Ray Gricar announced his candidacy for re-election as Centre County's district attorney last week.

Gricar was first elected to the position in 1985 and said he has formed strong ties to the Centre County community.

"It's a wonderful professional environment — from the courts to the lower levels of law enforcement," Gricar said.

In Centre County, Gricar served as assistant county prosecutor and first assistant district attorney prior to his election to the office of district attorney.

Gricar said his plans for re-election are to continue the job he is doing.

"I'm going to do exactly what I've done for the past 15 years. I will continue to prosecute while respecting the rights of the accused," he said.

The Ohio native began his legal career as an assistant county prosecutor in Cleveland, where he tried cases from 1971-1979.

Instead of taking the well-beaten track that Gricar said most attorneys tend to choose, which includes getting experience by becoming an assistant district attorney, then going on to practice in a private law firm, Gricar instead continued to serve as a public prosecutor.

"I am a career prosecutor. I went to law to school to be a prosecuting attorney," Gricar said.

Gricar ran against Democrat James Bryant in 1993, but has run unopposed since 1997.

Gricar graduated with a political science degree from the University of Dayton in 1967 and earned his law degree from Case Western Reserve University in 1971.