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 - 548 (positions authorized) - 536 (positions filled)

Recurring operating expenses - $49.0 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 2007-08

The Division continued to seek out innovative means to further its public safety mission despite ongoing budgetary pressures. New initiatives included an internal Case Management Study and implementation of a legislature-sponsored pilot program to record confessions in major felony investigations.

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, utilized funding provided by the federal government and the Department of Children and Families, conducted three training events under the American Prosecutor=s Research Institute=s AFinding Words -- Half a Nation by 2010" initiative. The trainings, held at Police Officer Standards and Training (POST), were attended by over 100 police officers, prosecutors, social workers and forensic interviewers. Subsequently, Connecticut was certified as a AFinding Words@ state in October of 2007. This project, which will go forward as the AChild First Connecticut Initiative,@ has brought a replicable, nationally recognized child abuse training program to Connecticut.

The Division's highly successful internship program once again provided educational opportunities to 34 law students during the fiscal year. One intern from the University of Connecticut was secured under the Tolland State's Attorney=s outreach program, an effort designed to attract minority students to the law, law school and prosecution as a career.

In 2003, the Division inaugurated its first Annual Training Program for prosecutors. Over 200 Division personnel attended an enhanced, intensive two-day program held in Westbrook in 2008. One of the featured sessions involved training on the Division=s new trial presentation software. Other significant training efforts included a one-day Annual Training Program for Inspectors, expanded web-based instruction such as a new Case Presentation section on the Intranet site and a technical overhaul of the Prosecutor=s Deskbook online resource, and co-sponsorship (through the Division=s centralized Domestic Violence Unit) of a Statewide Conference on Domestic Violence and a day-long national-level symposium on Arrest and Prosecution of Strangulation Crimes.

The Division=s Cold Case Unit investigates and prosecutes serious crimes that have gone "cold," or unsolved for a long period of time. Cases over the past year included DNA cases (with support from a federal Solving Cold Cases with DNA grant award), physical evidence cases and eye witness accounts. Arrests were made for crimes including murder, sexual assault, kidnapping, and armed robbery. The Unit currently has 29 active cases, and case referral is at an all time high.

The public can confidentially report allegations of corruption at the state and local levels of government through the Division=s "tip line." 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 Atip line@ received over 200 calls in the last year.