The City of Port Townsend has hired Jefferson County's chief criminal deputy prosecuting attorney as its next prosecuting attorney.

Chris Ashcraft, 44, accepted the position April 10 after beating out four other finalists in interviews earlier that week. He is set to start May 1 at a salary of $75,075.

“This is a new opportunity for me,” Ashcraft said of the position, which was expanded to include civil matters such as code enforcement, as well as criminal matters. “It's a chance to both prosecute and work in other areas of the law to contribute to the community. That's why I got into prosecution in the first place. I don't really have that opportunity here because David Alvarez does such great [civil] work for the county that there's nothing left to do.”

Ashcraft, who currently lives with his wife in northern Kitsap County, has been with Jefferson County's Prosecuting Attorney's Office for more than five years and became chief criminal deputy in 2013.

“We are planning on moving to Jefferson County,” he said, adding that he hopes to remain near his aging parents who live in Silverdale. “I don't know that I'm moving to Port Townsend any time soon. I want to live in the Ludlow or Shine area.”

Ashcraft was a member of the prosecutorial team that argued against Michael J. Pierce, who was twice convicted of murdering Pat and Janice Yarr of Quilcene in 2009.

Ashcraft worked as a corrections officer at the Jefferson County Jail from 2000 to 2003 before spending another three years working at Kitsap's juvenile detention center. He joined Jefferson County after earning a law degree in 2009.

“Chris will be missed,” Jefferson County Prosecutor Michael Haas wrote in an April 21 email to the Port Townsend & Jefferson County Leader. “I've enjoyed working with him from both sides of the aisle. Replacing him will be difficult.”

Ashcraft is set to replace Johanna Vanderlee of Bainbridge Island, who started with the city in November 2012.

“There's a lot of overlap in cases between the city and county, even though I'm focused on criminal, so we had already worked together in the past,” he said of working with Vanderlee. “I think it'll be a smooth transition.”

City Manager David Timmons said he did not get directly involved in the hiring effort, which attracted 24 applications that were reviewed by a team of staff including Pam Kolacy, the city's human resources manager, Steven Gross, city attorney, Vanderlee and Michael Evans, deputy police chief.

“I was impressed with his longterm commitment to this area and his outstanding record of being fair and impartial in his handling of difficult and complex legal matters that impact our community,” Timmons said in a statement.

Ashcraft is set to take over Vanderlee's Mountain View Commons office in the same building as the city's police department.

“I am looking forward to working closer with the police department,” he said. “As far as upper management, I have worked with them a lot so now I'll get to work with officers on the road to help provide the best police service possible for this community.”

Haas, who took office in January, said in replacing Ashcraft he is working to create a new position that would not only focus on criminal matters, but also civil, requiring at least 10 years' experience in both of those areas as well as experience in dispute resolution.

“Unfortunately trial attorneys with this level of experience are in high demand,” Haas said, adding that the new position, which Ashcraft would not have been qualified to fill, would pay about $100,000. “Jefferson County is not just competing with other small counties, we're competing with larger counties, our own municipality, other cities, the State and Federal government and the private sector.”