigations.

Myers says he’s contemplating his next career steps, adding “I’m sure it will work out just fine. I’m transitioning back to the private sector for the first time in almost 14 years. I’m hoping to find some good new challenges and opportunities to do some good in the world.”

Meanwhile, Myers says, federal prosecutions and law enforcement in the Evansville area and throughout Southern Indiana will continue under the next U.S. Attorney, appointed by President Donald Trump and confirmed by the U.S. Senate.

“Everyone in that building other than me is a career employee hired on a merit basis and is sworn to work on behalf of the United States,” he says. “Career professionals are the beating heart of the office.”

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