Municipal Court

What municipal court hears

New Jersey’s municipal courts are courts of limited jurisdiction, and they resolve close to six million cases a year. Their jurisdiction covers:

• Motor vehicle and traffic violations, including parking
• Disorderly persons and petty disorderly persons offenses — simple assault and bad checks among them
• Municipal ordinance violations, from building code matters to noise complaints
• Fish and game and boating law violations
• Penalty collection proceedings and other matters a statute sends there

A municipal court hears only cases arising inside its own municipality. A petty disorderly persons offense carries up to 30 days in jail and a fine of up to $500; a disorderly persons offense, up to six months and $1,000.

Municipal court representation

• Driving while intoxicated (DWI) and breath test refusal charges
• Traffic violations, from speeding to driving while suspended
• Disorderly persons offenses and municipal ordinance charges
• Public defense
• Related appeals and civil litigation

Driving while intoxicated

A DWI charge is a motor vehicle offense in New Jersey rather than a crime, which is why it is heard here and not before a jury. The penalties have been rewritten three times since 2019, and which version applies turns on the date of the offense.

Appearing for the defense, and having sat on the other side

Edward H. Kerwin has served as Public Defender for the Borough of Avon-by-the-Sea since 2012, which means he has spent more than a decade in municipal court on the appointed side of the room. That is the same courtroom, the same prosecutors and the same procedure a private client faces.