Office of the Chief State’s Attorney

Located in Rocky Hill, Connecticut, the Office of the Chief State's Attorney is responsible for the statewide administrative functions of the Division of Criminal Justice. In addition to budget, personnel and other administrative functions, the Office of the Chief State's Attorney includes specialized units for the investigation and prosecution of certain criminal matters and for representing the state in appellate and other legal matters.
Patrick Griffins Headshot

Chief State’s Attorney, Patrick J. Griffin

Patrick J. Griffin was appointed Chief State's Attorney by the Criminal Justice Commission on May 12, 2022. As Chief State's Attorney, Attorney Griffin is the administrative head of the Division of Criminal Justice, the independent agency of the executive branch of state government that is responsible for the investigation and prosecution of all criminal matters in the State of Connecticut.

Attorney Griffin has been a prosecuting attorney with the Division of Criminal Justice for more than 25 years. Prior to his appointment to Chief State's Attorney, Attorney Griffin was the State’s Attorney for the New Haven Judicial District. Before serving in New Haven, Attorney Griffin worked at the Waterbury State’s Attorney’s Office from 1996 through 2011, the last approximately eight years of which he spent in the Part A court where he successfully tried numerous felony cases to verdict.

In 2013, Attorney Griffin was promoted to Supervisory Assistant State’s Attorney in charge of the Cold Case & Shooting Task Force Bureau at the Office of the Chief State’s Attorney. As the supervising prosecutor, he directed a combined staff of prosecutors, inspectors, federal agents, municipal police detectives and Connecticut Department of Correction personnel who were responsible for the investigation and prosecution of unsolved violent crimes throughout the State of Connecticut; as well as staffing local shooting task forces in Hartford and New Haven.

In 2014, Attorney Griffin was designated as a Special Assistant United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, and tasked with the investigation and prosecution of cold case homicides in federal court. In 2015, Attorney Griffin received the Oliver Ellsworth Connecticut Prosecutor of the Year award.

Attorney Griffin earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from St. Bonaventure University in New York and his law degree from Creighton University School of Law in Nebraska.