Qns.’s Longest-Serving Prosecutor
Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown was sworn in last Thursday, Jan. 19, to his sixth consecutive full term as the borough’s chief prosecutor, extending his record as the longesttenured district attorney in Queens history.
The ceremony took place at the District Attorney’s office in Kew Gardens. Administering the oath was Milton Mollen, former presiding justice of the Appellate Division, Second Department, of the State Supreme Court and chair of the Mollen Commission, which was charged with investigating corruption within the NYPD. Among those in attendance were colleagues, friends and family, including Brown’s wife, Rhoda.
“Since 1991, I have had the privilege of serving as the District Attorney for Queens County and look forward to continuing to work to improve the lives of its 2.2 million residents,” said Brown after being sworn in. “Through the years I have been able to help prevent crime and to build stronger and safer communities. Nothing has been quite as rewarding to me as knowing that I have been able to make a difference.”
Brown first took office on June 1, 1991, when then-Gov. Mario M. Cuomo appointed him the interim Queens District Attorney to succeed John J, Santucci.
At the time, Brown was serving as an Associate Justice of the Appellate Division, Second Department-the state’s second-highest court.
He was elected to his first full four-year term as district attorney at the general election held in November 1991 and was re-elected at the 1995, 1999, 2003, 2007 and 2011 general elections.
During his last term, Brown became the longest serving district attorney in Queens County when he surpassed the record set by District Attorney Benjamin Downey more than a century ago.
Under District Attorney Brown’s leadership, the Queens County District Attorney’s office attained a reputation as one of the finest prosecutors’ offices in the state, and, in 2007, once again led the city in crime reduction.
Brown has spent nearly his entire legal career in public service. Prior to becoming a member of the judiciary in September 1973, he spent nine years serving in various important legal positions on behalf of the leadership of the State Senate and Assembly and at the 1967 New York State Constitutional Convention.
Brown also spent four years as New York City’s legislative representative in Albany, where he managed the city’s Albany office and supervised its legislative program.
After serving as a judge of the New York City Criminal Court for less than two years, Brown was appointed the Supervising Judge of the Brooklyn Criminal Court and assumed full administrative responsibility for the operation of that court and supervision of all judicial and non-judicial personnel.
In January 1976, Brown was designated an Acting Justice of the Supreme Court of the State of New York.
In November 1977, Judge Brown was elected a Justice of the Supreme Court in Queens County.
At the end of the following year he returned to Albany as counsel to Gov. Hugh L. Carey where he served as the governor’s chief legal advisor. On Mar. 3, 1981, Brown returned to the Supreme Court and the following year was designated by Governor Carey as an Associate Justice of the Appellate Division, Second Department.
He was thereafter twice re-designated as a member of the Appellate Division by Governor Cuomo.
Judge Brown is a past president of the New York State District Attorneys Association and a member of the New York State Bar Association, the Association of the Bar of the City of New York and the Queens County Bar Association, among others. In addition, he serves as chair of the Albany based New York Prosecutors Training Institute.
