A former Cass County Attorney who was appointed by Governor Kim Reynolds as Fourth District Judge for Cass and eight other area counties in January, was sworn-in Friday afternoon at the Cass County Courthouse. Iowa Supreme Court Justice Susan Christensen, from Harlan, administered the Oath of Office to Michael Hooper in a ceremony held in the Courtroom at the Courthouse.

His appointment and swearing-in marks the first-time in recent years that a District Judge will have an office at the courthouse. Judge Hooper received his undergraduate degree from the University of Nebraska-Omaha and his law degree from Creighton University Law School.

The Cass County Board of Supervisors, on Feb. 1^st, appointed Vanessa Strazdas, a private practice attorney from Omaha to fill Hoopers’ vacated Cass County Attorney seat. Strazdas, a member of the Iowa Bar, is a National Merit Scholar with a degree in Computer Science from the University of NE at Omaha.  She graduated with honors from Creighton Law School, where she concentrated her studies in Litigation and Criminal Law.