(Hartford, CT) - The Honorable Andrew J. McDonald, Chair of the Criminal Justice Commission, announced today that the Commission has appointed Eliot D. Prescott as Deputy Chief State’s Attorney, Inspector General.
The appointment, for a four-year term, was approved by a 4-1 vote of the Commission at its meeting today at the Legislative Office Building in Hartford.
“The Criminal Justice Commission congratulates Judge Prescott on his appointment as Deputy Chief State’s Attorney, Inspector General,” Justice McDonald said. “Judge Prescott has served the people of Connecticut with distinction for more than 30 years and we are confident that this legacy of service and commitment to the pursuit of justice will continue with his appointment today to serve as the state’s next Inspector General. The Commission was very fortunate to interview five outstanding applicants today and we are grateful for their interest in this important and challenging position."
The Deputy Chief State’s Attorney, Inspector General, is responsible for leading the Office of the Inspector General, conducting investigations of peace officers in accordance with C.G.S. §51-277a, as amended by the Act, prosecuting any cases in which the Inspector General determines a peace officer used force found to not be justifiable pursuant to C.G.S. §53a-22 or where a police officer or correctional officer fails to intervene in any such incident or to report any such incident, as required under subsection (a) of C.G.S. §7-282e or C.G.S. §18-81nn, as applicable. The Inspector General also will make recommendations to the Police Officer Standards and Training Council established under C.G.S. §7-294b concerning censure and suspension, renewal, cancelation or revocation of a peace officer’s certification.
Attorney Prescott is currently a Senior Judge of the Connecticut Appellate Court. He has served as a Judge of the Connecticut Appellate Court since 2014 and as a Judge of the Connecticut Superior Court from 2004 to 2014. From 1998 through 2015, he taught administrative law as an Adjunct Professor of Law at the University of Connecticut School of Law. From 1994 until 2004, he served as an Assistant Attorney General at the Connecticut Attorney General’s Office where he became the Department Head of the Special Litigation Department.
Since 2020, Judge Prescott has served as co-chair of the Advisory Committee on the Appellate Rules and since 2013, has been a member of the Evidence Oversight Committee. From 2007 until 2014, he sat on the Advisory Committee on the Appellate Rules and from 2010-2013, he was a member of the Rules Committee of the Superior Court. He was honored in 2002 as a “New Leader of the Law” by the Connecticut Law Tribune and in 2007 with an Award of Appreciation by Community Partners in Action for his work with youthful offenders.
Attorney Prescott earned a B.A. Degree from the University of Massachusetts in Amherst and a J.D. with high honors from the University of Connecticut School of Law.
Established under Article XXIII of the Connecticut Constitution, the Criminal Justice Commission is responsible for the appointment of all state prosecutors in Connecticut.
In addition to Justice McDonald, Senior Associate Justice of the Connecticut Supreme Court, the commission's membership includes Chief Judge of the 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.
By law, Chief State's Attorney Griffin cannot participate in the consideration of Deputy Chief State's Attorney applicants.