The Honorable Andrew J. McDonald, Chair of the Criminal Justice Commission, announced today that the Commission has appointed Patrick J. Griffin as Chief State’s Attorney.
Attorney Griffin, who has served as State’s Attorney for the Judicial District of New Haven since 2015 was appointed Chief State’s Attorney by a unanimous vote of the Commission at a public meeting held Thursday at the Legislative Office Building in Hartford.
"The Commission congratulates Patrick Griffin on his appointment as Chief State’s Attorney and we wish him the very best in this important position,” Justice McDonald said. “I also wish to thank Deputy Chief State’s Attorney John J. Russotto for serving as acting Chief State’s Attorney in the interim.”
Chief State’s Attorney Griffin will serve the remainder of the five-year term to which Richard J. Colangelo, Jr., who has retired, was reappointed. That term expires on June 30, 2026.
As Chief State's Attorney, Attorney Griffin is the administrative head of the Division of Criminal Justice, the independent agency of the executive branch of state government that is responsible for the investigation and prosecution of all criminal matters in the State of Connecticut. Attorney Griffin is the ninth person to hold the title of Chief State’s Attorney since the position was established in 1973.
Attorney Griffin has been a prosecuting attorney with the Division of Criminal Justice for more than 25 years. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from St. Bonaventure University in New York and his law degree from Creighton University School of Law in Nebraska.
As the New Haven State’s Attorney, Attorney Griffin was the chief law enforcement officer for the Judicial District of New Haven, which includes the city of New Haven and twelve surrounding communities. Before serving in New Haven, Attorney Griffin previously worked at the Waterbury State’s Attorney’s Office from 1996 through 2011, the last approximately eight years of which he spent in the Part A court where he successfully tried numerous felony cases to verdict.
In 2013, Attorney Griffin was promoted to Supervisory Assistant State’s Attorney in charge of the Cold Case & Shooting Task Force Bureau at the Office of the Chief State’s Attorney. As the supervising prosecutor, he directed a combined staff of prosecutors, inspectors, federal agents, municipal police detectives and Connecticut Department of Correction personnel who were responsible for the investigation and prosecution of unsolved violent crimes throughout the State of Connecticut as well as staffing local shooting task forces in Hartford and New Haven.
In 2014, Attorney Griffin was designated as a Special Assistant United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut and tasked with the investigation and prosecution of cold case homicides in federal court.
In 2015, Attorney Griffin received the Oliver Ellsworth Connecticut Prosecutor of the Year award.
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, Associate Justice of the Connecticut Supreme Court, its membership includes Appellate Court Judge Melanie L. Cradle, attorneys Reginald Dwayne Betts, Robert M. Berke, Scott J. Murphy, Moy N. Ogilvie and the Chief State’s Attorney.