TOM COLANTUONO WILL be sworn in as US Attorney for the state of New Hampshire on March 15 at 3:30 p.m. The ceremony will take place at the Warren B. Rudman Federal Courthouse in Concord, with US District Court Judge Steven J. McAuliffe administering the oath of office. The event is open to the public and all Bar members are welcome to attend.

Colantuono enters a Justice Department much changed from the one he was prepared to join when his name first surfaced in media reports last summer as the administration’s expected nominee for the job. The terrorist attacks of Sept. 11 have drastically changed the mission of the US Justice Department, and its US Attorney’s Offices in each of the states.

"There is a whole different mindset in the Justice Department," said Colantuono. "Our mission had been to enforce the laws of the United States and look after the legal interests of the federal government. Now our top priority is protecting the people of the United States from terrorism. We are now on the front lines of the battle against international terrorism."

An Anti-Terrorism Task Force has been created in New Hampshire to coordinate federal activities in this area. Administered by Gary Milano, chief of the Criminal Division in Colantuono’s office, the task force coordinates the efforts of local and federal law enforcement agencies in terrorism-related investigations, security planning and other activities. Nevertheless, Colantuono concedes that New Hampshire hasn’t been as affected by the focus on anti-terrorism as some other states. While there have been no terrorists with direct connections to New Hampshire identified publicly, Colantuono said his office is working on several investigations that he could not discuss, and is spending more time assessing the threats and preparing security plans for such potential targets as nuclear power plants, hydroelectric dams and power-generating facilities, airports and other infrastructure.

Colantuono, formerly a member of the NH Executive Council and an attorney in Derry, took office as US Attorney in mid-December while awaiting confirmation by the US Senate, a process which was completed last month. He took over from Assistant US Attorney Gretchen Witt, the head of the Civil Division of the US Attorney’s Office, who served on an interim basis until Colantuono was nominated. Witt succeeded Paul M. Gagnon, the Clinton administration appointee who had served in the job for seven years.

Colantuono oversees a staff of 50, and he acknowledges that his major task is not courtroom work, but management of the multifaceted office.

Colantuono, a 1976 graduate of Boston College Law School, has an undergraduate degree from Duke University. Admitted to the Bar in 1976, he was an associate at Hamblett & Kerrigan in Nashua from 1976 to 1978, and then served as an assistant attorney general until 1981, when he went into private practice in Derry. He served in the NH State Senate from 1990 to 1996, and was elected to the Executive Council in 1998.

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