There shall be a Municipal Court in the Borough
pursuant to the provisions of N.J.S.A. 2B:12-1 et seq., to be known
as the "Municipal Court of the Borough of Alpha." The Municipal Court
shall have a seat held in the Borough Hall or such other place as
the Council designates and shall exercise all the functions, powers,
duties and jurisdiction conferred by law upon municipal courts.
A.
There shall be a Municipal Judge, who shall be appointed
by the Mayor with the advice and consent of the Council for a term
of three years commencing on January 1. He shall possess the qualifications
set forth in N.J.S.A. 2B:12-4 et seq.
B.
The Borough Council may by ordinance or resolution
provide for a clerk (Municipal Court Administrator) and any necessary
clerical and other assistants for the Municipal Court.
C.
Compensation. The compensation of the Municipal Judge
shall be established by ordinance and shall be in lieu of any and
all fees. The compensation of the clerk (Municipal Court Administrator),
clerical and other assistants may be established by ordinance or resolution.
A.
The office of Municipal Public Defender is hereby
created.
B.
The Municipal Public Defender appointed hereunder
shall be an attorney at law of the State of New Jersey in good standing,
and shall serve for the term of one year from his or her date of appointment;
however, he or she may continue to serve in office pending reappointment
or appointment of a successor.
C.
The Municipal Public Defender may be appointed to
the position of Municipal Public Defender in the Borough of Alpha
as well as any other municipal court within the State of New Jersey.
D.
The Municipal Public Defender shall not be required
to reside within the Borough of Alpha.
E.
The appointment as Municipal Public Defender of the
Borough of Alpha shall not disqualify said attorney from representing
private clients in the Borough of Alpha subject to the Rules of Court
Governing the Conduct of Lawyers, Judges and Court Personnel of the
State of New Jersey.
F.
Duties.
(1)
The duty of the Municipal Public Defender shall be
to represent, except in the case of temporary unavailability or conflict
of interest, any defendant charged with an offense in the Municipal
Court of the Borough of Alpha who is an indigent municipal defendant
entitled to representation pursuant to the laws of this state.
(2)
All necessary services and facilities of representation,
including both expert and lay investigation and testimony as well
as other preparations, shall be provided to the Municipal Public Defender
in every case when required. Any such cost of investigation shall
be the responsibility of the Borough of Alpha. The factors of need
and real value to the defendant of such experts and investigative
services may be weighed against the financial constraints of the Borough
of Alpha in determining the necessary services and facilities of representation.
The final determination as to the necessity of said services required
shall be made by the Judge of the Municipal Court of the Borough of
Alpha.
(3)
The Municipal Public Defender shall be responsible
for handling all phases of the defense, including but not limited
to discovery, pre-trial and post-trial hearings, motions, removals
to Federal District Court and other collateral functions reasonably
related to the defense. 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 of any other
offense, will be subject to imprisonment or other consequence of magnitude.
G.
Eligibility for services of the Municipal Public Defender.
(1)
Eligibility for services of the Municipal Public Defender
shall be determined by the Judge of the Municipal Court of the Borough
of Alpha on the basis of the need of the defendant, except as provided
herein. Need shall be measured according to Section 14 of P.L. 1967,
Chapter 43, N.J.S.A. 2A:158A-14, and the guidelines promulgated by
the New Jersey Supreme Court, from time to time.
(2)
In the event that a determination of eligibility cannot
be made before the time when the first services are to be rendered,
or if an initial determination is found to be erroneous, the Municipal
Judge shall refer the defendant to the Municipal Public Defender provisionally,
and if subsequently it is determined that the defendant is ineligible,
the Municipal Judge shall inform the defendant and the defendant shall
be obliged to engage his own private counsel and to reimburse the
municipality for the cost of services rendered to that time by the
Municipal Public Defender.
(3)
The Municipal Judge shall make an investigation of
the financial status of each defendant seeking representation by the
Municipal Public Defender and shall have the authority to require
the defendant to execute and deliver a written requests or authorizations
required under applicable law to provide the Court with access to
records of public or private sources, otherwise confidential, as may
be of aid in evaluating eligibility. The Municipal Judge of the Borough
of Alpha is authorized to obtain information from any public record
office of this state or of any subdivision or agency thereof on request
and without payment of fees ordinarily required by law for the purposes
set forth in this subsection.
(4)
Wherever a person entitled to representation by the
Municipal Public Defender pursuant to this section 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.
(5)
The Borough of Alpha shall be entitled to recover
the costs of legal services from the parents or legal guardians of
a defendant under 18 years of age either by single payments or in
installments for any services rendered by the Municipal Public Defender
pursuant to this section.
(6)
The Judge of the Municipal Court of the Borough of
Alpha shall have authority to require parents or legal guardians to
execute and deliver the written requests or authorizations required
under this section 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.
(7)
If the defendant 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 municipality,
either by a single payment or in installments as determined by the
Judge of the Municipal Court, in such amounts as can reasonably be
expected to be paid, but no default or failure in making payment shall
affect or reduce the rendering of services.
(8)
The Borough of Alpha shall have a lien on any property
to which the defendant shall have or acquire an interest for an amount
equal to the reasonable value of the services rendered to the defendant
as is paid to the office of the Municipal Public Defender as provided
for herein.
(9)
To effectuate such a lien for the Borough of Alpha,
the Municipal Attorney for the Borough of Alpha shall file a notice
setting forth services rendered to the defendant and the reasonable
value thereof with the Clerk of the Superior Court.
(10)
The filing of such a notice with the Clerk of the
Superior Court shall constitute a lien on the property of the defendant
for a period of 10 years from the date of filing, unless discharged
sooner, and, except for such time limitations, shall have the force
and effect of a judgment. Within 10 days of the filing of said notice,
the Municipal Attorney shall send by certified mail, or serve personally,
a copy of the notice, with a statement with date of filing, to or
upon the defendant at the defendant's last known address.
H.
Fees. Any person applying for representation by the
Municipal Public Defender or Court-approved counsel shall be required
to pay an application fee of $200. Notwithstanding the same, the Judge
of the Municipal Court of the Borough of Alpha may waive the required
application fee in whole or in part, only if said Judge determines,
in his 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 Judge may permit
a person to pay the application fee over a specified period of time
not to exceed four months from the date of application. The Municipal
Public Defender shall receive compensation in accordance with the
salary ordinances adopted from time to time by the Borough of Alpha.
I.
INDIGENT DEFENDANT
MUNICIPAL PUBLIC DEFENDER
Definitions. The terms used herein shall have the
following meanings:
A person who is entitled to be represented by a Municipal
Public Defender who does not have the present financial ability to
secure competent legal representation.
A person appointed to represent indigent defendants in proceedings
over which the Municipal Court of the Borough of Alpha has jurisdiction.
[1]
Editor's Note: This section was originally
adopted 2-10-1998 by Ord. No. 98-3 and was moved to this chapter at
the request of the Borough.
