Prosecuting attorney Jim Nagle poses questions to a witness during an October 2019 trial.

The same year Jim Nagle first arrived at the Walla Walla County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office as a deputy prosecutor, Ronald Reagan was inaugurated for his second term as U.S. president.

Amadeus won best picture at the Academy Awards. Coca-Cola changed its formula and introduced New Coke. The space shuttle Atlantis made its maiden launch. And Coca-Cola brought back it’s classic recipe after many criticized the New Coke formula.

The year was 1985, and Nagle decided to leave private practice as an attorney for a while and join the Walla Walla Prosecutor’s Office. Little did he know that it would be the office he would retire from 38 years later.

Nagle’s last day at work was Friday, Dec. 30. His term officially ended the next day. 

Nagle said the time was right to leave.

“I didn’t really realize, until near the end of my term, the level you have to work at all the time,” Nagle said. “A lot of the cases we are dealing with are not easy, in terms of the emotional content, complexity and things of that nature.”

He said while he feels he is still able to do the job well, he wanted to be able to enjoy retirement.

“If I knew how long I was going to live maybe I would keep doing it,” he said. “But I don’t have any second thoughts about it. In fact, as it got closer and closer, I thought, ‘You know, this is a really good idea. I need to get out of here.’”

Nagle, 68, announced in April that he would not seek another term.

Gabe Acosta, Nagle’s chief deputy since 1996, was elected to take his place.

Before joining the prosecutor’s office, Nagle was an attorney in private practice, first in Grey’s Harbor County, and then in Walla Walla County. In February 1985, Nagle was asked whether he wanted to join the prosecutor’s office.

Nagle said his general practice background, including doing some criminal defense work, attracted him to the job.

In addition to the county prosecutor’s office representing the state of Washington in criminal cases, it also represents the county in all civil cases. So being flexible helped Nagle succeed.

“Nobody notices (us do civil work) until a big zoning issue comes up or a land use issue hits the news,” he said. “That used to make the front page.”

Over the next four years, Nagle saw multiple bosses leave and a lot of the deputies come and go.

When the head prosecutor’s job came open about mid-term in 1989, he was appointed to the position by the Walla Walla County Commissioners. He held the job for the rest of his career.

He said in his time in office, the job, the county, the country and the world went through a lot changes. So, too, did the practice of law.

“Everything has become so specialized,” Nagle said. “It’s hard to keep up with the complexity of everything.”

He said because civil practice has become much more complex, the office now has two attorneys who only focus on civil law, while in the past, everyone did everything.

“Litigation is becoming more and more time-consuming in the civil world,” he said.

When asked about some of his high points on the job, he didn’t want to rehash specific cases because he said no matter how much time has passed, a case can always be reopened.

“You win some trials, you think, ‘Everything worked out OK,’” he said. “Cases we thought we had resolved in the 90s, they are filing new appeals and requests for relief … That can be really hard on the victims’ families. …

“I get lots of little high points but then I get low points.”

Nagle said he will miss working with the other attorneys in the office.

“I think 80% of the time I enjoyed the job,” he said. “It was very stimulating. You’re thinking, ‘OK, we got done with this batch of cases, what’s next? Bring it on.’”

So now what’s next? Nagle said he just wants to make sure he has something planned to do every day.

“I’ve got a lot of things to do around the house to fix that got neglected,” he said.

And while he said he has no plan to go into private practice, he’s not shutting the door on an eventual return to the courtroom — maybe.

“I am going to keep my (legal) bar license, just in case,” he said.