Santiago Confirmed To Full Term As Monmouth County Prosecutor

FREEHOLD, NJ – The New Jersey state Senate today voted unanimously to confirm the governor's nomination of Raymond S. Santiago as Monmouth County prosecutor for a full 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.

Santiago, nominated by Gov. Phil Murphy, will become the 30th fully confirmed Monmouth County Prosecutor to serve in that role since the first took office nearly 200 years ago, in 1823, the prosecutor's office 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," Santiago said.

The swearing-in ceremony for the start of Santiago’s full term will be announced soon, the prosecutor's office said.

On Oct. 7, Santiago, 48, assumed the responsibility for the day-to-day operations of the Prosecutor’s Office. He is also responsible for the coordination of the law-enforcement efforts of nearly four dozen municipal police departments and two college police departments, which collectively patrol jurisdictions of approximately 650,000 residents.

Santiago was born in Puerto Rico and grew up in Brooklyn, New York. 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, he was sworn in as an Assistant District Attorney at the Nassau County District Attorney’s Office, and upon leaving that office, he entered private practice.

He is admitted to the bar associations in New Jersey, New York, the United States Supreme Court, the U.S. District Court of New Jersey, and the U.S. District Courts of the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York.

Santiago most recently headed the Law Offices of Santiago & Associates, P.C., based in Freehold, a law firm that focused on the litigation of criminal and immigration law.

He has also served as a public defender for municipalities in Monmouth County and as a pool attorney for the State of New Jersey Public Defender’s Office, Monmouth Vicinage, since 2002, where he has assisted indigent defendants faced with various crimes or offenses.

Santiago has lived and worked in Monmouth County for over 20 years.

Santiago is only the second prosecutor of Hispanic descent in the history of the office, following Luis A. Valentin, who served from 2005 to 2011. He succeeds Lori Linskey, who served as Acting Monmouth County Prosecutor since June 2021, the prosecutor's office said.