MEET SUE
THE EXPERIENCE CONNECTICUT NEEDS. NOW.
Susan Whitman Hatfield, a registered nurse and an attorney, first became interested in public service as a child where she admired her father's service as a member of the Groton Board of Education. So much so that as a preschooler, she recalls bringing a little radio to school so that her teacher could tune in to listen to her father talk. As a child, she was also inspired by her grandfather, who would discuss his service as a State Representative from East Haddam. It was this early interest in public service that led her to working on Capitol Hill for the United States Speaker of the House of Representatives immediately after law school.
Hatfield, whose family has strong Eastern Connecticut roots going back to the colonial days, including a great grandfather who was Nathaniel Fanning and relation to Governor Gurdon Saltonstall (1708-1724), grew up in Noank until her family relocated to Griswold where she went on to graduate from Griswold High School in 1990. As her high school class president for two years, Hatfield was also a leader on the athletic field where she was an all-state basketball and track & field athlete and set Connecticut high school records in the three-point shot. Indeed, Hatfield's early leadership qualities were recognized by long term Eastern Connecticut Congressman Sam Gejdenson as he awarded her with a Congressional Nomination to the Military Academy at West Point.
Hatfield, however, decided to pursue her passion of caring for people so she set out to become a nurse. She received a B.S. in Nursing from American International College where she also was a member of the basketball team. She later earned a J.D. from Stetson University College of Law, and a Masters of Laws in Taxation from Georgetown University Law Center.
Since 2005, Sue Hatfield has served as a state prosecutor with the Connecticut Division of Criminal Justice. Throughout her career, she has fought to keep and make Connecticut a safer place and was the first prosecutor to receive a conviction for the completed crime of human trafficking under Connecticut's criminal statutes. On a personal side, as the wife of a recently retired Connecticut State Trooper, Hatfield understands the dangerous work that our law enforcement officers do to keep our streets safe. She understands first-hand the daily sacrifices our first responders make on a daily basis and the importance of them receiving the public's full support.
Prior to becoming a prosecutor, Hatfield was a public finance attorney with the New York City law firm of Hawkins, Delafield and Wood where she represented government entities and public authorities, which included legal representation of a public authority in connection with a $967,000,000 nuclear power plant sale.
Hatfield attributes her success to knowing the value of hard work and always remaining humble. After the summer of eighth grade, she spent the next two summers as a janitor's assistant for the Griswold School System, which served as an invaluable experience.
Sue and her husband Nick reside in Pomfret, Connecticut with their two sons Willam (10) and Danny (5), and their German Shepherd, K-9 Elvis who also recently retired from the Connecticut State Police.