G Platkin Announces Leadership Transitions in Department of Law and Public Safety

TRENTON — Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin today announced that Deputy Director Theresa Hilton will become the Director of the Division of Criminal Justice (DCJ) when J. Stephen Ferketic leaves the office later this month to pursue a leadership position in the private sector. Attorney General Platkin also announced that Assistant Attorney General Sara Quigley will assume the Chief of Staff position, a position vacated late last year.

The changes are effective January 24, 2025.

“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,” said Attorney General Platkin. “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.”

Ferketic, a former federal prosecutor and former chief of staff at the Drug Enforcement Administration, has been DCJ director since August 2023. During his tenure, the Division launched a number of new initiatives and handled high-priority matters, including the creation of a Major Threats Bureau, the takedown of a dog-fighting ring in South Jersey, and stepped-up efforts to prosecute child sexual abuse that yielded more than 300 arrests statewide, a seven-year high, in 2024.

“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,” Director Ferketic said. “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.”

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. In December, Governor Phil Murphy nominated, and the State Senate confirmed, Janetta Marbrey, a retired Superior Court judge, as the Mercer County Prosecutor.

Hilton was brought on at DCJ by Attorney General 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,” said Director Hilton.

Quigley, the incoming Chief of Staff, has 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.

Attorney General Platkin also wishes to thank Assistant Attorney General and Senior Counsel Miae Park, who has been serving as Interim Chief of Staff since September of last year. As Senior Counsel to General Platkin, Park oversaw the Divisions of Administration, Alcoholic Beverage Control, and Highway Traffic Safety.

“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,” said Attorney General Platkin. “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.”

“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,” Quigley said.

In additional changes to the Attorney General’s leadership team:

Shankar Duraiswamy joined the office in December 2024 as Deputy Solicitor General. He previously served as Associate Deputy Attorney General at the U.S. Department of Justice, where he advised and assisted the Deputy Attorney General in overseeing the Department’s civil litigating and legal advice components. Before that, Duraiswamy served as Deputy Solicitor for National Operations at the U.S. Department of Labor, where he led hundreds of attorneys and staff working on a broad range of appellate, enforcement, regulatory, and programmatic matters. Prior to entering government service, he was a litigation partner at Covington & Burling in Washington, D.C. Duraiswamy received his B.A. from Harvard College and J.D. from Harvard Law School.

Claudia Joy Demitro is joining the office in January 2025 as Senior Counsel to the Attorney General. Demitro is an Assistant Attorney General and the current Executive Deputy Director of the Division of Criminal Justice. In that role she leads various Division projects, priorities, and initiatives. Demitro has been a part of the Director’s Executive Staff since 2018. Prior to that, she served as a Deputy Attorney General in the Appellate Bureau, where she argued before the New Jersey Appellate Division and Supreme Court. Throughout her tenure at the Division, she has participated in a number of criminal justice policy projects, including leading the implementation and coordination of Criminal Justice Reform, Extreme Risk Protective Orders, and COVID-19 enforcement across the state. Demitro graduated magna cum laude from both The College of New Jersey and Drexel University School of Law, and was an editor of the Drexel Law Review.

Aaron E. Haier joined the office in November 2024 as Senior Counsel to the Attorney General. Haier previously served as an associate at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, where he specialized in commercial litigation and represented clients in a variety of civil matters, including antitrust class actions, internal investigations, and regulatory enforcement proceedings. He also maintained an active pro bono practice with a focus on housing law, gun violence prevention, and voting rights. Haier clerked for the Honorable Kevin McNulty in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey. Haier received his B.A. and M.A. from New York University and his J.D. from New York University School of Law.

Michael Zhadanovsky joined the office in December 2024 as Deputy Director of Communications. Zhadanovsky previously served as the North Carolina Rapid Response Director for the Harris-Walz campaign. He also served as Communications Director to U.S. Rep. Rob Menendez and on the congressman’s 2022 campaign. From 2019 to 2022, Zhadanovsky was a member of Governor Phil Murphy’s communications team, serving as Deputy Press Secretary, Press Aide, and Press Assistant. He graduated from Rutgers University with a B.A. in Political Science and Information Technology/Informatics.

Additional members of the leadership team can be found here: Leadership Team - New Jersey Office of the Attorney General