New Jersey Municipal Court

 

1. What is Municipal Court?

 

A municipal court is a local court that serves one of the 566 municipalities across New Jersey.  Of course, a municipality is a city or town; and a municipal court is the judicial branch that exercises limited jurisdiction within it. The municipal court in a town or city has a court room or many courtrooms where there is a judge who hears cases and an office to handle the voluminous paperwork. 

 

2. What type of cases do Municipal Courts hear?

 

Municipal courts hear only certain kinds of cases. Municipal courts have limited jurisdiction, which means that they only handle certain kinds of court cases. Municipal courts handle parking; traffic tickets; Driving While Intoxicated: some minor criminal cases called Disorderly Persons Offenses or Petty Disorderly Persons (aka non felonies or Misdemeanors in other States); and Township/City Ordinance Violation including but not limited to Housing Violations, Truancy and noise violations. 

 

3. Are there juries in Municipal Court?

  

No. Individuals who violate an ordinance, traffic offense, or violate the NJ Criminal 2C Code will not have a jury trial. There are no juries in municipal court. Municipal court cases are decided by judges, not juries.

 

4. Besides the judge whoelse will I have contact with at the Municipal Court?

 

Other than the judge you will have contact with the court administrator and deputy court administrators who run the office and make sure everyone has the right paperwork and they will send you notice of your courtdate by mail. In addition, when you first enter the municipal court, after any police metal detector check, ask whether you may need to check-in with the court administrator or his/her staff at the Violations Department Window.

 

Moreover, the municipal court also has a prosecutor; who is a New Jersey lawyer who tells the judge about the facts of the case that show which laws or ordinances each defendant has violated. At this point the defendant can plead guilty or plead not guilty to the charges against him.