NEW JERSEY – Senator Vince Polistina’s (R-02) bill to clarify regional municipal court jurisdiction over State Police and other matters originating outside of participating municipalities was passed Monday by the New Jersey Senate.
“The goal of the pilot program is to make the courts more efficient and cut down on governmental waste,” Polistina said. “However, requiring the central municipal court to handle these cases without the corresponding revenue has become unnecessarily burdensome and costly.”
The bill, S4040, 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, Polistina said.
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, Polistina said.
