[HISTORY: Adopted by the Township Committee of the Township
of White 8-14-2014 by Ord. No. 2014-3.[1] Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Defense and indemnification — See Ch. 17.
Officers and employees — See Ch. 44.
Salaries and compensation — See Ch. 54.
[1]
Editor's Note: This ordinance also repealed former Ch.
12, Court, Municipal, adopted 8-7-1959 (Ch. 11 of the 1977 Code),
as amended.
A.
Creation of Court. There has been created a Joint Municipal Court
consisting of the following members: the Township of Hope, the Township
of Liberty, the Township of Hardwick, the Township of Blairstown,
and the Township of White, all located in Warren County. The Court
was created by the shared services agreement between the aforesaid
Municipalities, subject to the terms thereof, and shall have an effective
date of September 1, 2014.
B.
Name of Court. The name of the Joint Municipal Court shall be the
Municipal Court of North Warren at Hope.
C.
Effective date. The effective date for the creation of the Municipal
Court of North Warren at Hope shall remain September 1, 2014.
D.
Jurisdiction. The Joint Municipal Court will have such jurisdiction
as is now, or will hereafter be conferred upon it by the laws and
court rules of the State of New Jersey, and the practice and procedure
of the Court shall be governed by the laws in such case made and provided
in such rules as the Supreme Court will promulgate and make applicable
to the Court.
A.
There shall be a Municipal Judge appointed as provided by law in
the case of a joint municipal court. A Municipal Judge shall serve
for a term of three years from the date of appointment and until a
successor shall be appointed and qualified.
B.
The Municipal Judge shall have and possess the qualifications and
shall have, possess and exercise all of the functions, duties, powers
and jurisdiction conferred by law or ordinance. He/she shall be an
attorney at law of the State of New Jersey. The Municipal Judge shall
comply with the Vicinage XIII Municipal Judge Rotation Protocol as
per the Vicinage Assignment Judge for all times the Municipal Judge
is unable to sit as such. Any such designation shall be in writing
and filed with the Court, and any person so designated, while sitting
temporarily, shall possess all of the powers of the Municipal Judge.
C.
The Municipal Judge shall faithfully carry out all of the duties
and responsibilities of a municipal judge and shall abide by all rules
and regulations established for Municipal Court Judges by the judiciary.
D.
The Municipal Court Judge shall have full management and authority
of Court operations, excluding the hiring and termination of all court
personnel, and for the establishment, pursuant to New Jersey Court
Rule 1:30-3, the Municipal Court sessions and Violations Bureau hours.
A.
Municipal Prosecutor. There shall be a Municipal Prosecutor of the
Municipal Court who shall prosecute cases in the Municipal Court,
except each member, at its discretion, may appoint its own prosecutor
for Municipal or Board of Health ordinance violation cases at the
sole cost of that member. The Municipal Prosecutor shall be appointed
for a one-year term by the Township of Hope. The compensation of the
Municipal Prosecutor shall be determined by the Township of Hope.
B.
Municipal Court Administrator. There shall be an Administrator of
the Municipal Court who shall perform the functions and duties prescribed
for the Administrator by law, by the rules applicable to Municipal
Courts and by the Municipal Judge. The Administrator shall be appointed
in accordance with New Jersey Court Rule 1:34-3 by the Township of
Hope for a term of one year, subject however, to the tenure provisions
as set forth in N.J.S.A. 2A:8-13.3, and considered an employee of
the Township of Hope. The compensation of the Administrator shall
be determined by the Township of Hope. The Municipal Court Administrator
shall have the authority granted by law and the Rules of Court to
administrators and clerks of courts of record. The Administrator's
duty shall include, but not be limited to:
(1)
Carrying out the rules, regulations, policies and procedures relating
to the operation of the Court.
(2)
Interviewing and speaking to persons wishing to file criminal or
quasi-criminal complaints or wishing information in this regard.
(3)
Receiving complaints and dispensing information relating to Court
matters.
(4)
Maintaining the financial records of the Court, including receiving
an accounting for fines and costs.
(5)
Attending Court; recording pleas, judgments and dispositions; arranging
trial calendars; signing Court documents; preparing and issuing warrants
and commitments and other Court-related documents.
(6)
Maintaining and classifying records and files of the Court.
(7)
Maintaining, forwarding, receiving and reporting such records, reports
and files as required by the appropriate agencies.
(8)
Carrying out such additional duties as may be required in order to
fulfill the duties of Court Administrator.
C.
Public Defender. There shall be a Municipal Public Defender who shall
represent those defendants assigned by the Municipal Court Judge.
The Municipal Public Defender shall be appointed for a one-year term
by the Township of Hope. Compensation of the Public Defender shall
be determined by the Township of Hope.
D.
Deputy Municipal Court Administrator. There may be one or more Deputy
Administrators of the Municipal Court who shall be appointed by the
Township of Hope, provided that funds are provided for such purpose
in the Municipal Court budget. Deputy Municipal Court Administrators
shall perform the functions assigned to them by the Municipal Judge
and the Municipal Court Administrator. Any appointment pursuant to
this section shall be made in accordance with New Jersey Court Rule
1:34-3.
E.
Necessary clerical and other assistants. There may be appointed such
other necessary clerical and other assistants for the Municipal Court
as is necessary for the efficient operation of the Municipal Court.
The Township of Hope shall appoint such clerical and other assistants.
F.
Auditor. The Auditor for the Township of Hope shall act as the Auditor
for the Municipal Court of North Warren at Hope. The Auditor shall
perform a yearly audit of the Municipal Court, which audit shall be
prepared generally in accordance with the requirements of the Local
Fiscal Affairs Law, N.J.S.A. 40A:5-1 et seq. A copy of the complete
audit shall be supplied to each participating Municipality by September
1 of each year.
A.
Withdrawal by member. Any member of the Joint Municipal Court may
withdraw at the end of a next calendar year; provided, however, that
on or before July 1 the member has given the Municipal Court of North
Warren at Hope and each member thereof six months' written notice
of its intention to withdraw. The withdrawing member shall remain
responsible for its share (based upon the format established in the
shared services agreement) of all Court expenses through the date
of the withdrawing member's actual physical departure from the
Joint Court's facility.
B.
Inclusion of members. The members of the Municipal Court of North
Warren at Hope may be expanded by the admission of new members. The
admission of new members will take place after the Mayor and Municipal
Clerk of Hope Township interview the Municipality seeking admission
and present to the then existing members of the Joint Municipal Court
of North Warren at Hope their recommendations, along with an audit
of the three most recent years of the applying Municipality's
existing court expenses and revenues, and any other information they
feel relevant to the admission application. Admission shall be granted
upon an affirmative vote of the majority of the then existing members
of the Joint Municipal Court of North Warren at Hope. (By way of example:
If there are three members of the Municipal Court, two must vote in
favor of the admission.) The Municipality granted admission to the
Joint Municipal Court of North Warren at Hope must adopt a resolution
accepting membership and authorizing the execution of the interlocal
services agreement. The interlocal services agreement shall be amended
as necessary to revise the formula for the allocation of the Court's
budget between the members.
The Municipal Judge shall prepare or have prepared a budget
for the Municipal Court which shall be submitted to the governing
body of the Township of Hope by November 1 of each year. The budget
shall set forth, based on income and expenses for the prior twelve-month
period ending September 30, an estimate of all expenses and revenues
for the upcoming calendar year, and shall be in a form that is consistent
with Municipal budgets. The proposed budget shall be circulated by
the Township of Hope to the governing body of every other participating
Municipality.
Insurance coverage and/or bond shall be obtained that protects
the Joint Municipal Court and its personnel from claims against them
arising out of workers' compensation, bodily injury, property
damage, personal injury, civil rights violations or defalcations by
Court personnel and such coverage as may be necessary, which claims
arise in whole or in part from participating members' cases.
The coverage may be provided through policies issued to the members
and/or through separate policies issued to the Joint Municipal Court.
Improvements to the existing court facility that are required
to render the court facility in compliance with state and/or assignment
Judge mandates shall be undertaken as soon as possible, and the cost
for said improvement shall be shared equally by all five Municipalities.
All other expenses for administering the Joint Municipal Court, including
salaries for the Judge and Court personnel, and costs of materials
and equipment for the court, will be shared by all five Municipalities
in accordance with this section:
A.
The legally permitted Municipal share of all fines, assessments,
costs or other charges collected by the Court (hereinafter "Municipal
Income") shall be forwarded monthly to Hope Township and credited
to the Court account and applied to the expenses of maintaining and
operating the Court. The Court administration shall simultaneously
submit a monthly summary of all income and disbursements to each Municipality.
B.
All other received fines, assessments, court costs and other charges
shall be distributed as required by law.
C.
To the extent that the annual expenses necessary to maintain and
operate the Court are the greater or lesser than the Municipal Income
received, they shall be allocated among these members pursuant to
the following formula: The percentage share of each Municipality shall
be a total of the fines divided by the amount of the fine generated
by that Municipality.
D.
Each Municipality shall pay monthly to Hope Township its estimated
share of anticipated deficit as established by the budget described
in Article 2-6.5 of the Code of the Township of Hope.
E.
On or about February 1 of each year, Hope Township shall submit to
each Municipality a final accounting for the prior fiscal/calendar
year with any credit due to be applied to future contributions.
The governing bodies of the Township of Hope, the Township of
Liberty, the Township of Blairstown, the Township of White and the
Township of Hardwick are hereby authorized to enter into a contract
with each other embodying the provisions of this chapter pursuant
to the Uniform Shared Services and Consolidation Act, N.J.S.A. 40A:65-1
et seq., in accordance with the terms of the Act. In the event of
any discrepancy between this chapter and said Act, including any amendments
thereto, the Act shall take precedence.
