Attorney General Matt Platkin announced a shakeup of some leadership roles in the attorney general’s office on Wednesday.
He announced J. Stephen Ferketic, the director of the Division of Criminal Justice, will leave the role later this month to pursue a job in the private sector. Replacing him is Theresa Hilton, the Division’s deputy director.
Assistant Attorney General Sara Quigley will take over as the attorney general’s chief of staff. Assistant Attorney General and Senior Counsel Miae Park has served as interim chief of staff since September, when Jonathan Garelick left to join the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey.
“Steve Ferketic is a dedicated public servant whose contributions to modernizing the Division of Criminal Justice cannot be understated and will pay dividends for years to come. We will miss Steve but will continue to benefit from the lasting impact he has made,” Platkin said in a release. “At the same time, I am pleased we have a dedicated leader in Theresa Hilton who will build on that foundation and further strengthen the Division’s focus on key priorities such as suppressing gun violence, combating auto theft and home burglaries, and preventing human trafficking and sexual assault.”
Hilton will direct DCJ’s 400 prosecutors, investigators, detectives, and other personnel. Before her time as deputy director, she most recently served as the interim prosecutor in Mercer County.
Hilton first started at DCJ in 2022, when Platkin hired her to oversee sexual and domestic violence prevention policy and criminal enforcement. She was the inaugural leader of the Human Trafficking Unit before being promoted to deputy director. Hilton also worked as an assistant prosecutor in Union County for seven years.
“The dedicated members of the Division of Criminal Justice work tirelessly to protect the people of New Jersey, and I have truly enjoyed the opportunity to help guide those efforts,” Ferketic said in the release. “I thank Attorney General Platkin and First Assistant Lyndsay Ruotolo for the opportunity and their partnership, and I look forward to what the Division achieves under the strong leadership of Director Theresa Hilton.”
Quigley, the incoming chief of staff, has focused on firearms safety issues and criminal justice policy initiatives as senior counsel.
Other hirings include Shankar Duraiswamy as deputy solicitor general, Claudia Joy Demitro and Aaron E. Haier as senior counsel to the attorney general, and Michael Zhadanovsky as deputy director of communications.
Most personnel changes take effect Friday, Jan. 24.