Patrick Flaherty, left, is sworn in by Judge Michael Sullivan in the Deschutes County Circuit Court in Bend on Monday morning.

Five prosecutors were fired from the Deschutes County District Attorney’s Office Monday, and a new chief deputy district attorney was hired.

The changes came swiftly, after new District Attorney Patrick Flaherty was sworn into office just before 9 a.m. Monday. It was also the first day on the job for new Chief Deputy District Attorney Traci Anderson, whom Flaherty hired from the Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office to replace one of the prosecutors he fired, former Chief Deputy District Attorney Darryl Nakahira.

Nakahira said Monday that he officially accepted a temporary job as legal counsel for the Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office, because the sheriff’s attorney is on medical leave.

Flaherty said at his swearing in Monday that he will now be able to communicate freely with his employees. Flaherty did not return calls seeking comment on the firings and his transition later Monday.

One prosecutor who was let go — Phil Duong — has said Flaherty previously told Duong that he would remain in his job once Flaherty took office.

Then on Dec. 20, Flaherty e-mailed letters to Duong and three other deputy district attorneys, telling them they would no longer work for the District Attorney’s Office once he took office. Over the summer, Flaherty also sent a letter to Nakahira, informing him that Flaherty did not plan to employ him in the new year.

On Dec. 21, Deschutes County sent the prosecutors e-mails informing them that until formal termination action was taken by the district attorney, they remained on the payroll and were expected to observe county policy regarding hours of work and reporting time. Then on Dec. 22, Flaherty sent a letter to the prosecutors, telling them their jobs would end on Dec. 31 and they should clean out their offices and return any government property issued to them by Dec. 30.

Late last week, Deschutes County Administrator Dave Kanner told the five prosecutors to report to the county’s Personnel Department on Monday morning, Nakahira said. There, Nakahira and Deputy District Attorneys Phil Duong, Mary Anderson, Jody Vaughan and Brentley Foster were given letters from Flaherty and Kanner, informing them that their employment with the county was terminated.

Meanwhile, Flaherty and other public officials were sworn into office at Deschutes County Circuit Court Monday morning. Flaherty directed most of his comments to prosecutors and other employees of the District Attorney’s Office.

“The DA’s office is not meant to be a bureaucratic institution,” Flaherty said. “The DA’s office is a law firm and like all law firms, it needs to be a meritocracy, not a bureaucracy. And you know, change happens frequently in law firms; it’s almost routine. And it presents both an opportunity and a challenge.”

“I have not been able to speak with many of you freely until today,” Flaherty continued. “I can only guess that it’s been a really difficult year for you, filled with uncertainty and perhaps with fear. And we are ending that now.”

It was unclear Monday how Flaherty plans to handle cases that were assigned to the five prosecutors who were terminated.

For example, court records show Vaughan had a case scheduled to go to trial Jan. 11 for the alleged assault of a public safety officer. On Jan. 19, Vaughan had a sex abuse case scheduled for trial.

Andrew Altschul, an attorney who represents Foster and Vaughan, said the terminations were “improperly motivated.”

“I think it’s union-busting,” Altschul said, referring to the Deschutes County Deputy District Attorneys Association.

The union formed in September. Its main goal was to negotiate a contract with Deschutes County that could prevent deputy district attorneys from being disciplined or fired without cause.

The union pushed for the Deschutes County Commission to vote on whether to ratify the agreement by the end of the year. But in mid-December, the commission voted unanimously to delay that decision until Jan. 12, after Flaherty took office.

“I think (Flaherty) targeted people who he knew supported the union,” Altschul said.