MONMOUTH COUNTY – After a unanimous vote, the New Jersey State Senate has officially confirmed Raymond S. Santiago as Monmouth County’s 30th prosecutor.
Santiago has been serving as acting prosecutor since October 7, replacing former acting Prosecutor Lori Linskey. Santiago is set to serve a five-year term.
“Today’s confirmation is as much a collective achievement as a personal one – and I cannot thank enough the innumerable individuals who steadfastly supported the fulfillment of a dream I have nurtured for the better part of my career,” Santiago said. “I assume this role with a genuine sense of deep awe and respect, both for the long and storied history of this Office, and for the dedication and tenacity exhibited by the several hundred individuals who every day continue to support its overarching goal of serving the interests of justice.”
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, 48, 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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