Former Supervisory Assistant Public Defender David Keith Foren agreed to settle with the Connecticut Office of State Ethics (OSE) after an investigation alleged he’d racked up roughly 91,000 miles in a state vehicle over four years primarily for personal use, according to the settlement agreement signed in September.
Between August 2020 and October 2024, the OSE investigation found Foren utilized two state vehicles “primarily for personal and/or non-official activities,” and did not reimburse the state for that use, resulting in him financially benefiting from his position as a state employee.
According to the settlement, Foren agreed to pay the state $12,500 to “avoid costly and lengthy legal proceedings,” but did not admit to any fault or liability: “Nothing herein shall constitute or be construed as an admission of liability or fault by the Respondent.”
According to the numbers in the settlement agreement, Foren allegedly averaged roughly 22,750 miles per year in those state vehicles. Based on IRS mileage reimbursement rates over four years, Foren’s alleged personal use of the vehicles added up to more than $69,000 in mileage reimbursement costs.
The years during which Foren allegedly improperly used the state vehicles, he received between $144,000 and $177,000 in salary, according to the state’s open records website, and had been employed by state government for thirty years prior to his retirement in early 2025.
While he was allegedly using the state vehicle for personal use, Foren received a promotion in 2021 by the Public Defender Services Commission, which granted him permanent status as a supervisory assistant public defender for juvenile matters in the Waterford/Willimantic area, according to the Commission’s October 5, 2021, meeting minutes.
OSC alleged Foren violated state statutes barring state employees and officials from using their position for financial gain and violated the Department of Administrative Services’ state vehicle use policy, which prohibits the use of state vehicles for anything other than state business. As part of the settlement, Foren agreed to comply with state ethics rules if he should be employed by the state again in the future.
Personal use of state vehicles became the subject of an investigation initiated by the Office of the Governor in 2024 after Inside Investigator published an investigation based off GPS and speed data for state vehicles used by Gov. Ned Lamont’s former Chief of Staff Jonathan Dach.
The two state vehicles utilized by the Office of the Governor had monitoring devices that showed they were used extensively by Dach for personal trips, including out of state trips, and were often driven at high rates of speed.
Although Inside Investigator published its findings in November 2024, Lamont kept Dach as a special advisor, and he largely helped usher through a major energy bill during the 2025 legislative session. The investigation by outside counsel confirmed Inside Investigator’s findings and Dach resigned.
A 2026 audit of the Department of Motor Vehicles found numerous state vehicles were being used as take-home vehicles without DAS approval, and that the DMV had failed to investigate complaints of reckless driving by state employees in state vehicles.
“Personal use of a state-owned or rental vehicle for social, recreational, religious, educational, as a commute vehicle, or any other purpose, whether on duty or off, is not permitted,” the DAS vehicle policy states. “State auto liability insurance and workers compensation coverage does not cover when a vehicle is misused or operated outside of official business and/or any other case of unauthorized use.”
Foren retired in early 2025, and received a $97,610 payout in “other pay,” according to state payroll records. He currently collects an “early retirement” pension of over $60,000.
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