Attorney General Matt Platkin announced Wednesday that Theresa Hilton will be elevated to the role of director of the division of Criminal Justice and Sara Quigley will assume the role of chief of staff, effective Jan. 24.
Hilton, currently the deputy director, will succeed J. Stephen Ferketic, who is leaving to pursue a leadership position in the private sector. Quigley, currently serving as a senior counsel, will assume a position that was vacated late last year.
Platkin said Ferketic had a great and lasting impact.
“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,” he said. “We will miss Steve but will continue to benefit from the lasting impact he has made.”
Platkin said Hilton is the perfect successor.
“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,” he said.
DCJ’s more than 400 investigators, detectives, prosecutors and professional personnel will now be directed by Hilton, who recently returned full-time to the division after approximately five months of service as the acting Mercer County prosecutor.
Hilton was brought on at DCJ by Platkin in September 2022 to oversee sexual and domestic violence prevention policy and criminal enforcement work. She was the first leader of the Human Trafficking Unit, which the Attorney General created in January 2023, and then promoted to serve as deputy director under Director Ferketic.
Prior to joining DCJ, Hilton was an assistant prosecutor for seven years with the Union County Prosecutor’s Office, and the supervisor of the domestic violence unit. She was also an assistant staff judge advocate in the United States Air Force. She is currently a lieutenant colonel in the Air Force Reserve. Hilton graduated from Hamilton College and received her law degree from the University of California College of the Law, San Francisco (formerly UC Hastings).
“I’m honored that Attorney General Platkin has asked me to take on this new role at the Division of Criminal Justice and look forward to working with my colleagues and partners in the county prosecutors’ offices around New Jersey to protect the residents of our state,” Hilton said.
Quigley had been serving as a senior counsel to the Attorney General, focusing on firearms safety issues and criminal justice policy initiatives.
Quigley had previously worked at DCJ, most recently as counsel to the director. Before that, she was a deputy attorney general in the Appellate Bureau, where she argued before the New Jersey Appellate Division and Supreme Court.
In her DCJ tenure, Quigley focused on a number of critical statewide public safety initiatives, including the implementation of the New Jersey Resiliency Program for Law Enforcement, coordination of COVID-19 enforcement, and training on marijuana decriminalization and cannabis legalization. She graduated from Lafayette College and Rutgers Law School.
“Sara Quigley has been a valued, dedicated voice in advancing groundbreaking firearms safety policy and criminal justice efforts throughout her tenure with the state, including our vital officer resiliency initiatives, and I look forward to her even bigger role in managing our large, complex, and important Department,” Platkin said. “I also wish to thank Miae Park, who has been a critical part of our leadership team since 2022, for her admirable service over the past several months as Interim Chief of Staff.”
Quigley said she was honored to take on the role.
“The Office of the Attorney General and Department of Law and Public Safety engage every day in crucial work that improves the safety of New Jersey’s residents, and I’m excited to continue contributing to these efforts as Chief of Staff,” she said.
Additional changes to the Attorney General’s leadership team include:
- Shankar Duraiswamy joined the office in December 2024 as deputy solicitor general;
- Claudia Joy Demitro is joining the office in January 2025 as senior counsel to the attorney general;
- Aaron Haier joined the office in November 2024 as senior counsel to the attorney general.
- Michael Zhadanovsky joined the office in December 2024 as deputy director of communications.
