(Hartford, CT) - The Honorable Andrew J. McDonald, Chair of the Criminal Justice Commission, announced today that the Commission appointed John F. Fahey as State’s Attorney for the Judicial District of Windham during a meeting today at the Legislative Office Building in Hartford.
The appointment of Attorney Fahey, who currently serves as a Supervisory Assistant State’s Attorney at the Division of Criminal Justice, by unanimous vote of the Commission, is for an eight-year term commencing July 1, 2025.
“On behalf of the Commission, I would like to extend my congratulations to Attorney Fahey on his appointment as State’s Attorney for the Judicial District of Windham,” Justice McDonald said. “Attorney Fahey is an accomplished prosecutor and his experiences as an effective leader, particularly in his supervisory role at the Division of Criminal Justice, have positioned him well to succeed in this role. We also wish to thank all of the outstanding prosecutors who applied for this important position."
Attorney Fahey will succeed Anne F. Mahoney who has served as the Windham State’s Attorney since May 2016. For more information about State’s Attorney Mahoney’s retirement, click this link.
Attorney Fahey joined the Division of Criminal Justice in 1994 as a Deputy Assistant State’s Attorney in Geographical Area No. 14 in Hartford. In less than a year, he was promoted to the Hartford Judicial District where he served for 23 years trying numerous cases to verdict, including murder, sexual assault, robbery, arson, assault and weapons violations cases. He also served as liaison to the Hartford Shooting Task Force and worked as a Special Assistant United States Attorney. He was honored in 2014 with the Prosecutor of the Year award by the Connecticut Criminal Justice Educational and Charitable Association.
In 2018, Attorney Fahey became Supervisory Assistant State’s Attorney of the Cold Case Unit in the Office of the Chief State’s Attorney where he has led the unit through numerous investigations and prosecutions, utilizing innovative scientific techniques and investigatory grand jury presentations for unsolved crimes.
A graduate of Fairfield University, he earned his law degree from Western New England University School of Law.
The State’s Attorney is the chief law enforcement officer in the Judicial District of Windham, which includes the towns of Windham, Ashford, Brooklyn, Canterbury, Chaplin, Danielson, Eastford, Hampton, Killingly, Plainfield, Pomfret, Putnam, Scotland, Sterling, Thompson and Woodstock.
Connecticut’s State's Attorneys are constitutional officers and, along with the Chief State’s Attorney, are constitutionally vested with the prosecutorial power of the state. The State’s Attorneys are the chief prosecuting attorneys acting on behalf of the state in each of their respective Judicial Districts. Connecticut is one of the few states that do not elect their chief prosecutors. In lieu of such elections, the Criminal Justice Commission is an autonomous body constitutionally charged with appointing 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.