New Jersey attorney general taps new acting Sussex County prosecutor

The New Jersey Office of the Attorney General has picked a career prosecutor to serve temporarily as Sussex County's top law enforcement officer after the retirement of Francis Koch last month, a spokesperson has confirmed.

Annmarie Taggart, the deputy director of the Division of Criminal Justice in the state Attorney General's Office, will serve as Sussex County's acting prosecutor as the office undergoes a transition, said Steven Barnes, a spokesman for acting Attorney General Matthew Platkin.

Koch, who served 25 years in law enforcement and eight years as Sussex's top prosecutor, retired effective July 1, the same day Taggart was administered the oath of office by state Superior Court Judge Michael Gaus in the Sussex County Historic Courthouse.

With Koch's departure after serving nearly a decade, Taggart said by phone last week that she doesn't plan to "shake up" the office too much, especially because she does not know how long she will serve in the role.

Gov. Phil Murphy has yet to nominate a permanent successor, so Taggart will serve until one is appointed, which she said could happen "next week, next month or a year from now."

"My goal right now is to offer a steady and consistent hand at leadership because there has been a lot of transition lately in the office," Taggart said by phone on Thursday. "[I want to] help them in any way that I can [so they] continue the great work that they do."

Taggart, a Morris County resident, said she has never had any cases as a deputy attorney general in Sussex County but looks forward to learning more about the structure of the county office and offer any advice she can.

"If there was something I've seen from Somerset, the AG's office or just being around to other counties that I think may work here, [First Assistant Prosecutor Greg Mueller] and I will discuss it," she said.

Taggart said she has already built a great rapport with the office, which employs nearly 50 full-time employees, from investigators and assistant prosecutors to legal secretaries.

Above all, Taggart said, while she doesn't presume to know the best way to run an office, especially having served just a week in Sussex, her aim is always to improve where she can. And not leave it any worse, she joked.

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"Little improvements, so we are doing the best we can," she said.

Mueller said Taggart has been a great fit and it's been a smooth transition as she reviews the office's methods of operating "from top to bottom."

"We're very lucky to have her, fortunate to have her, and I hope she is with us for a while," he said.

Taggart also met with the assistant prosecutors in Sussex in an effort to improve the services the office provides to the community, he said.

Taggart has served 24 years in the Department of Law and Public Safety, a division under the direction of the state attorney general, and the past 22 years as deputy attorney general/prosecutor, she said. A majority of her time was spent in the Gangs and Organized Crime Bureau within the attorney general's Division of Criminal Justice, where she worked her way up to deputy director. The Criminal Justice Division has more than 150 detectives and 100 prosecutors, and it investigates criminal activity across the state, focusing on high-impact cases that require significant or highly specialized investigative resources, the division's website says.

Taggart was asked to serve in a temporary capacity as Somerset County's acting prosecutor from April 1 to July 1 before Superior Court Judge John P. McDonald took over the position permanently.

Koch, who first served as an assistant prosecutor in Sussex County before he was appointed in 2014 to the top spot, said this month that he plans a "true" retirement to spend quality time with his family.

When a permanent prosecutor is considered, Murphy will make a nomination and forward it to the Senate Judiciary Committee. If approved, it then goes to the full Senate for a confirmation vote.

Lori Comstock can be reached on Twitter: @LoriComstockNJH, on Facebook: www.Facebook.com/LoriComstockNJH or by phone: 973-383-1194.

This article originally appeared on New Jersey Herald: Sussex County new acting prosecutor tapped by NJ attorney general