[Adopted as § 2-14 of the 1980 Code]
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. II)]
A Municipal Public Defender for the Township is hereby established pursuant to the statutory authority granted the Township by N.J.S.A. 2B:24-1 et seq., as amended and supplemented.
The Public Defender shall be appointed at the annual reorganization of the Township Committee and shall serve for a term of one year.
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. II)]
The Township Public Defender shall receive an annual salary as established in the annual salary ordinance or resolution.
The Public Defender shall represent those individuals appearing in the Township Municipal Court who are determined to be qualified by the municipal judge for free representation based upon the seriousness of the offense and the individual's inability to retain private counsel due to indigence as then defined by the appropriate Rule of the New Jersey Superior Court. The Public Defender shall attend those sessions of the Municipal Court as determined to be appropriate by the governing body at its annual reorganization.
[Amended by Ord. No. 97-332]
A. 
The Judge of the Municipal Court of the Township of Fairfield is authorized to make decisions as to which defendants are indigent and after a determination is made, the Public Defender shall be assigned to represent the defendant.
B. 
The Court Administrator shall charge a fee of $200 per application for a public defender. The fee may be waived upon a proper showing of absolute indigence without an ability to pay the application fee. The judge of the Municipal Court shall make the determination on the ability to pay the fee and the determination of indigence.
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. II)]
C. 
The application fee shall be used to help defray the cost of hiring a Public Defender and in the administrative costs of the municipal court.