John J. Flynn currently serves as the 41st District Attorney of Erie County, New York.
District Attorney Johnn Flynn was born and raised in Western New York. After graduating from East Aurora High School, he attended Bowling Green State University and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science in 1988.
DA Flynn joined the United States Navy after college. He attended Naval Officer Candidate School in Newport, Rhode Island, and upon graduation he was commissioned an Ensign in the United States Navy. He then attended Navy Supply Corps School (The Navy’s Business School) in Athens, Georgia, and upon graduation was assigned to the USS CLEVELAND (LPD-7) stationed in San Diego, California. There he served as the Assistant Supply Officer deploying overseas to the Western Pacific and served during the Gulf War.
After he fulfilled his naval commitment, DA Flynn returned to Western New York to attend the University at Buffalo School of Law. While in law school he continued to serve in the Naval Reserves. Upon graduation from law school in 1995, he went back on active duty and served in the Navy Judge Advocate General’s (JAG) Corps. He served as a Navy attorney at Pensacola Naval Air Station, in Pensacola, Florida, where he was also appointed a Special Assistant United States Attorney. He then served his final two years on active duty at the United States Naval Academy, in Annapolis, Maryland, as the Officer-in-Charge of the Office of Legal Counsel. DA Flynn was awarded the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal and two Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medals during his time on active duty.
In 2001, DA Flynn left active duty and again returned home to Western New York. He joined the Erie County District Attorney’s Office as an Assistant District Attorney. He was quickly promoted to the Homicide Bureau, where he served until leaving in 2002 to enter private law practice. DA Flynn was a personal injury attorney from 2002 to 2016. He also served as a lecturer at SUNY Buffalo State from 2009 to 2016, teaching a Moot Court class in the Political Science Department. DA Flynn continued to serve in the Naval Reserves until his retirement in 2017, reaching the rank of Commander. After re-affiliating with the reserves in 2001, he earned four additional Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medals.
In 2003, DA Flynn decided to make his first run for public office. He won a seat on the Town of Tonawanda Town Board. In December of 2006, DA Flynn was appointed as Town Justice in the Town of Tonawanda then won the election to serve a full term the following year. In 2008, DA Flynn was appointed an acting Buffalo City Court Judge. In 2010, he left the bench and was appointed Town Attorney in Tonawanda. In 2016, he was elected Erie County District Attorney and took office on January 1, 2017. DA Flynn, who ran unopposed, won re-election in 2020 to serve his second term as Erie County DA.
DA Flynn currently serves as the President of the National District Attorneys Association (NDAA), an organization representing prosecutors across the county. In Summer 2021, NDAA members unanimously voted for DA Flynn to serve as President-Elect. He was installed as the President of the organization in July 2022.
DA Flynn is also currently the President-Elect of the District Attorneys Association of New York (DAASNY), an organization representing District Attorneys throughout New York State. He will become President of the organization next year.
DA Flynn resides in the Town of Tonawanda with his wife, Debra, and has five children.