FREEHOLD – Raymond S. Santiago was recently sworn in as Acting Monmouth County Prosecutor and now awaits Senate confirmation to a five-year term.
Santiago, 48, was sworn in during a ceremony at the Monmouth County Courthouse on October 7. Present were Santiago’s family, prosecutor’s staff, county officials, and local law enforcement leaders, who all joined in at the Monmouth County Courthouse for ceremony officiated by Superior Court Judge Lisa P. Thornton, the county’s assignment judge.
“Today marked the first steps into a role I view as a truly extraordinary honor and privilege. To the people of Monmouth County, I solemnly pledge to serve you to the very best of my abilities, and with a sense of fervor befitting the title,” Acting Prosecutor Santiago said. “This will entail not only ensuring the fair and equal administration of justice, but also that this Office will actively be an integral part of the very fabric of the communities we work to protect.”
Santiago will be taking over the office from Lori Linskey, who served as acting prosecutor since June 2021.
The prosecutor is the county’s chief law enforcement officer. His duties include coordinating the efforts of nearly four dozen municipal police departments and two college police departments as well as managing the prosecutor’s staff of about 280.
Santiago was born in Puerto Rico and grew up in Brooklyn. He graduated from John Jay College of Criminal Justice in 1996 and received his law degree from the City University of New York School of Law at Queens College in 1999.
Previously, he served as an assistant district attorney at the Nassau County District Attorney’s Office in New York. Afterwards, he entered private practice. Recently, he headed the Freehold-based Law Offices of Santiago & Associates, which focuses on criminal and immigration law.
Santiago has lived and worked in Monmouth County for over 20 years. He has served as a pool attorney for the New Jersey Public Defender’s Office since 2002, assisting indigent defendants with their criminal cases.
Santiago has become the second Prosecutor of Hispanic descent in the history of the Office. The first was Luis A. Valentin who served from 2005 to 2011.
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