Michael A. Dvorak (born October 24, 1948) is an American lawyer and politician who formerly served as an

Indiana State Representative The Indiana House of Representatives is the lower house of the Indiana General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Indiana. The House is composed of 100 members representing an equal number of constituent districts. House mem ...

and the St. Joseph County, Indiana prosecutor.

Early life

Dvorak was born October 24, 1948 in South Bend,

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th ...

. Dvorak earned a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

from

Loyola University Chicago Loyola University Chicago (Loyola or LUC) is a Private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit research university in Chicago, Illinois. Founded in 1870 by the Society of Jesus, Loyola is one of the largest Catholic Church, Catholic univers ...

in 1970. He earned a

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice l ...

from

Western State College of Law Western State College of Law at Westcliff University is a private, for-profit law school in Irvine, California. It offers full and part-time programs and is approved by the American Bar Association. Western State pays a fee to receive servic ...

in 1975. He was admitted to the

State Bar of California The State Bar of California is California's official attorney licensing agency. It is responsible for managing the admission of lawyers to the practice of law, investigating complaints of professional misconduct, prescribing appropriate disciplin ...

in 1975 and the

Indiana State Bar Association The Indiana State Bar Association (ISBA) is a voluntary bar association for the state of Indiana. Unlike some state bar associations, in which membership is mandatory, ISBA membership is not required of lawyers licensed to practice in Indiana. Th ...

in 1977.

Career

Dvorak served as a deputy

prosecutor A prosecutor is a legal representative of the prosecution in states with either the common law adversarial system or the civil law inquisitorial system. The prosecution is the legal party responsible for presenting the case in a criminal tria ...

in Modesto,

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the ...

from 1975 through 1977. He worked in private legal practice from 1977 through 2002. He also worked as a

public defender A public defender is a lawyer appointed to represent people who otherwise cannot reasonably afford to hire a lawyer to defend themselves in a trial. Several countries provide people with public defenders, including the UK, Hungary and Singapore, ...

in South Bend,

from 1977 through 1986. In 1984, Dvorak ran for the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

nomination for the 8th district seat in the

Indiana House of Representatives The Indiana House of Representatives is the lower house of the Indiana General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Indiana. The House is composed of 100 members representing an equal number of constituent districts. House mem ...

, but lost a four-way

primary election Primary elections, or direct primary are a voting process by which voters can indicate their preference for their party's candidate, or a candidate in general, in an upcoming general election, local election, or by-election. Depending on the ...

State representative

In 1986, Dvorak ran again for the 8th district seat in the Indiana House of Representatives, this time succeeding in securing the Democratic Nomination. Dvorak defeated three-term Republican incumbent

Lloyd Taylor Lloyd, Lloyd's, or Lloyds may refer to: People * Lloyd (name), a variation of the Welsh word ' or ', which means "grey" or "brown" ** List of people with given name Lloyd ** List of people with surname Lloyd * Lloyd (singer) (born 1986), Ameri ...

in the general election. His victory was considered an upset. Dvorak left office in 2002, being succeeded by his son Ryan Dvorak.

St. Joseph County prosecutor

Dvorak successfully ran for St. Joseph County prosecutor in 2002, defeating Republican incumbent Chris Toth. Dvorak was sworn-in in 2003. On December 16, 2010, Dvorak announced that he would not to file any criminal charges against Prince Shembo, who had been accused of

sexual assault Sexual assault is an act in which one intentionally sexually touches another person without that person's consent, or coerces or physically forces a person to engage in a sexual act against their will. It is a form of sexual violence, whi ...

by Lizzy Seeberg nine days prior to her suicide. In 2015, Dvorak opted against seeking reelection. Democratic nominee Ken Cotter, a longtime staffer of Dvorak, was elected to succeed him.

Personal life

Dvorak is a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

. Dvorak and his wife Kathleen had eight children, Ryan, Todd, Sean, Brett, Carrie, Brady, Casey, and Tyler. For decades, Dvorak has resided in

Granger, Indiana Granger is a census-designated place (CDP) in Clay and Harris townships, St. Joseph County, in the U.S. state of Indiana. The population was 30,465 at the 2010 census. Penn-Harris-Madison School Corporation and the South Bend Community Scho ...

. In 1980, Dvorak began a decades-long involvement as a Michiana Soccer Association youth soccer coach. Dvorak has served as president of the Quail Valley Homeowners Association.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dvorak, Michael Democratic Party members of the Indiana House of Representatives American prosecutors American Roman Catholics People from Granger, Indiana People from South Bend, Indiana 1948 births Loyola University Chicago alumni Western State University College of Law alumni Indiana lawyers Living people