Chadd Lackey of the State Commission of Investigation/courtesy photo

The State Commission of Investigation announced that the agency's current deputy director and general counsel, Chadd Lackey, will become executive director as of Jan. 1.

A former prosecutor and SCI investigative counsel since 2005, Lackey, 51, is to succeed Lee Seglem, who previously announced his retirement at the end of the year after serving more than 25 years with the Trenton-based commission.

As the SCI's top administrator, Lackey will direct the day-to-day operations of a commission that bills itself as "an independent New Jersey watchdog agency established in 1968 to investigate organized crime and corruption, waste of tax money and other abuses of the public trust."

He will be the first African American to hold the post, an SCI spokeswoman said.

Lackey joined the commission as investigative counsel in 2005. Since July 2017, he has served as the agency's deputy director and top legal officer, supervisor and adviser, according to the Dec. 5 release announcing his appointment as executive director. He is a graduate of Northwood University and Temple University School of Law (1996).

Lackey said in a statement that he is "honored and thrilled to take over" as executive director. "We have a great staff here that will continue to do important work in service of the people of the State of New Jersey."

"Chadd Lackey was the obvious choice to be our next Executive Director," SCI Chairman Joseph Scancarella said in a statement. "He is a talented attorney and seasoned leader with deep understanding of the agency's important mission. His appointment ensures that the organization's tradition of excellence, which was ably upheld by Lee Seglem and his predecessors, will continue."

Scancarella said Lackey's promotion received unanimous support from him and fellow commissioners Robert Burzichelli, John Hoffman and Rosemary Iannacone following a search and evaluation process to find Seglem's replacement.

During his 15 years at the SCI, Lackey directed several high-profile investigations into organized crime, including an inquiry he led from 2008 to 2009 that revealed how gang-affiliated inmates had manipulated systemic weaknesses in New Jersey's prison system, according to the release.

Lackey also led an investigation that helped identify prescription pill abuse as a precursor of a new heroin epidemic. That inquiry, which culminated in the "Scenes From An Epidemic" report in 2013, helped spur two new laws, including one drafted directly in response to an SCI recommendation calling for the creation of a statewide task force to strengthen federal, state, county and local law enforcement efforts to combat opioid abuse, according to the release.

Before joining the commission, Lackey prosecuted criminals in the Sunshine State. He was an assistant state attorney in Miami-Dade County, Florida, from October 1996 to January 2000; was in private practice in Miami from January 2000 to October 2001; and then went back as an assistant state attorney from October 2001 to July 2005.

In the prosecutor role, he founded and managed the Community Prosecutions Unit, which aimed at improving public safety and enhancing the quality of life for citizens in an underserved section of Miami, according to the release. Among his credits, Lackey prosecuted white-collar fraud cases against predatory mortgage brokers resulting in the conviction of two mortgage brokers and the closure of several mortgage companies, the SCI noted.