[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Commissioners of the Borough
of Avon-by-the-Sea 12-14-48 by Ord. No. 44. Amendments noted where applicable.]
There is hereby established a Municipal Court in the Borough
of Avon-by-the-Sea, to be known as the "Municipal Court of the Borough
of Avon-by-the-Sea."
Said Court shall have a seal, which seal shall bear the impress
of the name of the Court.
The Court shall be presided over by a Judge appointed by the
Board of Commissioners of the Borough of Avon-by-the-Sea. He shall
have the qualifications required by law and shall serve for a term
of three (3) years from the date of his appointment and until his
successor is appointed and qualified.
Every Judge of the Municipal Court appointed by the Board of
Commissioners of the Borough of Avon-by-the-Sea shall be a resident
of this state and shall be an attorney or a person who has had actual
experience as a Recorder, Police Judge or Justice of the Peace or
who is qualified under any rules of court. Such Judge, if an attorney
at law, need not be a resident of the Borough of Avon-by-the-Sea.
Each Judge of the Municipal Court shall, before entering upon
the duties of his office, take and subscribe an oath in substantially
the same manner as provided in N.J.S.A. 2:212-7.
The compensation of said Judge shall be an annual salary, which
shall be fixed by ordinance adopted by the Board of Commissioners
of the Borough of Avon-by-the-Sea, and such compensation shall be
in lieu of any and all other fees.
The Board of Commissioners of the Borough of Avon-by-the-Sea
may, by ordinance or resolution, or by similar ordinances or resolutions,
provide for a Clerk and other assistants for the Municipal Court of
the Borough of Avon-by-the-Sea and provide for their compensation.
The Board of Commissioners may also, by ordinance or resolution, designate
any officer or employee of the Borough of Avon-by-the-Sea to serve
as Clerk of the Municipal Court, with or without additional compensation.
A. The territorial jurisdiction of said Municipal Court shall be the
territory embraced within the boundaries of the Borough of Avon-by-the-Sea.
Said Municipal Court shall have jurisdiction of the following offenses
occurring within its territorial jurisdiction:
(1) Violations of the motor vehicle and traffic laws.
(2) Violations of the fish and game laws.
(3) Violations of the ordinances of the municipality wherein the Municipal
Court is located.
(4) Violations of the disorderly persons law, Subtitle 15 of Title 2
of the New Jersey Revised Statues.
(5) Violations of Chapter
1 of Title 44, Poor, of the New Jersey Revised Statues.
(6) Violations of Chapters
6 and
17 of Title 9 of the New Jersey Revised Statutes relating to children.
(7) Violations of Article 4 of Chapter 5 of Title 30 of the New Jersey
Revised Statutes relating to institutions and agencies.
B. Said Municipal Court of the Borough of Avon-by-the-Sea shall exercise
and enjoy such jurisdiction and authority in criminal matters as are
now or may hereafter be conferred upon it by law.
Said Municipal Court and the Judge thereof shall also have,
possess and exercise all the functions, powers, duties and jurisdiction
in criminal cases heretofore exercised by any Justice of the Peace,
Police Justice, Police Magistrate or Recorder, except that said Municipal
Court shall not have jurisdiction to try and determine an indictable
offense where a defendant offers to waive, in writing, indictment
and trial by jury. Where the person charged offers to waive indictment
and trial by jury and the Municipal Court is without jurisdiction
to try and determine the offense charged, the Judge may commit or,
if the offense charged is bailable in law, admit the person charged
to bail with sufficient surety to appear before such court as shall
have jurisdiction in such case to hear and determine the crime or
offense charged.
The Judge of the Municipal Court shall have and exercise all
the authority of a committing judge or magistrate; provided, however,
that where a person is charged with an indictable offense, said Judge
sitting as a committing judge or magistrate, shall not discharge the
person charged without first having given the County Prosecutor notice
and an opportunity to be heard in the case.
The practice and procedure of the said Municipal Court shall
be substantially as provided by N.J.S.A. 2:220-32 to 2:220-55, both
inclusive, subject to such rules as the Supreme Court shall promulgate
and make applicable to the municipal courts, which rules shall supersede,
so far as they conflict with, statutory and common law regulations
theretofore existing.
Upon the establishment of the said Municipal Court under this
chapter all causes and proceedings of whatever character pending in
the local Recorder's Court shall be transferred to the said Municipal
Court and shall be continued in said Municipal Court with the same
effect as though they had been commenced therein, and all files, papers,
dockets, books of account and all data appertaining thereto and any
moneys on deposit as bail or for any other purpose shall be transferred
to said Municipal Court.
The Mayor or other chief executive officer of the Borough of
Avon-by-the-Sea or the Municipal Clerk, or, when so provided by resolution
of the governing body, a Recorder provided for and appointed solely
for such purpose, shall have the power in criminal cases to hold defendants
to appear before the court having jurisdiction to hear the matter
by taking recognizances of bail with surety or sureties in such reasonable
sums as he may deem fit and to forward the same to the said court
before the time of appearance therein mentioned. Any such power shall
be exercisable in the same manner and shall be subject to the same
limitations as in the case of the Judge of the court before which
any such defendant is to appear.
Whenever the Judge of the Municipal Court shall be unable to
sit as such Judge, he may designate any other Judge of any Municipal
Court or any attorney at law to sit for him temporarily and hold the
Municipal Court, provided that such designation shall be made in writing
and shall be filed in said Court, whereupon any such person so designated,
while sitting temporarily, shall have all of the powers of the Judge
of said Court.
The costs and fees charged against defendants, when collected, shall become municipal funds and shall be turned over to the Borough Treasurer. The amount of such fees and costs shall be as provided in Article 3 of Chapter 3 of Title 22 of the New Jersey Revised Statutes and, as to small claims, as provided by Article 24 of Chapter
32 of Title 2 of the New Jersey Statutes. The fines and penalties imposed in said Municipal Court shall be disposed of as provided by law.
Except as otherwise provided by law, the provisions of existing
law, both statutory and otherwise, now applicable to Police Judges,
Police Justices, Police Magistrates and Recorders, shall continue
and be applicable to the said Municipal Court.
The terms and provisions of this chapter shall take effect on
the first day of January 1949, at which time the present Recorder's
Court of the Borough of Avon-by-the-Sea shall be abolished and cease
to exist.
[Added 2-9-98 by Ord. No. 1-1998]
A. Position established. There is hereby created by the Borough of Avon-by-the-Sea
the position of Public Defender.
B. Appointments; term of office. The Public Defender shall be appointed
by the Mayor and Commissioners. The term shall be for one (1) year
effective January 1 until December 31 of the same year, and until
the appointment and qualification of a successor.
C. Professional fee. The Public Defender shall receive a fee per court
session as prescribed pursuant to the Salary Ordinance.
D. Duties. The Public Defender shall represent any person who makes
an application for representation to the Municipal Court of the Borough
of Avon-by-the-Sea and is approved by same. An application fee of
fifty dollars ($50) to two hundred dollars ($200) based on the defendant's
ability to pay shall be paid by the defendant. For purposes of this
section, the term "need of the defendant" shall be measured consistent
with the standard set forth in N.J.S.A. 2A:158-14, as may be amended
from time to time. The Municipal Court may waive the application in
whole or in part if the Court determines in its discretion, the application
fee represents an unreasonable burden on the person seeking such representation.