From left, Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno, Dow and Christie.
TRENTON, N.J. (Legal Newsline) - New Jersey Attorney General Paula Dow is stepping down as the state's top lawyer, Gov. Chris Christie announced Monday.
Christie said Dow will leave at the end of this year to become deputy general counsel for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.
At the end of that assignment, she will be nominated to the Essex County Superior Court, the governor said. The court currently has 11 vacancies.
"I take the problems at the Port Authority seriously enough that I've asked my attorney general to go over there and look at what's going on and the legal operations over there to make sure some of the problems, inconsistencies and misses we've had don't happen again," Christie said, according to The Star-Ledger.
Christie, a Republican, nominated Dow, a Democrat, to the position in December 2009. She was the first black woman appointed attorney general in New Jersey.
Last month, sources told the New Jersey newspaper that Dow was looking to leave her post to become a judge.
Also Monday, Christie said his chief counsel, Jeffrey Chiesa, is being nominated to replace Dow as attorney general.
From Legal Newsline: Reach Jessica Karmasek by email at jessica@legalnewsline.com.