COUNTY OF GASTON: Hires Former Acting U.S. Attorney as County Attorney

By Press release submission

Jan 25, 2022

County of Gaston issued the following announcement on Jan. 25.

At its Tuesday, January 25 regular meeting, the Gaston County Board of Commissioners hired Belmont resident William Stetzer as its new County Attorney.

Stetzer has served for the past four years in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of North Carolina as First Assistant United States Attorney, and more recently, as Acting United States Attorney.

Stetzer has extensive prosecutorial experience in both Charlotte and Gaston County, where he served as an assistant district attorney during the late 2000s.

During his time at the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Stetzer supervised more than 50 attorneys and oversaw the office’s Criminal, Civil, Appellate and Administrative Divisions. He partnered with the Justice Department’s Public Integrity Section to successfully prosecute United States v. Lindberg, et al., which is one of North Carolina’s most prominent bribery cases involving public officials.

A resident of Belmont, Stetzer has received commendations for his work from the FBI and the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department Homicide Support Group, and received the Justice Department’s Assistant Attorney General’s Award for Exceptional Service.

Stetzer was hired by the Board of Commissioners after a thorough search that saw the interviews of multiple high-caliber candidates.

“It speaks to where we are as a county that we are able to attract a person as talented as Bill,” Board of Commissioners Chairman Chad Brown said. “We look forward to working with him to continue to take Gaston County forward and make it an even better place to live and do business.”

At his request, Mr. Stetzer will take his oath of office in a private ceremony with the Chairman and Vice Chairman of the Board before he begins his duties.

Stetzer’s first day with the County is January 31. Courtney Rogers, who has served as the Interim County Attorney following the resignation of Jonathan Sink in the fall, will return to her role as Deputy County Attorney.

Original source can be found here.