Nomination of Colalillo as Camden County prosecutor advances

TRENTON - The Senate Judiciary Committee voted Thursday to advance to the full chamber the nomination of veteran Superior Court Judge Mary Eva Colalillo as Camden County prosecutor.

Colalillo, 62, would be the first woman to serve in that role. At the hearing, where lawmakers also advanced Gov. Christie's nominations of others to judgeships and prosecutor positions, Colalillo briefly thanked the governor for nominating her.

The committee did not have any questions for Colalillo, and the nearly half-dozen members offered no opposition. Democratic Sen. Nellie Pou of Paterson said Colalillo was "certainly a certified trial attorney."

Citing judicial rules, Colalillo declined to be interviewed. The Haddonfield resident has been a presiding judge in the chancery division sitting in Camden County. She is also the first woman there to hold that position.

She has experience in litigating civil and criminal cases and, if confirmed, would take the place of Warren Faulk, whose five-year term as Camden County prosecutor was extended into a sixth year pending a new appointment. He was appointed in 2008 by Gov. Jon S. Corzine.

Colalillo spent four years as an assistant prosecutor in Camden starting in 1980. She received her law degree from Vermont Law School in 1976.