[HISTORY: Adopted by the Township Committee
of the Township of East Amwell 12-29-2016 by Ord. No. 16-13.[1] Amendments noted where applicable.]
[1]
Editor’s Note: This ordinance superseded former Ch.
11, Court, Municipal, adopted 12-27-2012 by Ord. No. 12-19.
The Municipal Court of the Townships of East Amwell and Delaware
was created in 1949 between the Township of Delaware and the Township
of East Amwell, both located in Hunterdon County, as members. It has
continued in effect since that time. The current terms for the operation
of the Joint Court will be set forth in a shared services agreement
effective January 1, 2017, between the municipalities.
The name of the Joint Municipal Court is "The Municipal Court
of the Townships of East Amwell and Delaware."
The jurisdiction of the Joint Court shall be coextensive with
the territory of its members, the Townships of Delaware and East Amwell.
There shall be a Municipal Court Judge appointed as provided
by law in the case of a joint municipal court. The Municipal Court
Judge shall serve for a term of three years from the date of appointment
and until a successor shall be appointed and qualified. The Municipal
Court Judge shall have and possess the qualifications and shall have,
possess and exercise all 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. Whenever the Municipal Court Judge is
unable to sit as such, he may designate any other judge of any Municipal
Court to sit for him/her temporarily and hold the Municipal Court.
Any such judge shall possess all of the powers of the Municipal Court
Judge. The Municipal Court Judge shall have full management authority
of the judicial operations of the Court.
Delaware and East Amwell each shall appoint a Municipal Court
Prosecutor for a one-year term who may be the same person and who
shall prosecute cases in the Joint Court. The compensation of any
Municipal Prosecutor shall be determined by Delaware and East Amwell.
When a Municipal Prosecutor is unable to serve at a particular court
session or in particular cases, Delaware and East Amwell may appoint
another attorney(s) to serve in his/her absence.
Delaware and East Amwell each shall appoint a Municipal Court
Public Defender for a one-year term who may be the same person and
who shall represent those defendants assigned by the Municipal Court
Judge. The compensation of any Municipal Court Public Defender shall
be determined by Delaware and East Amwell. When a Municipal Court
Public Defender is unable to serve at a particular court session or
in particular cases, Delaware and East Amwell may appoint another
attorney(s) to serve in his/her absence.
There shall be an Administrator of the Joint 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
Court Judge. The Administrator shall be appointed by Delaware and
East Amwell for a term of one year. The Administrator's duties
shall include, but not b elimited to:
A.
Carrying out the rules, regulations, policies and procedures relating
to the operations of the Joint Court.
B.
Interviewing and speaking to persons wishing to file criminal complaints
or quasi-criminal complaints or wishing information in this regard.
C.
Receiving complaints and dispensing information relating to Joint
Court matters.
D.
Maintaining the financial records of the Joint Court including receiving
and accounting for fines and costs.
E.
Attending Court; recording pleas, judgments and dispositions; arranging
trial calendars; signing Court documents; preparing and issuing warrants
and commitments and other Court-related documents.
F.
Maintaining and classifying records and files of the Joint Court;
G.
Maintaining, forwarding, receiving and reporting such records, reports
and files as required by the appropriate agencies.
H.
Carrying out such additional duties as may be required in order to
fulfill the duties of Court Administrator.
There may be one or more Deputy Court Administrators of the
Joint Court who shall be appointed by Delaware and East Amwell provided
that funds are provided for such purpose in the Joint Court budget.
Deputy Municipal Court Administrators shall perform the functions
assigned to them by the Municipal Court Judge and the Municipal Court
Administrator.
There may be appointed by Delaware and East Amwell such other
necessary clerical and other assistance for the Municipal Court as
is necessary for the efficient operation of the Municipal Court.
Delaware and East Amwell shall appoint an auditor for the Joint
Court who shall be a registered municipal accountant. The auditor
shall serve for a term of one year. The auditor shall perform a yearly
audit of the Joint 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 completed audit shall be supplied
to Delaware and East Amwell by September 1 of each year.
Any member of the Joint Court may withdraw at the end of a calendar
year; provided, however, that the member has given the Joint Court
and each member thereof six months' written notice of its intention
to withdraw.
There is hereby established a Joint Court Liaison Committee
consisting of up to two representatives of each member of the Joint
Court as designated by the respective governing bodies. The Committee
shall meet at such times and places as deemed necessary, but not less
than annually, and shall be responsible for acting as liaison between
the Shared Court and the governing bodies for issues related to the
operation of the Joint Court. Each member shall notify the other of
the name(s) of its Committee representative(s) annually within 15
days of their respective governing body's reorganization meeting.
The Court Administrator, in consultation with the Joint Court
Liaison Committee if necessary, shall prepare or have prepared a proposed budget
for the Joint Court which shall be submitted to the governing body
of each member in December of each year. The budget shall set forth
an estimate of all expenses for the upcoming calendar year. If either
municipality requests a change to the Municipal Court budget, then
a meeting or meetings shall be held between the Joint Court Liaison
Committee and the Court Administrator to resolve the differences.
Insurance coverage and/or bonds shall be obtained that protect
the Municipal Court and its personnel from claims against them arising
out of worker's compensation, bodily injury, property damage,
personal injury, or civil rights violations, defalcations by Court
personnel and such other coverage as may be necessary. The coverage
may be provided either through policies issued to the members and/or
through separate policies issued to the Court.
The members of the Joint Court shall be responsible for and
contribute to the Joint Court's operating budget and expenses
in accordance with the terms of the Shared Services Agreement to be
negotiated between the members and made effective January 1, 2017,
and any written amendments or modifications thereto agreed to by the
members.
The members of the Joint Court shall share in costs and revenues
received by the Joint Court as follows:
A.
Each participating municipality shall be entitled to a fifty-percent
share of the court costs and public defender fees received by the
Joint Court.
B.
All revenues received by the Municipal Court from fines and costs
shall be allocated in accordance with state law and the terms hereof.
Fines collected by the Joint Court shall be payable to the municipality
whose cases resulted in the fines.
C.
To the extent that financial contributions to the Joint Court by
any municipality participating with the Joint Court in a Shared Court
Agreement results in a surplus for the Joint Court, the surplus shall
be apportioned equally between the members of the Joint Court.
Court security is provided by the Delaware Township Police Department.
Delaware and East Amwell will each be responsible for 50% of the cost
of court security.
The governing body of the Township of East Amwell is hereby
authorized to enter into a Shared Services Agreement embodying the
provisions of this chapter pursuant to the Uniform Shared Services
and Consolidation Act, N.J.S.A. 40A:65-1 et seq., and in accordance
with the terms of that act. In the event of any discrepancy between
this chapter and that of the Uniform Shared Services and Consolidation
Act and any amendments thereto, the Act shall take precedence.
The term of the Shared Services Agreement shall continue indefinitely until a member chooses to withdraw from the Court as provided by § 11-11 of this chapter.
The Joint Court Liaison Committee is authorized, with the advice
and consent of the Judge and Court Administrator, to negotiate the
terms of a shared services agreement to provide municipal court services
to other municipalities. Any such shared services agreement shall
become effective only after approved by resolution by each member.
