Trenton, NJ – Governor Chris Christie and Attorney General Christopher S. Porrino today announced the appointment of Thomas K. Isenhour as Acting Union County Prosecutor.

Isenhour will be sworn into office on Wednesday, September 13. He will replace Grace H. Park, who has served as Acting County Prosecutor since June 2013 and who is leaving the office on September 13 to return to the private sector. Currently, Isenhour is First Assistant Union County Prosecutor.

“With over three decades of experience prosecuting defendants and supervising high-profile cases and projects for the Union County Prosecutor’s Office, Tim Isenhour is extremely qualified to lead the office,” said Governor Chris Christie.  “As we thank Grace Park for her years of dedicated service to the office and wish her well in her new pursuit, the people of Union County should feel confident the office of the prosecutor will remain under strong leadership with Tim Isenhour at the helm.”

“Tim Isenhour is an outstanding prosecutor who has consistently demonstrated strong leadership as well as a deep commitment to justice, to caring for victims, and to protecting the people of Union County,” said Attorney General Porrino. “In recent years, he has played a critical role in shepherding the most important initiatives of the prosecutor’s office, and I’m certain he will continue to move the office in the right direction to address the critical law enforcement needs of the community.”

“Having worked closely with a number of extraordinary County Prosecutors, especially Prosecutor Park, I am keenly aware of the vital responsibilities of the position. I am particularly grateful to Governor Christie and Attorney General Porrino for selecting me to serve in this capacity,” said First Assistant Prosecutor Isenhour. “I have strived to serve the citizens of Union County fairly and justly for more than 30 years, and relish the opportunity to continue those efforts in an expanded role.”

First Assistant Prosecutor Isenhour is a career prosecutor, having joined the Office in 1984. He became First Assistant under Acting Prosecutor Park in 2013.

As First Assistant, Isenhour was responsible for the day-to-day operations of the Prosecutor’s Office, including managing its budget of about $22 million and supervising a staff of approximately 250, including around 70 detectives and 75 assistant prosecutors. He also advised the County Prosecutor on high-profile cases, initiatives, and staffing.

Isenhour’s responsibilities as First Assistant further included drafting Office policies, protocols, and directives; recruiting and hiring staff; overseeing internal affairs and personnel matters; supervising the John H. Stamler Police Academy in Scotch Plains and the Prosecutor’s Office’s Forensics Laboratory in Westfield; and helping establish key initiatives such as the implementation of bail reform, the launch of the Prosecutor’s Office’s Body-Worn Camera Initiative, and the founding of the Union County Family Justice Center.

Prior to serving as First Assistant Prosecutor, Isenhour supervised many of the Office’s most high-profile investigative teams, including the Child Abuse Unit, Special Prosecutions Unit, and the Guns, Gangs, Drugs, and Violent Crimes Task Force.

Several cases of note that Isenhour has managed during his more than 30 years of service to the Prosecutor’s Office include the investigation and prosecution of a dozen Union County corrections officers for assaulting numerous detainees; attaining convictions of the four leading members of the notorious Fitzgerald narcotics organization, one of the largest of its kind in the state, which distributed approximately 4,500 folds of heroin and 1,500 vials of cocaine per day from its primary retail location in Elizabeth; and the investigation and prosecution for manslaughter of the owner of the El Balcon nightclub in Elizabeth after four young victims, ages 13 to 21, were trampled to death in a stampede following a brawl there.

Isenhour is a graduate of George Washington University’s National Law Center, and earned his Juris Doctor and bachelor’s degree in history and psychology from the University of Denver.

# # #