Joseph Van Bokkelen can officially don his judicial black robe for the first time this afternoon.

The outgoing U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Indiana is scheduled to be sworn in as the region's newest judge today in a ceremony in South Bend.

U.S. attorney's office spokeswoman Mary Hatton said District Chief Judge Robert Miller will administer the oath of office to Van Bokkelen.

Deputy U.S. Attorney David Capp is expected to step in for Van Bokkelen as the region's top federal prosecutor -- the third time in his career Capp will have become the acting U.S. attorney in Hammond.

Van Bokkelen, a Highland attorney, was recommended for the judgeship by U.S. Sen Dick Lugar, R-Ind., after a five-year term as prosecutor. Among other factors, Lugar cited Van Bokkelen's strong record of fighting political corruption in Northwest Indiana.

Prosecutors in Van Bokkelen's office have secured convictions against former state Rep. Katie Hall and numerous politically connected figures in the scandal-plagued East Chicago city government and the Gary Urban Enterprise Association.

As judge, Van Bokkelen has said he will recuse himself from any criminal cases that are already under way in the U.S. attorney's office, including any that FBI agents have even casually discussed with prosecutors up to today.

Van Bokkelen takes the place of District Judge Rudy Lozano, who is moving into a semi-retirement called "senior status" that allows judges to gradually decrease their caseloads as they age.

The district court's Hammond Division will then have two senior judges, Lozano and James Moody, both of whom will still maintain full caseloads.