Sources say Corzine poised to nominate new Camden County prosecutor

More than two years after Vincent Sarubbi resigned as Camden County Prosecutor, the governor's office finally is poised to nominate a replacement to the county's top law enforcement job.

Warren Faulk, a respected trial lawyer and senior partner at the Westmont law firm of Brown & Connery, could be nominated to a five-year term as early as the next Senate session, which begins next month, several sources said.

In the role, Faulk also would oversee the Camden Police Department, which patrols the city named the nation's "most dangerous" twice in recent years. Camden has logged 22 homicides this year, a record-breaking pace.

Faulk's nomination would end a long process that has seen at least three other names floated and rejected.

In that time, the prosecutor's office has been headed by two acting prosecutors - James Lynch, who resigned in late 2006 to join the U.S. Attorney's office, and Joshua Ottenberg, who remains in charge.

Although both have been praised universally for their stewardship, many insiders believe it is important to have a permanent prosecutor with the political blessing of the governor.

Mike Pinsky, cochair of the county bar association's criminal practice committee, said Faulk was an excellent choice. "You couldn't get a more honorable person," he said. "We need more people like him in government."

Faulk, 63, has spent more than 35 years at Brown & Connery, the firm that represents South Jersey Democratic power broker George Norcross III.

At the firm, Faulk has concentrated on complex civil litigation, including First Amendment cases. He represents The Inquirer and its reporters in South Jersey.

Faulk, a Philadelphia native and Villanova University law graduate, has criminal law experience from both sides. Although the prosecutor rarely, if ever, appears in court, other potential candidates for the job were criticized for a lack of criminal experience.

In the early 1970s, Faulk was a defense attorney and prosecutor for the U.S. Army, stationed at Fort Sill, Okla., and handled about 25 courts-martial.

He was an appointed public defender in Camden County for five years in the '70s and a Barrington municipal prosecutor from 1985 to 1987.

He was president of the Camden County Bar Association in 1996 and 1997.

Pinsky said Faulk has never been politically active. "The firm may be, but he's not," he said.

Pinsky said he was surprised that Faulk would take the job. "He has his niche," he said. "I think it's a sacrifice for him to take the job."

Reached at his office on Friday, Faulk said he could not comment.

Gov. Corzine's office has said since 2006 that filling the vacancy was "an important priority."

The prosecutor has overseen the Camden Police Department since a 2003 directive from the state Attorney General's Office ordering the takeover. The Camden department has struggled through the turmoil of several recent leadership changes.

The prosecutor, who would make $141,000 this year and $153,000 in 2009, supervises 61 attorneys, 104 investigators and 70 civilian staff members. The office has a $22.3 million budget this year.

Corzine had said that he hoped to nominate a woman or a minority to become prosecutor. Faulk is not a minority candidate.

Once considered for the position was Gladys Rodriguez, a 20-year veteran of the office and section chief of the grand jury unit. But she was named deputy director of the state Division of Criminal Justice in 2007.

Another candidate, former Camden County counsel Deborah Katz, was sworn in as a Superior Court judge this year.

The first candidate mentioned after Sarubbi's resignation was Michael Joyce, deputy general counsel for the Delaware River Port Authority. Though he served as a municipal prosecutor in Pennsauken, some argued that he lacked criminal experience.

Jim Gardner, a Corzine spokesman, attributed the lengthy delay to "a fairly involved and deliberative process."

He said last week that the governor would name his nominee "sooner rather than later." Gardner would not comment specifically on Faulk.

A spokesman for the prosecutor's office also said he could not comment.

"We're really not privy to the inner workings of that process," said the spokesman, Jason Laughlin. "It's a decision the governor's got to reach."