Division of Criminal Justice

Office of the Chief State’s Attorney

At a Glance

KEVIN T. KANE, Chief State’s Attorney

John J. Russotto, Deputy Chief State’s Attorney for Personnel, Finance and Administration

Paul E. Murray, Deputy Chief State’s Attorney for Operations

Established - 1973

Constitutional authority - Article XXIII of the amendments to the Connecticut Constitution

Statutory authority - CGS 51-276 and 51-277

Central office - 300 Corporate Place,

Rocky Hill, CT 06067

Number of employees - 546 (positions authorized) - 529 (positions filled)

Recurring operating expenses - $48.1 million (all sources)

Organizational structure - The Division of Criminal Justice is composed of the Office of the Chief State’s Attorney and one State’s Attorney’s office for each of the state’s thirteen Judicial Districts.

Mission

The Division of Criminal Justice is the agency within the Executive branch of government responsible for investigating and prosecuting all criminal matters, both in adult and juvenile courts, in the State of Connecticut. The agency also represents the state in all appellate, post-trial and post-conviction proceedings arising from the prosecution of criminal matters.

Improvements/Achievements 2006-07

The Division continued to seek out innovative means to further its public safety mission despite ongoing budgetary pressures.

Recognizing the need to develop an approach to conducting child abuse interviews that is consistent and forensically sound, the Division, in conjunction with the Governor’s Task Force on Justice for Abused Children, utilizing funding provided by the federal government and the Department of Children and Families, conducted its first training under the American Prosecutor’s Research Institute’s “Finding Words- Half a Nation by 2010" initiative. This project will bring a replicable, nationally recognized child abuse training program to Connecticut.

The Division's highly successful internship program once again provided educational opportunities for over 40 law students during the fiscal year. The State's Attorney for the Judicial District of Tolland established an outreach program geared to undergraduate students at the University of Connecticut in Storrs, an effort designed to attract minority students to the law, law school and prosecution as a career.

Building on its highly successful Annual Training Program for prosecutors, the Division held four intensive in-house seminars focused on Habeas Prosecution, Bail, Jail Re-Interview and PSI Reports, PSRB Training, and Cross Examination of the Expert Witness. The Division revived its formal mentoring program in the Judicial District of New Haven in December 2006. The program, initiated in 2002, pairs veteran prosecutors with prosecutors in their first year of employment. On November 17, 2006, the Division sponsored an "Essential Services Symposium" to provide an opportunity for health, housing, legal and utility professionals to collaborate on their approaches to solving "no heat" and other essential services complaints.

Recognizing that training should be a constant component throughout employment, the Division publishes a comprehensive training manual for new prosecutors. The "Prosecutor's Deskbook: A Guide for New Prosecutors" is made available to all newly hired prosecutors as well as serving as a reference for experienced prosecutors.

The Division established a toll-free "tip line" to allow the public to confidentially report allegations of corruption at the state and local levels of government. Calls to the toll-free number, 1-888-742-2726, are processed by the Public Integrity Bureau in the Office of the Chief State's Attorney. The “tip line” received over 200 calls in the last year.

Pursuant to Public Act No. 06-100, “AN ACT CONCERNING CRIME VICTIMS,” Section 4, the Division provided the Honorable Joint Committee on Judiciary with its plan on the Establishment and Implementation of a State-Wide Automated Victim Information and Notification System on January 1, 2007.