[HISTORY: Adopted by the Mayor and Township Council of the Township of Dover (now Toms River) 6-22-2004 by Ord. No. 3884-04. Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Adoption of Administrative Code — See Ch. 1, Art. III.
The municipal government of the Township of Toms River shall be organized into the following departments, municipal offices, boards, commissions and committees, as applicable:
A. 
Departments.
[Amended 1-24-2017 by Ord. No. 4524-17; 3-10-2020 by Ord. No. 4661-20]
(1) 
Department of Administration.
(2) 
Department of Finance.
(3) 
Department of Human Services.
(4) 
Department of Law.
[Amended 4-14-2020 by Ord. No. 4666-20]
(5) 
Department of Law Enforcement.
(6) 
(Reserved)[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: Former Subsection A(6), Department of Public Works, was repealed 2-14-2024 by Ord. No. 4794-24.
(7) 
Department of Recreation.
B. 
Offices.
(1) 
Office of the Municipal Clerk.
(2) 
Office of the Tax Assessor.
(3) 
Municipal Court.
(4) 
Office of Municipal Public Defender.
(5) 
Office of Municipal Prosecutor.
(6) 
Office of Emergency Management.
C. 
Statutory boards and commissions.
(1) 
Board of Adjustment.
(2) 
Environmental Commission.
(3) 
Historic Preservation Commission.
(4) 
Industrial Commission.
(5) 
Local Ethics Board.
(6) 
Municipal Utilities Authority.
(7) 
Parking Authority.
(8) 
Planning Board.
(9) 
Redevelopment Entity.
D. 
Advisory committees.
(1) 
Youth Advisory Council.
(2) 
Veterans Commission.
Each department shall be headed by a Director, whom shall be appointed by the Mayor with the advice and consent of the Council.
The term of a department head shall be for the term of the office of the Mayor appointing him or her and until the appointment and qualification of his or her successor.
[Amended 5-27-2008 by Ord. No. 4137-08]
A. 
Appointment. Department heads shall appoint subordinate officers and employees within their respective departments and may, with approval of the Mayor, remove such officers and employees subject to the provisions of Title 11 of the New Jersey Statutes or other general law.
B. 
Promotion and transfer. No promotion or transfer of existing employees shall be effectuated unless recommended by the appropriate department head to the Township Business Administrator for presentment and approval by the Mayor.
A department head may request a leave of absence from his or her position for up to one year. Council, in its sole discretion, may grant or deny the request. Failure to seek an extension of the leave or failure to return to work at the conclusion of the leave granted by Council shall be deemed an abandonment of office of the position. Whenever a leave of absence is taken, the Mayor, with the advice and consent of Council, may appoint an acting department head from amongst the existing employees from within that department.
[Amended 5-13-2008 by Ord. No. 4136-08; 4-14-2020 by Ord. No. 4666-20]
All department heads shall be full-time employees. A "full-time employee" shall be defined as an employee who regularly works a minimum of 35 hours per week. Department heads shall be exempt employees for purposes of the Federal Labor Standards Act. A full-time employee, except for a department head, may not be employed outside the Township without prior written permission of the Mayor and resolution of the Township Council. All employees full-time and part-time, with the exception of elected officials, shall punch their own individual time card every day on the Township time clock, or on another Township-approved device, once said device is made available, or shall utilize a time-keeping procedure approved by resolution of the Township Council. If an employee leaves work for any reason, he or she shall punch out and punch in upon return, if applicable. All department heads shall be responsible for maintaining the time cards of their department employees. Misuse of the time clock by any employee, which shall include, but not be limited to, punching another person's time card and failing to punch out upon leaving work, shall be grounds for immediate termination and may result in prosecution by the Township for theft of services, subject to any provisions of any collective bargaining agreements. This provision shall not apply to the Township Attorney or any part-time employees of the Township's Law Department.
[Amended 4-14-2020 by Ord. No. 4666-20]
No department head shall have any interest in any partnership, sole proprietorship, company, corporation or any other form of business organization which has a current contractual relationship with the Township. A department head shall not enter into any contract individually with the Township. A violation of this section shall be deemed sufficient cause to seek removal under N.J.S.A. 40:69A-37. This provision shall not apply to the Township Attorney if that position is filled by someone who is not an employee of the municipality.
The internal operation of each department shall be determined by the Director of the department subject to the applicable provisions of the Code. Whenever an activity or functional duty shall, by ordinance, be transferred from one department to another department of the Township, all the functions, powers and duties thereof shall be and are transferred as of the effective date of the ordinance.
Vacancies in the office of any department head due to resignation, removal, death or otherwise shall be filled in accordance with the procedures delineated within § 5-16 of the Township Code.
Except in the case of police, fire and first aid emergencies, no Township vehicle shall be driven, operated or used outside of the geographical boundaries of the Township except as necessary to efficiently travel between Township locales on the barrier island and the rest of the Township and for official business. Traveling to and from work shall not be considered official business. "Official business" shall be further defined for the purposes of this section as the policy promulgated by the Mayor and adopted by the Council by separate resolution. As applied to the Department of Law Enforcement, the Mayor shall establish a written policy which shall be approved by Township Council by resolution within 60 days subsequent to the effective date of this Code.
In the appointing of any employee, officer or department head, preference shall be given to residents of the Township of Toms River.
Any additional or amended qualifications for offices or positions, including department heads, shall be prospective only as applied to filling vacancies after the effective date of this Code.
[Added 3-11-2008 by Ord. No. 4130-08; amended 1-24-2017 by Ord. No. 4526-17]
A. 
Definitions. As used in this section, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:
IMMEDIATE FAMILY
Spouse, child, stepchild, parent, stepparent, brother, stepbrother, sister, stepsister, grandparent, father-in-law, mother-in-law, sister-in-law, brother-in-law, half-brother, half-sister, nephew or niece.
B. 
Prohibited actions. The Township shall not hire to any permanent, nonseasonal position any immediate family members of the Mayor or Township Council. If, in the opinion of the Mayor, or any member of Council, extenuating circumstances necessitate the waiver of the policy within this section, a written recommendation delineating the extenuating circumstances shall be submitted to the Mayor and Township Council. If the Mayor and Township Council concur that there are extenuating circumstances, this policy may be waived by resolution adopted by an affirmative vote of at least 2/3 of the majority of the full Township Council as to the particular hiring at issue only.
C. 
Relatives of department heads. The hiring restrictions set forth in Subsection B apply to immediate family members of any department head for positions within or assigned to that department or supervised by that department head.
D. 
Positions covered by testing requirements; exception. The restrictions imposed by this section do not apply to positions in which employment is conditioned upon obtaining a passing score on an oral, written, physical, or other examination prepared, evaluated, or graded by an independent agency not affiliated with the Township.
E. 
Effective date; exception. Subsection B does not apply to immediate family member relationships between or among employees which were created or existed prior to the effective date of that subsection. Subsection C does not apply to employees hired on or before December 31, 2016.