KEEPING VIRGINIA BEACH SAFE

Like many kids in Virginia Beach, Colin grew up in a Navy family as the youngest of six children. The family moved to Virginia Beach in 1971, when Colin was one year old. He has spent his lifetime in the Virginia Beach community and is dedicated to ensuring it remains a safe place to live and raise a family.

 

Colin’s commitment to public service was fostered by his parents’ love for their community and country. After graduating from Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, he was hired by the Office of the Commonwealth’s Attorney while he was also studying at the Virginia Law Reading Program, the very same process taken by Thomas Jefferson to become a lawyer. Colin served as the “Habitual Offender Coordinator” helping prosecutors remove the most dangerous drivers from our roads. It was at this point that Colin decided that criminal prosecution was the only area of law he wanted to practice.

 

Colin passed the Virginia State Bar and was hired as an Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney in 1996.

Since that time, he has handled every type of case from speeding to Capital Murder. He has served on

the Property Crime Team, Precinct Trial Teams, Juvenile and Domestic Relations Team, and the Vice and Narcotics Team. Colin worked his way up in the office by successfully handling one of the heaviest and

most serious caseloads in the office. 

 

In 2004, Colin was promoted to Deputy Commonwealth’s Attorney and supervised a trial team that consisted of both the 2nd and 3rd Police Precincts, while continuing with his heavy caseload. In 2005, he

was promoted to Chief Deputy Commonwealth’s Attorney, making him responsible for overseeing all of

the prosecutors in the office. Colin was elected Commonwealth’s Attorney in 2013 and proudly continues

to serve our community in that role.

 

Today he supervises 44 attorneys, 22 paralegals, and with the rest of the staff, a total office of about

100 dedicated public servants. Colin’s duties also involve overseeing and managing a multi-million dollar budget consisting of both state and local funds. Even with the demands of office stewardship and

policy responsibilities, Colin still handles some of the most serious and high-profile cases that come

into the office. 

 

Colin attended Star of the Sea Catholic School, graduated high school from Cape Henry Collegiate and earned a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from VCU in 1992. Colin met his wife Denise in college and they’ve been married for 25 years. They have two sons, Colin Jr. and Ian.