Like many kids in Virginia Beach, Colin grew up in a Navy family. His father, Ed Stolle, proudly served in the Navy for 22 years. The family moved to Virginia Beach in 1971, when Colin was one year old, as a part of his father’s last duty assignment. The family has resided here ever since.

Colin is the youngest of six kids. He has four brothers and one sister. He attended Star of the Sea Catholic School growing up and graduated high school from Cape Henry Collegiate in 1988. Colin then attended Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond and earned a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science in 1992.

Upon graduating from VCU, Colin entered the Virginia Law Reading Program. Virginia is one of a few states where you can still become an attorney by “Reading Law.” It is the same process Thomas Jefferson completed to become an attorney and it is still in place today. While Colin studied law in the evenings he worked during the day in the Office of the Commonwealth’s Attorney. Colin served as the “Habitual Offender Coordinator” helping prosecutors remove the most dangerous drivers from our roads. It was at this point that Colin decided that the only thing he wanted to do with his legal career was to be a prosecutor.

Colin passed the bar and was hired as an Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney in 1996. Since that time, he has handled every type of case from speeding to Capital Murder. He has served on the Property Crime Team, Precinct Trial Teams, Juvenile and Domestic Relations Team, and the Vice and Narcotic Team. Colin worked his way up in the office by constantly handling one of the most heavy and serious caseloads in the office.

In 2004, Colin was promoted to Deputy Commonwealth’s Attorney and supervised a trial team that consisted of both the 2nd and 3rd Police Precincts. Colin continued to carry a heavy caseload while taking on a management role in the office. In 2005, he was promoted to Chief Deputy Commonwealth’s Attorney making him responsible for overseeing all of the prosecutors in the office.

Colin was elected Commonwealth’s Attorney in 2013 and proudly continues to serve our community in that role. He supervises forty-nine attorneys, twenty-four paralegals, and with the rest of the staff a total office of over 120 dedicated public servants. Colin’s duties also involve overseeing and managing a multimillion-dollar budget consisting of local, state and federal funds. Even with the demands of management and policy responsibilities, Colin is still involved in the more serious and high-profile cases that come into the office.

Colin is proud to have served previously as the President for the Virginia Association of Commonwealth’s Attorneys and is currently a member of the Board of Directors for the National District Attorney’s Association. In 2021, he received the “Robert F. Horan Award” which is the highest honor awarded by the Virginia Association of Commonwealth’s Attorneys. In 2024, he was appointed by Governor Younkin to serve as a member of the Virginia State Crime Commission. Colin is a frequent lecturer at both Virginia and national legal conferences.

Colin met his wife Denise while they attended VCU together. They have been married for thirty years and have two sons, Colin Jr., and Ian.