State Representative Arthur J. O’Neill of Southbury was first elected to the state House of Representatives in 1988, winning a special election to represent the 69th District of Southbury, Bridgewater, Roxbury, and New Milford. Due to redistricting in 1992, Representative O’Neill now represents the towns of Southbury, Bridgewater, Roxbury, and Washington.  He was most recently re-elected on November 7th, 2006.

For this legislative session, Representative O’Neill will serve as Ranking Member of the General Assembly's Judiciary Committee.

During previous terms, Representative O’Neill has served on the Legislative Management, the Energy and Technology, and the Government Administration and Elections Committees, the Finance Revenue and Bonding Committee, and has served as Chairman of the Regulations Review Committee, and Ranking member on the budget-writing Appropriations Committee.

Representative O’Neill also served as Chairman of the Shepaug River Task Force. The Task Force, which was created by an act of the General Assembly, was charged with studying the effects of the diversion of water on the Shepaug River and whether the 1921 contract between Waterbury and the Town of Washington was properly implemented.

Representative O’Neill was a member of the Task Force for Redistricting and was Chairman of the Southbury Training School Task Force in 1993-94, which studied Governor Weicker’s proposal to close the Southbury Training School.

In January of 2004, Representative O'Neill was chosen by House Speaker Moira Lyons and House Minority Leader Robert Ward to serve as the Republican co-chairman of the bi-partisan ten-member Select Committee of Inquiry. The Committee investigated former Governor John G. Rowland's acceptance of expensive gifts from state employees and contractors doing business with the state, in an attempt to determine if the events warranted his impeachment.

Active in the community, Representative O’Neill is a member of the East Hill Woods Corporation Board of Directors, a continuing care facility located in Southbury. He was a member of the Southbury Republican Town Committee from 1980-88, served as Chairman in 1987 and as secretary from 1981-87. He was also a member of the Southbury Charter Revision Commission from 1985-86 and served as secretary of the Pomperaug Valley Water Authority. He is a former member of both the Tribury Jaycees and the Tribury Rotary Club.

Born April 27, 1952, Representative O’Neill is a graduate of Southbury public schools. He is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the University of Connecticut and earned a Juris Doctor from Rutgers University. Representative O’Neill is a self-employed attorney in Southbury.