CARIBOU – Catherine Cole Francke has begun working as an Aroostook County assistant district attorney. She replaces John Pluto, who relocated to southern Maine on Dec. 31.

District Attorney Neale Adams made the appointment. Francke started work Jan. 7.

Francke comes to Maine from Kentucky, where she had practiced law since 1986. Since May 2001, she had been a staff attorney for Pine Tree Legal Assistance in Presque Isle.

Francke received her law degree from the University of Louisville School of Law. She prosecuted criminal cases from 1993 to 2000 for both the commonwealth attorney and the county attorney in Henderson, Ky. In addition, she served as a domestic relations commissioner-master commissioner, conducting family law hearings. She will be responsible for prosecuting all criminal, juvenile and infraction matters arising in the St. John Valley, encompassing the district courts in Fort Kent and Madawaska. She also will represent the state in Superior Court prosecutions and present cases to the grand jury.

Francke resides in Presque Isle with her sons, Tyler and Jordan.