Nassau County court officials were taken by surprise Thursday when Supervising County Court Judge Christopher Quinn stepped down from the position less than a month after his election.

In a letter Thursday to Chief Judge Janet DiFiore, Quinn said, “After winning a hard fought re-election, I believe it is in the best interest of the court to return to serving the people of Nassau County as a trial judge.”

Quinn was not available for comment.

“Judge Quinn has indicated that he has chosen to step down from his supervisory role to focus fully as a Nassau County criminal and court judge,” said Lucian Chalfen, a spokesman for the Office of Court Administration. “There is a process in place to select a new supervising judge and an announcement will be made when one is selected.”

In 1998, Quinn was elected to the Nassau County District Court. He was appointed supervising judge of that court in 2006 and oversaw the planning and implementation of the Mental Health, Adolescent Diversion, Veterans and Human Trafficking parts. He was also assigned to preside over the Domestic Violence part.

In 2007, he was elected to the Nassau County court. In 2009, he began supervising the two city courts in Nassau County—the City Courts of Long Beach and the City Court of Glen Cove.

Before becoming a judge, Quinn was the deputy attorney general in charge of the criminal division of the New York State Attorney General's Office. His responsibilities included managing all criminal prosecutions in the Organized Crime Task Force, the Medicaid Control Unit and the Criminal Prosecutions Bureau.

Quinn “has tirelessly navigated the Nassau County Court through unprecedented staffing and budgetary constraints,” Nassau County Administrative Judge Thomas Adams said in a statement. “As a result of his guidance and leadership, he has created an environment of transparency and fairness for all litigants, attorneys and residents of Nassau County.”