The controversial office tasked with prosecuting public corruption in New Jersey is being disbanded as part of a major reorganization within the state Attorney General’s office.
The Office of Public Integrity and Accountability will no longer exist as part of the shakeup, which takes effect Tuesday, the AG’s office told Gothamist. The public integrity office was created in 2018 under then-Gov. Phil Murphy to be a standalone unit dedicated to fighting public corruption and building trust in government.
But the office has been dogged by high-profile prosecutorial missteps, highlighted by the failed prosecution of South Jersey power broker George Norcross, and the dismissal of 14 indictments of corrections officers and prison staff that had been related to violent cell extractions at the Edna Mahan women’s prison.
A restructured Division of Criminal Justice will take on responsibilities that had been assigned to OPIA, according to the AG’s office.
“Our office is committed to pursuing justice whether we are prosecuting people who commit violent crime, defraud vulnerable members of society, abuse their positions of public trust, or exploit our children,” New Jersey Attorney General Jennifer Davenport said in a statement. “The restructuring of our criminal prosecution program will allow us to more efficiently and effectively deploy resources, share information and expertise, and collaborate across units.”
Under the new structure, the Division of Criminal Justice will have six deputy directors, each overseeing multiple units, according to Davenport’s office.
The corruption unit will be overseen by Rebecca Schuman, who has served as the director of OPIA’s corruption arm since June. Schuman previously worked as a federal prosecutor, including in the Public Integrity Section of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Criminal Division.
OPIA had also been in charge of investigating police shootings or any incidents in which police were involved in deaths. It’s a responsibility that was tacked on to OPIA’s mission in 2019, following a series of NJ Advance Media reports on police use of force. The fatal police encounters unit will report to Andrew Wellbrock, who has worked for the Attorney General’s office since 2021.
Gov. Mikie Sherrill declined to comment. Neither did state Senate President Nick Scutari, a Union County Democrat who had been a vocal critic of OPIA.
OPIA has remained busy throughout criticism from prominent legislators in both major parties who derided it as ineffective. The Attorney General’s office on Thursday announced the indictment of a former fire chief in Toms River for subjecting his subordinates to sexual harassment. That case is led by OPIA.
