Acting Prosecutor Jennifer Davenport to Return to Full-Time Role as First Assistant AG

TRENTON — Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal today announced the appointment of Lyndsay V. Ruotolo as Acting Union County Prosecutor.  Ruotolo, who most recently served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey, has extensive experience in prosecuting violent crime and drug offenses, both at the U.S. Attorney’s Office and previously as an Assistant Prosecutor in the Union County Prosecutor’s Office.

Ruotolo replaces First Assistant Attorney General Jennifer Davenport, who was appointed Acting Union County Prosecutor on an interim basis on April 26, 2019. Davenport will return to Trenton to resume her full-time role as First Assistant Attorney General.  Another member of the Attorney General’s leadership team, Joseph Walsh, will remain at the Union County Prosecutor’s Office on a temporary basis, where he and Union County Prosecutor’s Office staff are overseeing the Internal Affairs function within the Elizabeth Police Department.

Before joining the U.S. Attorney’s Office in September 2018, where she has participated in the USAO’s Violent Crime Initiative and handled criminal investigations and prosecutions,  Ruotolo was an Assistant Prosecutor and Special Deputy Attorney General in the Union County Prosecutor’s Office (UCPO) for nearly five years.  During her tenure at the UCPO, Ruotolo was one of four attorneys assigned to the Guns, Gangs, Drugs, and Violent Crimes Task Force.  She also spearheaded Union County’s first Operation Helping Hand, a coordinated effort by law enforcement and service providers to provide addiction intervention for struggling opioid users.

“Lyndsay Ruotolo offers tremendous leadership, prosecutorial experience, intelligence, legal acumen, and dedication— in short, everything you want in a County Prosecutor,” said Attorney General Grewal.  “She’s a tough prosecutor who has prosecuted violent gang members, drug dealers, sex offenders, and carjackers.  At the same time, when called upon to help drug users struggling with opioid addiction by leading Operation Helping Hand in Union County, she brought an extraordinary level of compassion and enthusiasm to that role.   I’m certain Lyndsay will be an outstanding leader for law enforcement in Union County as Acting Prosecutor.”

“I am deeply honored that Attorney General Grewal has appointed me as Acting Union County Prosecutor,” Ruotolo said.  “It is exciting to return to the Union County Prosecutor’s Office in this capacity and to have the privilege of again working with the many outstanding professionals there who dedicate themselves each day to doing justice and protecting the people of Union County.  I promise that I will give my all to advance that mission and to unite law enforcement and the community to meet the challenges we face.”

“I’m incredibly grateful to my First Assistant, Jennifer Davenport, who stepped into Union County at a time of need,” said Attorney General Grewal. “I look forward to having her back full-time in Trenton.”

Ruotolo continues in her family’s tradition of service to the Union County community.  Her mother, Mary Ruotolo, served as a member of the Union County Board of Chosen Freeholders from 1999 until 2004, and her father, Drew Ruotolo, served as Union County Prosecutor from 1991 until his death in 1995.

As an Assistant U. S. Attorney, Ruotolo has been assigned to the Violent Crimes Enforcement Unit, conducting long-term investigations and coordinating the efforts of law enforcement officers from various federal and local agencies to identify and proactively prosecute those responsible for the commission of violent crimes in and around the City of Newark.  In addition, she has managed a caseload of prosecutions pending in court as well as other active investigations into crimes such as carjacking, drug distribution, robbery, and weapons offenses.

Ruotolo served as an Assistant Prosecutor in the Union County Prosecutor’s Office from February 2014 through August 2018.

Prior to becoming a prosecutor, Ruotolo was an associate at the law firm of McElroy, Deutsch, Mulvaney & Carpenter, LLP, from September 2010 through January 2014.  Ruotolo received her bachelor’s degree from New York University, with honors, and received her law degree with honors from New York Law School.  She clerked for the Honorable Ellen L. Koblitz, Judge of the Superior Court of New Jersey, Appellate Division.