[1975 Code § 6-1; Ord. No. 013-87]
A Municipal Court in the Borough of Allentown is hereby established
pursuant to N.J.S.A. 2A:8-1 which Court shall be known as the "Municipal
Court of the Borough of Allentown, Monmouth County." The Court shall
exercise all the functions, powers, duties and jurisdiction conferred
by law upon municipal courts.
[1975 Code § 6-2; Ord. No. 013-87]
The Municipal Court shall have a seal bearing the impress of
the name of the Court.
[1975 Code § 6-3; Ord. No. 013-87]
There shall be a Judge of the Municipal Court appointed in the
same manner as appointive officers of the Borough. The Judge shall
serve for a term of three years from the date of appointment and until
a successor is appointed and qualifies. The Judge shall have and possess
and exercise all the functions, duties, powers and jurisdiction conferred
by law or ordinance. The Judge need not be a resident of the Borough.
The Judge shall be an attorney-at-law of the State of New Jersey.
Whenever the Judge is unable to sit as such, he may designate any
other judge of any municipal court, except a nonattorney judge, or
an attorney-at-law to sit for him temporarily and to hold the Municipal
Court. Any such designation shall be made in writing and shall be
filed in the Court, and any person so designated, while sitting temporarily
shall possess all the powers of the Municipal Judge.
[1975 Code § 6-4; Ord. No. 013-87]
The Judge of the Municipal Court shall be compensated as provided
in the annual Salary Ordinances of the Borough and paid in the same
manner as the salaries of other municipal officers are paid, which
shall be in lieu of all fees.
[1975 Code § 6-5; Ord. No. 013-87]
The territorial jurisdiction of the Municipal Court of the Borough
shall be the territory embraced within the Borough of Allentown.
[1975 Code § 6-6; Ord. No. 013-87]
The Municipal Court shall be held in the Borough Hall in the
Borough of Allentown. The Judge of the Municipal Court shall sit at
such times as the business of the Court may require, subject to the
rules applicable to municipal courts.
[1975 Code § 6-7; Ord. No. 013-87]
There shall be a Municipal Court Administrator appointed by
the Mayor with the advice and consent of the Borough Council, who
shall perform the functions and duties prescribed by him by law, by
the rules applicable to municipal courts and by the Judge of the Municipal
Court. His or her duties shall include but not be limited to:
a.
Carrying out the rules, regulations, policies and procedures relating
to the operation of the Court.
b.
Interviewing and speaking to persons wishing to file criminal complaints
or wishing information in this regard, and receiving complaints and
dispensing information relating to Court matters.
c.
Maintaining the financial records of the Court.
d.
Attending Court; recording pleas, judgments and dispositions; arranging
trial calendars; signing Court documents; and preparing and issuing
warrants and commitments.
e.
Taking and preparing bail bonds, recognizances and securities in
lieu thereof; making inquiry concerning their sufficiency and equity;
and receiving and accounting for fines and costs.
f.
Interviewing persons on informal police court matters to determine
if there is a basis for formal action and, if necessary, issuing summonses
requiring court appearances; and maintaining and classifying records
and files.
g.
Maintaining, forwarding, receiving and reporting such records, reports
and files as are required by the Director of Motor Vehicles.
[1975 Code § 6-8; Ord. No. 013-87]
There shall be a Deputy Court Administrator who shall be appointed
by the Mayor with the advice and consent of the Borough Council and
who shall perform the functions assigned to him or her by the Judge
of the Municipal Court and the Municipal Court Administrator.
[New]
A Municipal Prosecutor may be appointed by the Mayor and affirmed
by the Council. The Municipal Prosecutor shall serve for a term of
one year from the date of his appointment and until his successor
is appointed and qualified. The appointment shall be made at the annual
reorganization meeting in January of each year. If a vacancy occurs
during the course of the year, any appointment shall be for the balance
of the unexpired year.
[New]
The Municipal Prosecutor shall appear at all Court sessions
and prosecute all complaints presented by the Police Department of
the Borough, and any other complaints as required by law.
[New]
The salary of the Prosecutor shall be his annual salary as established
by the Borough Salary Ordinance.
[Ord. No. 11-97 § 1; Ord. No. 02-98 § 1]
a.
Appointment and Qualifications. There shall be a Municipal Public
Defender of the Borough of Allentown who shall be an attorney-at-law
of the State of New Jersey and shall be an attorney-at-law of the
State of New Jersey and shall be appointed by the Mayor, with advice
and consent of Council, for a period of one year from the first day
of January of the year of his appointment and until his successor
has been duly appointed and qualified. The appointment of the Municipal
Public Defender shall be by resolution duly adopted pursuant to the
Local Public Contracts Law. In addition, the Municipality may also
appoint a Substitute Municipal Public Defender, which appointment
shall be by resolution duly adopted pursuant to the Local Public Contracts
Law.
[Ord. No. 11-97 § 2; Ord. No. 02-98 § 2]
The Municipal Public Defender shall represent those defendants
in the Municipal Court of the Borough of Allentown, whom the Judge
of the Municipal Court of the Borough of Allentown has determined
are indigent and constitutionally or otherwise entitled by law to
have counsel furnished without cost, subject to the requirement of
payment of an application fee of not more than two hundred ($200.00)
dollars, with said fee to be only in the amount necessary to pay the
cost of the Municipal Public Defender's services, in accordance with
a previous subsection adopted by the Borough of Allentown. The Municipal
Public Defender shall not represent those defendants who are indigent
and are constitutionally or otherwise entitled by law to counsel,
if such defendants affirmatively and with an understanding of the
waiver of such right to counsel, state an intention to proceed without
counsel. The representation of the defendant by the Municipal Public
Defender shall continue through sentencing and shall include advising
the defendant with respect to his right to appeal, but shall not include
the preparation and filing of the notice of appeal or any other application
for postconviction relief.
[Ord. No. 97-1 § 1; Ord. No. 12-97 § 1; Ord. No. 03-98 § 1]
Every person who makes application to the Borough of Allentown
Municipal Court for representation by the Public Defender in any matter
pending before the Court shall pay an application fee of not more
than $200, unless the Court waives such fee.
[Ord. No. 97-1 § 2; Ord. No. 12-97 § 2; Ord. No. 03-98 § 2]
Upon written request of the applicant supported by adequate
facts, the Court may waive all or part of the application fee if it
determines, in its discretion, upon review of the information represented
by the applicant, that payment of the fee would represent an unreasonable
burden on the applicant. The Court may consider the applicant's employment
status, income, number of dependents, financial obligations, and any
information relevant to a determination in the discretion of the Judge
of what constitutes an unreasonable burden on the particular applicant.
Waivers shall be decided by the Judge of the Court on a case-by-case
basis, according to the particular circumstances of each applicant.
