Township of Deerfield, NJ Article XI Statutory and Nondepartmental Agencies

§ 5-47 Allocation to Chairman of Township Committee.

The administrative functions, powers and duties of statutory and other agencies of the Township government not allocated and assigned by this chapter shall be subject to the supervision of the Chairman of the Township Committee except as otherwise specifically provided by law, and for this purpose such statutory and other agencies are allocated and assigned to the Chairman of the Township Committee.

§ 5-48 Municipal Court continued; Municipal Public Defender.

A. The Municipal Court for the Township of Deerfield shall he established as a Joint Municipal Court unless the Township Committee by a majority vote determines to operate an individual Township Municipal Court pursuant to the provisions of this article, § 5-48A. Effective January 30, 2012, Deerfield Township shall participate in the establishment of the CS Regional Municipal Court unless the Mayor and Township Committee determine by resolution that such participation shall not be in the best interest of Deerfield Township. During such times as Deerfield Township is a member of the CS Regional Municipal Court, its participation shall be controlled by the agreement establishing and detailing the operation of the CS Regional Municipal Court. In the event Deerfield Township shall withdraw from participation in the CS Regional Municipal Court, then the Municipal Court of the Township of Deerfield shall be operated as previously provided in § 5-48A herein.

[Amended 12-7-2011 by Ord. No. 2011-10]

B. Public Defender.

[Added 4-20-1994 by Ord. No. 1994-4; amended 7-1-1998 by Ord. No. 1998-6]

(1) Establishment of position; appointment; term. There is hereby created within the Township of Deerfield the position of Municipal Public Defender. Appointment to this position shall be made by the Township Committee of the Township of Deerfield with the consent of Council. The person so appointed shall serve for a term of one year and until his successor is appointed and qualified.

(2) Qualifications; duties. The person appointed to the position of Municipal Public Defender shall be an attorney at law of the State of New Jersey in good standing and need not reside in the Township of Deerfield. It shall be the duty of the Municipal Public Defender to represent, except in the case of temporary unavailability or conflict of interest, any defendant charged with an offense in the Municipal Court who is an indigent municipal defendant entitled to representation pursuant to the provisions of P.L. 1997, c. 256.[1] The Municipal Public Defender shall be responsible for handling all phases of the defense, including but not limited to discovery, pretrial and posttrial hearings, motions, removals to Federal District Court and other collateral functions reasonably related to the defense. However, posttrial hearings shall not include denovo appeals in the Superior Court, and the Municipal Public Defender shall not be required by this section to take such an appeal.

[1] Editor's Note: See N.J.S.A. 2B:24-1 et seq.

(3) Compensation. The Municipal Public Defender shall receive compensation as may be determined from time to time by the Township Committee of the Township of Deerfield. The Township Committee shall provide a professional services agreement which shall set forth the duties and compensation of the Municipal Public Defender, which compensation shall be in lieu of any and all other compensation to be paid to the Municipal Public Defender by the Township. The professional services agreement shall set forth any additional compensation to be paid for interlocutory appeals in the Superior Court.

(4) Representation of nonindigent defendants. The Municipal Public Defender may represent private clients in any municipality, including the Township of Deerfield, subject to the Rules of Court governing the conduct of lawyers.

(5) Payment of necessary services and facilities. The Township of Deerfield shall provide all necessary services and facilities of representation, including both expert and lay investigation and testimony, as well as other preparations needed for the proper representation of indigents represented by the Public Defender in the Township of Deerfield Municipal Court. The Township shall be responsible for payment for services pursuant to this section. However, the factors of need and real value to a defendant shall be weighed against the financial constraints of the municipality in determining the necessary services and facilities of representation. The final determination as to necessity for services required pursuant to this section shall be made by the Municipal Court Judge upon application of the Public Defender. In no event, however, shall the Township of Deerfield be responsible to pay for expert and lay investigation or testimony as required by this section prior to March 22, 1999.

(6) Cases eligible for representation by the Public Defender. The Municipal Court Judge shall determine those cases in which an applicant for representation is eligible to be represented by the Township of Deerfield Municipal Public Defender; however, the Municipal Public Defender shall represent an indigent defendant charged in Municipal Court with a crime as specified in N.J.S.A. 2B:12-18 or if, in the opinion of the Municipal Court there is a likelihood that the defendant, if convicted with any other offense, will be subject to imprisonment or other consequence of magnitude, the Municipal Public Defender shall represent such indigent defendant.

(7) Representation where office is vacant or Municipal Public Defender is temporarily unavailable. If there is a vacancy in the office of the Municipal Public Defender or if the Municipal Public Defender is temporarily unavailable or if there is a conflict of interest which precludes the duly appointed Municipal Public Defender from representing an indigent defendant, the Municipal Prosecutor may prosecute the offense if the Municipal Court appoints a qualified attorney to represent the indigent defendant. In such case, the attorney appointed to represent the indigent defendant shall be entitled to compensation at the same rate as the Municipal Public Defender is paid pursuant to the Township's Salary Ordinance[2] and the terms of the Public Defender's contract, and payment shall be made within 30 days after submission of a voucher certifying the services rendered by said attorney. Once appointed, the attorney so appointed shall carry out all duties of the Municipal Public Defender in connection with the case which is the subject of such appointment.

[2] Editor's Note: The Salary Ordinance is on file in the office of the Township Clerk.

(8) Application fee for representation.

(a) Any person applying for representation by a Municipal Public Defender or by a Court-approved attorney in the Township of Deerfield Municipal Court shall pay an application fee of not more than $200, provided that the fee to be paid shall only be in an amount necessary to pay the costs of the Municipal Public Defender's services. In accordance with guidelines promulgated by the New Jersey Supreme Court, the Municipal Court Judge may waive any required application fee, in whole or in part, only if the Court determines, in its discretion, upon a clear and convincing showing by the applicant, that the application fee represents an unreasonable burden on the person seeking representation. The Municipal Court may permit a person to pay the application fee over a specific period of time not to exceed four months.

(b) Funds collected pursuant to Subsection B(8)(a) of this section shall be deposited in a dedicated fund administered by the Chief Financial Officer of the Township of Deerfield. Such funds shall be used exclusively to meet the cost incurred in providing the services of a Municipal Public Defender, including, when required, expert and lay investigation and testimony.

(c) Beginning in 1999, if it is determined by the Division of Local Government Services during its annual review of the Township's municipal budget that the amount of money in the dedicated fund to be established pursuant to this section exceeds by more than 25% the amount which the municipality expended during the prior year to provide the services of a Municipal Public Defender, the amount in excess of the amount expended shall be forwarded to the Criminal Disposition and Review Collection Fund administered by the Victims of Crime Compensation Board.

(d) Whenever a person entitled to representation by a Municipal Public Defender pursuant to P.L. 1997, c. 256,[3] is under the age of 18 years, the eligibility for services shall be determined on the basis of the financial circumstances of the individual and the financial circumstances of the individual's parents or legal guardians. The municipality shall be entitled to recover the cost of legal services from the parents or legal guardians of the indigent applicant, and the Municipal Court shall have authority to require the parents or legal guardians to execute and deliver the written request or authorization required under applicable law in order to provide the Court with access to records of public or private sources, otherwise confidential, as may be of aid to it in evaluating eligibility.

[3] Editor's Note: See N.J.S.A. 2B:24-1 et seq.

(e) If a defendant who is represented by the Municipal Public Defender or Court-approved counsel appointed by the Municipal Court Judge pursuant to an application for representation has or reasonably expects to have means to meet some part, though not all, of the cost of the services rendered, the defendant shall be required to reimburse the Township of Deerfield, either by a single payment or installments in such amounts as he can reasonably be expected to pay, but no default or failure in making payment shall affect or reduce the rendering of services.

(9) Municipal lien. The Township of Deerfield shall have a lien on any property to which a defendant who is represented by the Municipal Public Defender or Court-appointed counsel shall have or acquire an interest for an amount equal to the reasonable value of the services rendered to a defendant pursuant to P.L. 1997, c. 256,[4] as calculated at the same rate as the office of the Public Defender bills clients at that time. To effectuate such a lien for the Township, the Municipal Attorney shall file a notice setting forth services rendered to the defendant and the reasonable value thereof with the Clerk of the Superior Court. Within 10 days of filing the notice, the Municipal Attorney shall send, by certified mail, or serve personally, a copy of the notice with a statement of the date of the filing to or upon the defendant at the defendant's last known address. If the Municipal Attorney shall fail to give such notice, the lien shall be void. The Municipal Attorney is hereby authorized to compromise and settle any claim for services performed pursuant to this section whenever the financial circumstances of the person receiving the services are such that, in the judgment of the Municipal Attorney, the best interest of the state will be served by compromise and settlement.

[4] Editor's Note: See N.J.S.A. 2B:24-1 et seq.

C. Discovery requests.

[Added 6-5-2002 by Ord. No. 2002-5]

(1) Except in the case of requests made by the Public Defender or Prosecutor, parties making requests for copies of written discovery in Municipal Court proceedings shall be charged the following fees for duplication of printed records to defray the costs of processing that discovery request.

[Amended 9-1-2004 by Ord. No. 2004-5; 11-3-2010 by Ord. No. 2010-4]

(a) For letter-sized pages or smaller: $0.05 per page.

(b) For legal-sized pages and larger: $0.07 per page.

(c) Any public agency whose actual costs to produce paper copies exceed the rates of $0.05 and $0.07 may charge the actual cost of duplication.

(d) Every public agency must provide electronic records free of charge (i.e., records sent via e-mail and fax).

(e) Every public agency must charge the actual cost to provide records in another medium (i.e., computer disc; CD-ROM; DVD).

(f) Formula for calculating actual costs: The total cost of paper purchased for one year (calendar or fiscal) plus the total cost of toner purchased (calendar or fiscal) divided by the annual copying volume.

(2) Except in the case of requests made by the Public Defender or Prosecutor, parties making requests for copies of audiotapes made by the New Jersey State Police incident to the proceedings in question shall be charged a fee of $15 per request to defray the costs of processing that discovery request.

(3) Except in the case of requests made by the Public Defender or Prosecutor, parties making requests for copies of videotapes made by the New Jersey State Police incident to the proceedings in question shall be charged a fee of $35 per request to defray the costs of processing that discovery request.

(4) All such discovery fees shall be paid by the requesting party directly to the Municipal Prosecutor contemporaneously with the making of the discovery request. The Municipal Court Clerk shall forward the discovery request and accompanying fee to the Municipal Prosecutor for processing.