Northeastern Judicial Circuit District Attorney Lee Darragh announced Monday that longtime prosecutor Conley Greer has been assigned as the new supervising assistant district attorney for the Dawson County office.

"The citizens of Dawson County will be well served with Mr. Greer in his capacity as Supervising ADA," Darragh said Monday afternoon in a release.

Greer, 44, began his role as an assistant district attorney for the circuit in 2007, the same year he graduated from the University of Georgia School of Law.

A veteran of the U.S. Navy, who served during the first Gulf War, Greer's tenure prosecuting criminal cases within the circuit has been split between Dawson and Hall counties.

His new role is effective Friday.

Greer is the permanent replacement for former Supervising ADA John Wilbanks, who died in December after serving more than three decades as a career prosecutor in north Georgia.

Wilbanks was found dead within hours of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation confirming they were investigating him at the request of a Superior Court judge in the circuit and with cooperation from Darragh's office.

While the scope of the probe has not been divulged, GBI spokesman John Bankhead said Wilbanks' death, which was ruled a suicide, closed any investigation.

In a Dec. 12 interview, Darragh said Wilbanks was no longer on staff, but he would not elaborate on his departure.

Wilbanks, however, was involved in a fight Nov. 19 at a Dairy Queen in Dawson County, in which William Lee Evans, 45, of Jasper was charged with disorderly conduct, according to the Dawson County Sheriff's Office.

Deputies responded to reports that Wilbanks had been assaulted, and they pursued Evans, who, according to the sheriff's incident report, was a passenger in a car driven by his son.

Evans was taken into custody and charged the next day. His son, Cody Evans, was arrested on charges of traffic violations.

Darragh's only comment at the time on a possible link between the incident and Wilbanks' departure was that his office would not handle prosecution of the case as it involved a former staff member.