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Gusciora bills to improve municipal court system advance

GUSCIORA BILLS TO IMPROVE MUNICIPAL COURT SYSTEM ADVANCE

By Michael DeLoreto 

(TRENTON) – The Assembly Judiciary Committee released three bills sponsored by Assemblyman Reed Gusciora (D-Princeton), which together will greatly improve the efficiency of municipal courts by helping municipal prosecutors more effectively carry out their assignments.  

“Municipal court deals with much more then just traffic violations,” explained Gusciora during the Judiciary Committee hearing. “If we are serious about getting tough on crime, particularly in New Jersey with gangs, we need to really pay more attention to the prosecutorial efforts in municipal court.”

 The three pieces of legislation, A.807, A.815 and A.816, help make municipal court a better experience for all involved.  Assembly Bill 807 provides municipal courts extended alternatives for someone who defaults their payments of fines, particularly state assessed penalties which cannot currently be eliminated unless they are paid. 

“There are countless examples of individuals picked up on warrants for less than 20 dollars of default state assessed penalties,” Gusciora noted.  “It costs infinitely more to house them in a county facility to await a hearing, in comparison to what they owe.”

Assembly Bills 815 and 816 specifically aim to help municipal prosecutors more effectively do their job.  A.815 mandates the State develop a computer system to assist municipal prosecutors in accessing driver history abstracts, criminal histories, and other background documents.  A.816 requires the Attorney General develop mandatory guidelines for municipal prosecutors, including recommended case loads and support staff. 

            “In many towns, a prosecutor can deal with multiple police forces and have case loads of 200 individuals per session” said Gusciora. “Under these bills, the Attorney General would be able to revise the guidelines to help prosecutors in municipal court better manage the demands of the office, and give them the resources needed to properly manage the justice system.”

            Municipal courts are considered to be the face of the justice system.  Roughly 90% of the people that appear in New Jersey courts appear in municipal court.  Many larger municipalities have court on a daily basis, including holidays and weekends, with multiple sessions per day.  These courts not only deal with traffic and local ordinance violations, but also bail hearings, arraignments, and other violations of the State criminal code.  

       “When municipal courts have the resources they need, everyone involved in the process sees the benefits,” concluded Gusciora.  Being a municipal prosecutor is no cake walk because crime doesn’t take a vacation.”

            All three initiatives are now awaiting action by the full State Assembly.