Essex County Prosecutor's Office

The Essex County Prosecutor's Office (ECPO) is the largest and busiest county prosecutor’s office in the State of New Jersey. It consists of approximately 140 assistant prosecutors (attorneys at law), 160 detectives licensed to carry arms, and 125 support staff.

ECPO presently processes between 16,000 and 20,000 adult defendants charged with criminal acts per year. In addition, between 3,500 and 5,000 juveniles are processed each year through delinquency proceedings. Most of these defendants are arrested and charged by local or county-level law enforcement agencies, but ECPO also originates charges against defendants through its own investigatory units, and via direct indictment by the Essex County Grand Jury (i.e., charges issued directly by the grand jury and not prior to grand jury review). Between 5,000 and 6,000 adult defendants are indicted in Essex County each year. Essex County currently accounts for about 18% of all criminal (felony) cases referred to county prosecutors' offices in New Jersey. Approximately 35% of the state’s homicides and 14% of sexual assaults occur in Essex.

The position of Essex County Prosecutor was established by the Constitution of the State of New Jersey. The Prosecutor serves as the Chief Law Enforcement Officer in the county. County Prosecutors in New Jersey are appointed by the Governor for a term of five years, and must be affirmed by the State Senate. They are not elected to office, as with equivalent positions (e.g., District Attorney or State's Attorney) in other states. County Prosecutors in New Jersey may be reappointed without term limit. The daily operations of the Office of the Essex County Prosecutor are funded mostly through tax revenues collected by Essex County and budgeted by the Board of Chosen Freeholders, with additional sums garnered from crime forfeitures and from grants made by State and federal agencies.

In 1776, the State of New Jersey ratified its first Constitution (superseded by later Constitutions in 1844 and 1947). Under this Constitution, the elected Governor appointed an Attorney General to enforce the laws of the State. The Attorney General in turn appointed deputies for the various counties, including Essex, to enforce the criminal laws on behalf of the local populace. In 1822, the New Jersey General Assembly passed an act authorizing a more independent Prosecutor of Pleas for each county, to be appointed by the Court of Quarter Sessions once every five years. A few years later, the Governor was given the authority to appoint each county’s Prosecutor of Pleas.

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