In some ways, Steve Gunnels, Deschutes County’s new district attorney, couldn’t be more different than John Hummel, the county’s outgoing lead prosecutor.

Hummel was widely known and sometimes criticized for his off-the-cuff statements. Gunnels, however, speaks as if he is choosing every word with extreme caution and care.

An attorney who has worked around Gunnels for years said he can be so calculated and dry that, when he cracks a joke, it can go unnoticed for several moments before someone eventually laughs.

But behind his quiet demeanor is someone who has been more closely involved with Deschutes County’s criminal justice system than perhaps anyone else. A Deschutes County prosecutor for 28 years, Gunnels has spent most of his life and career here, going from crime scenes to courtrooms. Now, he could be facing his biggest challenge yet.

Gunnels, 56, was elected unopposed in the May primary and was sworn in Tuesday. He takes the reins as the county’s top prosecutor amid mounting concerns over a series of hot-button issues and law enforcement’s role in tackling them: homelessness, mental illness, shootings, drugs and petty crimes.

But if you ask him, the pressure of these concerns and his new role isn’t weighing on him too heavily.

“It’s not daunting to me, because it’s what we do,” he said. “But I do feel the weight of that problem because our office plays a very big role in finding solutions to those problems in the community.”

And although reported violent crimes overall have recently trended downward in Deschutes County, a series of particularly egregious homicides in the past two years have left some residents feeling even more unsafe.

In one case, a man faces murder charges for allegedly killing three people, at least one of whom died after being hit with a hatchet. In another, a man faces murder charges for allegedly killing a teenage couple and abusing their corpses.

Most recently, a 70-year-old man was shot and killed in the driveway of his home on Los Serranos Drive just east of Bend. No arrests have been made in the investigation since the killing on Oct. 9, and law enforcement have yet to disclose any suspects.

These are among the high-profile cases Gunnels faces now as the county’s top law enforcement official. They are the cases that are foremost on his mind, and he feels the obligation to make sure they are prosecuted to the highest standard.

“There are certain cases that a DA’s office has to put in the maximum resources in order to get a just result at the end,” he said. “And murder cases and homicide cases are those types of cases. We have to make certain that our handling of the case is as good as it can possibly be.”

But these are also some of the cases that drew him into his role as a prosecutor.

Gunnels grew up in Deschutes County and attended Redmond High School. He got his undergraduate degree from Oregon State University and went to law school at Georgetown University. He wanted to be a lawyer because, as his parents would remind him when he was a kid, he loved to debate and argue.

After law school, Gunnels got an internship at the Deschutes County District Attorney’s Office. He took an interest in the senior attorneys working on major murder cases and began helping out with cases.

One of the cases was that of Jack Crescenzi, who was accused of murdering his wife, Bobbi Crescenzi, whose body was never found. Gunnels helped out with researching the legal issues at play in the case. The prosecution eventually won a guilty verdict. Crescenzi died without ever revealing where his wife’s body was, according to the U.S. Department of Justice National Missing and Unidentified Persons System.

The case fascinated Gunnels, who was eventually hired on as a deputy district attorney in the county. But much of Gunnels’ time in the courtroom has also been spent dealing with cases involving lower-level crimes — driving under the influence of intoxicants, domestic violence.

Every Monday for roughly two decades, Gunnels has prosecuted cases in Deschutes County’s drug treatment court. Gunnels acknowledges that these are especially complicated cases. Many facets of a person’s life can contribute to struggles with substance abuse. Over time, he has realized it is not always clear whether simply sending someone to jail or prison will help, he said.

These cases are at the center of a growing debate in recent years over the role of prosecutors. A steady influx of progressive district attorneys have been elected, mainly in urban areas, who point to tough-on-crime policies as having created widespread inequities in American life.

Proponents argue these prosecutors should advocate for reform, finding new ways for people to get help rather than locking people up for low-level offenses and drug charges. Others, however, criticize this philosophy as lacking accountability, making communities basically lawless.

Gunnels doesn’t consider himself as one type of prosecutor or another. If someone is convicted of murder, he said, they should be incarcerated for a long time — period. In other cases, like those he saw in drug court, treatment or other intervention should be pursued.

“I don’t view myself as a progressive prosecutor,” he said. “I view myself as a prosecutor who believes in a balanced approach to prosecution. On many of the low- to mid-range crimes that are committed, if they’re committed because of mental illness or drug addiction, there are programs that are more effective than a short jail term and returning to the streets.”

But if they proceed to reoffend or violate the terms of agreements, there should be swift consequences, Gunnels added. He knows he’ll have his work cut out for him as the state faces dueling mental health and addiction crises, a trend he’s noticed in recent years. And unlike Hummel, who seldom tried cases in the courtroom during his tenure, Gunnels says he plans to be in the courtroom.

The county’s legal community maintains high expectations for him.

Joel Wirtz, executive director of Deschutes Defenders, a public defense nonprofit, says that in the courtroom, Gunnels doesn’t raise his voice or get upset. He stays calm while presenting a case to a judge or jury, Wirtz said.

“I’ve always found him to be easy to work with and able to see the big picture,” Wirtz said.

Among the biggest challenges Gunnels will face on day one is the growing prevalence of cases involving people who struggle with mental illness, Wirtz said. Deschutes County Judge Wells Ashby said he believes Gunnels is right for the challenge.

“He is from this community,” Ashby said. “He understands Central Oregon.”