Michael Monahan, a resident of Cranford, was sworn in as the acting Union County prosecutor on Jan. 31 by Superior Court Judge Karen Cassidy. Monahan replaces Ann Luvera, who retired the same day after a month in the position.
UNION COUNTY, NJ — Michael Monahan replaced the retiring Ann Luvera as acting Union County prosecutor Jan. 31, becoming the county’s second acting prosecutor in a month and its fourth in less than five months.
Luvera, a career official in the prosecutor’s office, retired as of Jan. 31 after 29 years, the prosecutor’s office announce via its Twitter account. The prosecutor’s office also announced Monahan’s swearing-in by Superior Court Judge Karen Cassidy via Twitter.
Monahan follows Grace Park, who stepped down in September after four years in the position to return to private practice and was replaced by Thomas Isenhour. Isenhour resigned at year’s end to become a state Superior Court judge and was replaced by Luvera.
Luvera was joined at her retirement ceremony by Assistant Prosecutor Debbie White, who stepped down after 32 years.
A Cranford resident, Monahan most recently worked for the state Department of Law and Public Safety’s Division of Criminal Justice, having served as chief of the division’s Financial and Computer Crimes Bureau from November 2013 until his appointment, according a release on the county’s website.
At the Department of Law and Public Safety, Monahan managed the daily operations of the bureau and supervised a staff of more than 70, handling an annual caseload of approximately 700, according to the website.
Prior to that, Monahan served as deputy chief of the division’s Corruption Bureau, where he also had previously served as a deputy attorney general. From 2002 into 2007, Monahan was the assistant section chief with the state Office of the Insurance Fraud Prosecutor, whereby he also supervised the office’s auto fraud section.
Monahan worked in private law practice during the late 1990s, and he served as an assistant prosecutor with the Union County Prosecutor’s Office from 1991 into 1998. During that time he handled approximately 50 adult jury trials for crimes including attempted murder, robbery, aggravated assault, embezzlement and others.
Monahan was admitted to the New Jersey Bar Association in 1988 and has been a certified criminal trial attorney since 1997. He received a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from Seton Hall University in 1984 and earned his law degree from Seton Hall in 1988.