Gloucester Commonwealth’s Attorney Robert D. Hicks announced Monday he is seeking election to a fifth term. He is running as an independent.

In his written announcement, Hicks expressed appreciation for the community support he has received since he was first elected in 1994.

"I’ve had the pleasure of helping a lot of good people get through some difficult situations in this job," Hicks said. "When I started the office was not as busy as it is now. Since then the caseload has steadily increased but thanks to my excellent assistant and staff I have no doubt we will not just keep up but excel in meeting the challenges ahead.

"I’m lucky to have such good, dedicated people working for me and I insist on maintaining rigorous training, keeping abreast of new techniques, and excellent performance from Gloucester’s prosecutors. In our office, just being good at what we do is not good enough. Crime victims deserve nothing less than the best po...