RHINELANDER - Oneida County's been working without an elected district attorney since Michael Bloom took over as a county judge. Last week Oneida County elected Mike Schiek of Rhinelander to be its new district attorney.

The criminal defense lawyer says it was a great experience, but a long campaign.

"I took a big breath and relaxed a little bit. It felt like there was a lot of weight off my shoulders. It's been a long couple of months and there was some anxiety, obviously, but when it was over with I slept very good," says Schiek.

That's how Schiek felt when he saw the final returns come in around midnight on election night.

The job officially starts January first, but Governor Walker could appoint him to start early.

Much like judges, new district attorneys must go through training.

"There's some training that's coming up in early December for newly elected district attorneys. I don't know what the agenda is specifically yet, but I'm hoping they'll give a little guidance as far as what you can expect, what your other duties are other than just prosecuting cases will be," says Schiek.

Since Schiek is currently a criminal defense attorney, he'll have to help his clients find new representation. And those going through the Oneida County system will have to be assigned special prosecutors.

"We're just making sure all the clients are comfortable with the decisions they want to make and we don't have any future problems in the DA's office because we certainly don't want any appearance of impropriety," says Schiek.

Schiek says it's bittersweet leaving his practice of ten years, but he's looking forward to learning the ropes at the DA's office.

Story By: Lyndsey Stemm