A familiar face: Grace MacAulay named Acting Camden County Prosecutor

Jim Walsh, Cherry Hill Courier-Post
·2 min read

CAMDEN – A retiree has returned to lead the Camden County Prosecutor’s Office.

Grace C. MacAulay was sworn in Wednesday as Acting Camden County Prosecutor, tasked with overseeing the agency where she worked for more than 25 years.

“This is seriously one of the greatest days of my life,” MacAulay told the agency's staff shortly before being sworn in by Superior Court Judge Kathleen Delaney.

“I look around the room today and I couldn’t ask for better, more competent people, whom I respect and trust, to share these weighty responsibilities with,” she said during a ceremony at Camden County's courthouse.

MacAulay succeeds Jill Mayer, who retired Wednesday after serving as acting prosecutor since October 2019.

Mayer had announced her departure one day earlier.

Grace C. MacAulay
Grace C. MacAulay

The prosecutor's office employs about 270 people as Camden County's chief law enforcement agency.

MacAulay retired in 2018 after four years as Deputy First Assistant Prosecutor. In that position, she oversaw all of the agency’s section chiefs and assistant prosecutors.

She also led the Special Victims Unit, prosecuting cases that involved the sexual and physical abuse of children, as well as endangerment charges.

MacAulay previously was deputy section chief in the Juvenile Unit and spent 20 years as an assistant prosecutor in seven different units.

State news: Pilot program pairs New Jersey state troopers with mental health experts

Local: DOJ audit faults Camden County Police Department

She most recently was president of The Friends of the Camden County Child Advocacy Center. The nonprofit, founded with MacAulay’s assistance, supports victims of child abuse and their families.

MacAulay holds degrees from Gettysburg College in Pennsylvania and Widener University School of Law.

Earlier Wednesday, she was sworn in by phone as an Assistant Attorney General by Andrew Bruck, the state’s Acting Attorney General, the prosecutor's office noted in a statement.

“Thank you for your faith in me, thank you for your support," MacAulay told Bruck, according to the statement. "I’m so grateful.”

Jim Walsh covers public safety, economic development and other beats for the Courier-Post, Burlington County Times and The Daily Journal.

Support local journalism with a subscription.

This article originally appeared on Cherry Hill Courier-Post: Grace MacAulay named Acting Camden County NJ Prosecutor