(Rocky Hill, CT) - The Honorable Andrew J. McDonald, Chair of the Criminal Justice Commission, today announced that Paul J. Ferencek, State's Attorney for the Judicial District of Stamford/Norwalk, has informed the Commission of his intention to retire at the end of his term on June 30, 2026.
Attorney Ferencek was appointed by the Criminal Justice Commission on May 2, 2020 to serve as State’s Attorney for the Stamford/Norwalk Judicial District, which includes the communities of Darien, Greenwich, New Canaan, Norwalk, Stamford, Weston, Westport and Wilton.
The State’s Attorney is the chief law enforcement officer of the Stamford/Norwalk Judicial District and oversees the prosecutors and other Division of Criminal Justice staff at the Superior Court in Stamford and shares oversight of the staff at the Superior Court for Juvenile Matters at Stamford.
“On behalf of the Criminal Justice Commission, I wish to extend our sincere gratitude and appreciation to State’s Attorney Ferencek for his nearly four decades of dedicated public service to the State of Connecticut,” Justice McDonald said. “We are thankful for his leadership as a State’s Attorney for the past six years and extend our warmest congratulations and best wishes on his retirement.”
State’s Attorney Ferencek joined the Division of Criminal Justice in 1988 in the Appellate Bureau at the Office of the Chief State’s Attorney. Prior to joining the Division, from 1987 to 1988, Attorney Ferencek worked as a Judicial Law Clerk with the Connecticut Superior Court Office of Legal Research. During his eight‑year combined tenure at the Appellate Bureau, Attorney Ferencek handled approximately 70 appeals and numerous habeas trials. In March 1993, he was assigned to the Geographical Area courts in Derby and Milford before returning to the Appellate Bureau in March 1995. In 1998, he began working in the Geographical Area No. 1 court for the Judicial District of Stamford/Norwalk and transferred in 2002 to the Part A court in Stamford where he was promoted to Supervisory Assistant State's Attorney in August 2017. He served as the supervisor of the Part A felony division and juvenile prosecutor until his appointment to State's Attorney in May 2020.
“I am profoundly grateful for the opportunity to have served as a prosecutor for 38 years and it has been both an honor and a privilege to serve as State’s Attorney for the Stamford/Norwalk Judicial District during the past six years,” State’s Attorney Ferencek said. “Throughout my tenure, the Division has implemented numerous innovations aimed at strengthening Connecticut’s criminal justice system, and I am proud to have contributed to this important work. As I look toward retirement and the new opportunities it will bring, I will sincerely miss the colleagues and friends I have had the privilege of working alongside within the Division over these many years.”
State’s Attorney Ferencek is a certified police instructor for the Police Officer Standards and Training Council and teaches constitutional law, criminal law, search and seizure, and related legal topics to state and municipal police officers. He also is an adjunct instructor at Housatonic Community College where he teaches courses in criminal justice writing, research, evidence, and criminal procedure, and has been a guest lecturer for citizen police academies in Greenwich, New Canaan, Stamford and Westport. He is currently a member of the Connecticut Bar Association’s Committee on Professional Ethics and the Unauthorized Practice of Law.
“The Division of Criminal Justice extends its deepest appreciation to State’s Attorney Ferencek for his distinguished service and commitment to the administration of justice during his tenure in the Appellate Bureau in the Office of the Chief State’s Attorney and in the Judicial Districts of Ansonia/Milford and Stamford/Norwalk,” Chief State’s Attorney Patrick J. Griffin said. “The Division will miss his thoughtfulness and respect for the rule of law. We wish him the very best in his well‑earned retirement.”
Established under Article XXIII of the Connecticut Constitution, the Criminal Justice Commission is responsible for the appointment of all state prosecutors in Connecticut.
The Criminal Justice Commission is currently seeking qualified applicants for the appointment of the state’s next State’s Attorney of the Stamford/Norwalk Judicial District. Click this link to the Division of Criminal Justice’s website to apply, and for further information.
In addition to Justice McDonald, Senior Associate Justice of the Connecticut Supreme Court, the commission's membership includes Chief Judge of the Connecticut Appellate Court Melanie L. Cradle, attorneys Robert M. Berke, Reginald Dwayne Betts, Scott J. Murphy and Moy N. Ogilvie and Chief State’s Attorney Patrick J. Griffin.
Paul J. Ferencek, State's Attorney for the Judicial District of Stamford/Norwalk