Connecticut Probate Courts

The Connecticut Probate Court system is a system of 54 individual probate courts located throughout the state of Connecticut. The jurisdiction of each court extends to the legal affairs of the deceased, estates, some aspects of family law, conservatorship, and several other matters requiring specific legal decisions.^[1] As statutory courts, all jurisdiction and authority is governed by the state legislature.^[2]

Elections of judges

Judges of probate are the only members of the state judicial branch elected in Connecticut.^[3] Judges are elected in partisan elections and hold office for a term of four years, their elections held within the same cycle as gubernatorial elections.^{[citation needed]}

Prior to 2011, state law permitted anyone to run as a candidate for judge of probate regardless of previous judicial or legal experience. However, a state law which went into effect on January 5, 2011 now requires candidates for judge of probate to be both a lawyer and a member of the Connecticut bar.^[3][4]

Consolidation of court districts

After operating without much change since 1850, growing financial difficulties in the state and within the probate courts created the need for the system to be overhauled. In the summer of 2009, the Probate Court Redistricting Commission assembled to review the aging court system and make recommendations for decreasing the number of judicial districts from 117. In September 2009, the commission announced its consolidation plan to reduce the number of districts to 54 for the 2010 elections.^[5]

Probate districts

The currently elected judges of probate,^[6][7] elected from January 2011 through January 2015:

District	Municipalities served	Judge of probate	Judge's residence	Location of court
1	Hartford	Foye Smith (D)	Hartford	Hartford
2	West Hartford	Owen P. Eagan (D)	West Hartford	West Hartford
3	Bloomfield, East Granby, Suffield, Windsor Locks	Steven M. Zelman (D)	Bloomfield	Windsor Locks
4	East Windsor, South Windsor, Windsor	Marianne Lassman Fisher (D)‡	South Windsor	South Windsor
5	East Hartford	Allan T. Driscoll (D)	East Hartford	East Hartford
6	Glastonbury, Hebron	Peter Jay Alter (D)	South Glastonbury (Glastonbury)	Glastonbury
7	Newington, Rocky Hill, Wethersfield	Robert Randich (D)	Newington	Newington
8	Berlin, New Britain	Walter A. Clebowicz (D)	New Britain	New Britain
9	Avon, Canton, Granby, Simsbury	Cynthia C. Becker (R)	Avon	Simsbury
10	Burlington, Farmington	Evelyn M. Daly (D)	Farmington	Farmington
11	Enfield, Somers, Stafford	Timothy R. Keeney (R)	Somersville (Somers)	Enfield
12	Ellington, Vernon	James Purnell, III (R)	Vernon	Vernon
13	Andover, Bolton, Columbia, Manchester	Michael M. Darby (D)	Manchester	Manchester
14	East Haddam, East Hampton, Marlborough, Portland	Jennifer L. Berkenstock (R)	East Hampton	Marlborough
15	Cromwell, Durham, Middlefield, Middletown	Joseph D. Marino (D)	Middletown	Middletown
16	Meriden	Brian T. Mahon (D)	Meriden	Meriden
17	Wallingford	Philip A. Wright, Jr. (D)	Wallingford	Wallingford
18	Cheshire, Southington	Matthew J. Jalowiec (R)	Cheshire	Cheshire
19	Bristol, Plainville, Plymouth	Andre D. Dorval (D)	Bristol	Bristol
20	Waterbury, Wolcott	Thomas P. Brunnock (D)	Waterbury	Waterbury
21	Beacon Falls, Naugatuck, Middlebury, Prospect	Peter E. Mariano (R)	Naugatuck	Naugatuck
22	Bethlehem, Oxford, Roxbury, Southbury, Washington, Watertown, Woodbury	Domenick Calabrese (R)	Watertown	Southbury
23	Barkhamsted, Colebrook, Goshen, Hartland, New Hartford, Torrington, Winchester	Michael F. Magistrali (R)	Torrington	Torrington
24	Canaan, Cornwall, Harwinton, Kent, Litchfield, Morris, Norfolk, North Canaan, Salisbury, Sharon, Thomaston, Warren	Diane Blick (D)	Litchfield	Litchfield
25	Coventry, Mansfield, Tolland, Willington	Claire C. Twerdy (D)	Coventry	Tolland
26	Ashford, Brooklyn, Eastford, Pomfret, Putnam, Thompson, Union, Woodstock	Leah P. Schad (D)	Pomfret Center (Pomfret)	North Grosvenordale (Thompson)
27	Canterbury, Killingly, Plainfield, Sterling	David A. Griffiths (D)	Danielson (Killingly)	Plainfield
28	Colchester, Chaplin, Hampton, Lebanon, Scotland, Windham	John J. McGrath (D)	Windham	Willimantic (Windham)
29	Bozrah, Franklin, Griswold, Lisbon, Norwich, Preston, Sprague, Voluntown	Charles K. Norris (R)	Norwich	Norwich
30	Groton, Ledyard, North Stonington, Stonington	Nicholas Kepple (D)†	Stonington	Groton
31	New London, Waterford	Mathew H. Greene (D)	New London	New London
32	East Lyme, Montville, Old Lyme, Salem	Jeffrey A. McNamara (R)	East Lyme	Niantic (East Lyme)
33	Chester, Clinton, Deep River, Essex, Haddam, Killingworth, Lyme, Old Saybrook, Westbrook	Jeannine Lewis (D)	Essex	Old Saybrook
34	Guilford, Madison	Joel E. Helander (R)	Guilford	Madison
35	Branford, North Branford	Frank J. Forgione (R)	Northford (North Branford)	Branford
36	East Haven, North Haven	Michael R. Brandt (R)	North Haven	East Haven
37	Bethany, Hamden	Salvatore L. Diglio (D)	Hamden	Hamden
38	New Haven	John A. Keyes (D)	New Haven	New Haven
39	West Haven	Mark J. DeGennaro (D)	West Haven	West Haven
40	Milford, Orange	Beverly Streit-Kefalas (D)	Milford	Milford
41	Ansonia, Derby, Seymour, Woodbridge	Clifford D. Hoyle (D)	Ansonia	Ansonia
42	Shelton	Fred J. Anthony (R)	Shelton	Shelton
43	Danbury	Dianne E. Yamin (R)	Danbury	Danbury
44	Bridgewater, Brookfield, New Fairfield, New Milford, Sherman	Martin F. Landgrebe (R)	New Milford	New Milford
45	Bethel, Newtown, Ridgefield, Redding	Joseph A. Egan, Jr. (R)	Ridgefield	Bethel
46	Easton, Monroe, Trumbull	T.R. Rowe (R)	Trumbull	Trumbull
47	Stratford	Max L. Rosenberg (D) [8]	Stratford	Stratford
48	Bridgeport	Paul J. Ganim (D)	Bridgeport	Bridgeport
49	Fairfield	Kathleen N. Maxham (D)‡ [9]	Fairfield	Fairfield
50	Weston, Westport	Lisa K. Wexler (D)	Westport	Westport
51	Norwalk, Wilton	Douglas Stern (D)	Westport	Norwalk
52	Darien, New Canaan	William P. Osterndorf (R)	Darien	Darien
53	Stamford	Gerald M. Fox, III (D)	Stamford	Stamford
54	Greenwich	David W. Hopper (R)	Greenwich	Greenwich

^† Judge Kepple was elected in an August 16, 2011, special election to fill the unexpired term of Fred Palm, who died in March 2011.

^‡ Judge Lassman Fisher was elected in an August 21, 2012, special election to fill the unexpired term of Brian Griffin, who died in February 2012.

^‡ Judge Maxham was elected in a November 6, 2018, general election to succeed Daniel F. Caruso, who died in February 2018.

See also

• Courts of Connecticut