Jed L. Painter

General Counsel

LEGAL COMPLIANCE
& STRATEGIC PLANNING

Jed L. Painter is the General Counsel of the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office. Mr. Painter joined the Office in January 2022 after serving on the executive staff in neighboring Nassau County across three administrations.

As the Suffolk DA’s General Counsel, Mr. Painter serves as a principal advisor to the District Attorney on matters of internal policy, finance, intergovernmental affairs, organizational development, and legal compliance. He oversees the bulk of shared services that are essential for office operations, such as information technology, human resources, purchasing, recruitment, facilities management, communications, and legal affairs.

Legal Counsel

Mr. Painter was appointed by District Attorney Tierney to be the office's General Counsel on January 1, 2022. He joined the District Attorney's administration after serving on the executive staff in neighboring Nassau County, where he had been General Counsel (2019-2022), Counsel to the District Attorney (2015-2019), and Deputy Counsel to the District Attorney (2014-2015). In his present position, he directly oversees the Office of the General Counsel (OGC), as well as shared services including the DA's Finance and Administration Office, Human Resources Office, Public Information Office, Recruitment Office, Information Technology Unit, Special Productions Unit, Facilities Management Unit, and Legislative Affairs. OGC itself is responsible for legal and policy compliance, internal audits, and special projects.

Former Corruption Prosecutor

Mr. Painter is a former member of the Nassau DA's Public Corruption Bureau, where he secured numerous convictions on high-profile cases involving elected officials as well as employees from school districts, law enforcement organizations, and other public agencies. His ability to analyze government systems was utilized time and again for matters such as the comprehensive review of Nassau's Contracting and Procurement systems (that resulted in the establishment of Nassau's Inspector General) and the NYS Inspector General compliance report on the remediation and repatriation of Nassau's forensic services after the closure of its former crime lab. In the wake of Hurricane Sandy, Mr. Painter served on the Governor's Moreland Act Commission on Utility Storm Preparation, where he was primarily responsible for the performance audit of the Long Island Power Authority. In 2018, we was appointed a Special Deputy Attorney General for the investigation into former Attorney General Eric Schneiderman.

Animal & Environmental Crimes

Mr. Painter concurrently leads the Suffolk DA's Biological, Environmental, and Animal Safety Team (BEAST), overseeing the investigation and prosecution of all animal and environmental crimes in Suffolk County. On the environmental side, his work in this space includes efforts to prevent water pollution, deforestation, land contamination, air quality degradation, overfishing, and illegal disposal of solid waste. On the animal side, his ambit ranges from severe acts of torture and organized dogfighting to preventable maulings and illegal possession of exotic animals. He formerly was Chief of Animal Crimes for the Nassau County District Attorney's Office from 2011 to 2022.

In 2016, Mr. Painter was selected by Thomson Reuters to be the Practice Commentator for the NYS Agriculture and Markets Law. His commentaries now appear on Westlaw as well as in the annually printed McKinney's volumes.

Leadership & Innovation

Mr. Painter has served as Chair of the NYS District Attorneys Association's Environmental Crimes Committee (2023-present) and Animal Crimes Committee (2016-present), has been an advisory member on the NYS Chief Judge's Justice Task Force, and has formerly served on the NYS Permanent Commission on Sentencing, the NYS Bar Association Special Committees on Re-Entry and Wrongful Conviction. He is also an active member on the NYS District Attorney Association's Best Practices and Legislative Committees, with his work encompassing matters such as conviction integrity, cognitive bias, artificial intelligence, juvenile justice, and prosecutorial misconduct.