Bill Text: NJ S194 | 2024-2025 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Clarifies regional municipal court jurisdiction over State Police and other matters originating outside of participating municipalities.
Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill
Status: (Introduced) 2024-01-09 - Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Judiciary Committee [S194 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2024-S194-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
221st LEGISLATURE
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2024 SESSION
Sponsored by:
Senator VINCENT J. POLISTINA
District 2 (Atlantic)
Senator JOSEPH A. LAGANA
District 38 (Bergen and Passaic)
SYNOPSIS
Clarifies regional municipal court jurisdiction over State Police and other matters originating outside of participating municipalities.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel.
An Act concerning jurisdiction of regional municipal courts, amending various parts of statutory law, and supplementing P.L.2021, c.191.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. N.J.S.2B:12-2 is amended to read as follows:
2B:12-2. Name of court. The name of a municipal court of a single municipality shall be the "Municipal Court of (insert name of municipality)." The name of a joint municipal court shall be specified in the ordinances establishing the court. The name of a central municipal court shall be the "Central Municipal Court of the County of (insert name of county)" and shall be specified in the ordinance establishing the court. The name of a regional municipal court established pursuant to the pilot program set forth in section 1 of P.L.2021, c.191 (C.2B:12-34) shall be the "Regional Municipal Court of the County of (insert name of county)" and shall be specified in the ordinance establishing the court.
(cf: P.L.1996, c.95, s.2)
2. N.J.S.2B:12-16 is amended to read as follows:
2B:12-16. Territorial jurisdiction. a. A municipal court of a single municipality shall have jurisdiction over cases arising within the territory of that municipality except as provided in section 10 of P.L.1997, c.357 (C.27:25-5.15). A joint municipal court shall have jurisdiction over cases arising within the territory of any of the municipalities which the court serves. The territory of a municipality includes any premises or property located partly in and partly outside of the municipality. A central municipal court shall have jurisdiction over cases arising within the territorial boundaries of the county. A regional municipal court established pursuant to the pilot program set forth in section 1 of P.L.2021, c.191 (C.2B:12-34) shall have territorial jurisdiction over cases arising within the territory of the municipalities participating in the regional municipal court pilot program.
b. A municipal court judge, serving as an acting judge in any other municipal court in the county, may also hear matters arising out of that other court, while sitting in the court where the acting judge holds a regular appointment.
(cf: P.L.1997, c.357, s.13)
3. Section 2 of P.L.2021, c.191 (C.2B:12-35) is amended to read as follows:
2. A regional municipal court shall have territorial and subject matter jurisdiction over all municipal court matters falling within the territorial jurisdiction of the [municipal courts] municipalities in the pilot program. [All complaints issued in the county by the State Police or any Statewide law enforcement agency, or by any county law enforcement agency, any county code enforcement entity, or by any other non-municipal law enforcement agency, shall also fall within the jurisdiction of the regional municipal court, consistent with the provisions of N.J.S.2B:12-17 and N.J.S.2B:12-18.] A county may, by ordinance, confer the regional municipal court with subject matter jurisdiction over complaints issued by such county law enforcement agencies or county code enforcement entities as may be set forth by ordinance.
(cf: P.L.2021, c.191, s.2)
4. (New section) All complaints issued in the county on or after the effective date of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill) by the State Police or any Statewide law enforcement agency, or by any county law enforcement agency, any county code enforcement entity, or by any other non-municipal law enforcement agency, shall be heard in the municipal court of the municipality from which the complaint originates, consistent with the provisions of N.J.S.2B:12-17 and N.J.S.2B:12-18. A regional municipal court established prior to the enactment of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill) shall retain jurisdiction over all matters pending as of the effective date of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill). The assignment judge of the vicinage shall have the authority to transfer matters between the municipal courts of the county consistent with the provisions of this section.
5. This act shall take effect on the first day of the seventh month following enactment, except that the Administrative Director of the Courts may take any anticipatory action in advance as the director deems necessary for the timely implementation of this act.
STATEMENT
This bill clarifies the jurisdiction of regional municipal courts established under the pilot program set forth in P.L.2021, c.191 (N.J.S.A.2B:12-34, et seq.). Under the pilot program, a county in cooperation with five or more municipalities can create a regional municipal court operated by the county to consolidate the individual courts of participating municipalities.
Currently, in addition to having jurisdiction over cases originating from the participating municipalities, the pilot program also required regional municipal courts to handle cases filed by the State Police or any Statewide law enforcement agency, or by any county law enforcement agency, any county code enforcement entity, or by any other non-municipal law enforcement agency, on a countywide basis, even if those matters did not originate from a participating municipality.
The bill clarifies that regional municipal courts will no longer be required to hear State Police or county police cases originating from outside the participating municipalities; but counties may still, by ordinance, confer upon the regional municipal court with certain countywide jurisdiction if it chooses to do so. The regional municipal court will retain jurisdiction over currently pending countywide cases, but new cases originating from non-participating municipalities brought after the effective date of the bill will be filed in their municipality of origin.
In the view of the sponsor, requiring regional municipal courts to handle these types of countywide cases has resulted in a higher than anticipated caseload and higher than anticipated expenses where such courts have been established. At the same time, in non-participating municipalities where a large volume of cases involve the State Police or county police, that municipality is required by law, N.J.S.A.2B:12-1, to continue to operate a municipal court even if its caseload has been significantly reduced. In the view of the sponsor, this unintended result runs counter to the cost-savings goal of municipal court consolidation.
