James L. Santelle '83 Nominated to U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Wisconsin

President Barack Obama nominated Assistant U.S. Attorney James L. Santelle on Monday to be the new U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, the White House press office announced.

If confirmed by the Senate, Santelle, would replace former U.S. Attorney Steve Biskupic, who raised the office's profile with public corruption and police misconduct cases. Biskupic left the office for private practice.

Santelle, 51, has been an assistant U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Wisconsin since 1985.

Santelle was principal deputy director for the Executive Office of the United States Attorneys from 1991 to 2001.

From 2001 to 2002, Santelle was the interim U.S. attorney until Biskupic replaced Tom Schneider, who left the position to become head of the Children's Outing Association in Milwaukee.

He also served as chief of the civil division of the U.S. attorney's office for the Western District of Michigan from 2003 to 2004, and the attaché and rule of law coordinator to the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad for the U.S. Department of Justice from 2006 to 2008.

Before that, Santelle was a law clerk for Robert W. Warren, a federal judge for Wisconsin's eastern district.

Santelle graduated from Marquette University in 1980 and from the University of Chicago Law School in 1985.