How we help
Municipal court is the court most New Jersey residents will ever actually stand in, and it is routinely underestimated. The charges are called minor, but a disorderly persons offence carries up to six months in jail and a fine of up to $1,000, and the record does not disappear on its own.
Edward H. Kerwin’s practice includes municipal court matters, public defense, civil litigation, and appellate work.
He has served as Public Defender for the Borough of Avon-by-the-Sea since 2012.
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 offences — simple assault and bad cheques 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 offence carries up to 30 days in jail and a fine of up to $500; a disorderly persons offence, 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 offences and municipal ordinance charges
- Public defense
- Related appeals and civil litigation
Driving while intoxicated
A DWI charge is a motor vehicle offence 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 offence.
DWI defense in New JerseyAppearing for the defence, 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.