Hillsborough, Branchburg to share municipal court
BRANCHBURG - The township and neighboring Hillsborough will be sharing a municipal court starting Oct. 1.
The Branchburg Township Committee approved unanimously on Monday a five-year agreement, ending Dec. 31, 2027, to share municipal court services, which processes traffic tickets, disorderly person complaint, drunken driver arrests and violations of municipal ordinances.
Under the agreement, Branchburg will pay Hillsborough $54,000 for the three months at the end of the year. In 2023, Branchburg will pay Hillsborough Hillsborough $200,000 for the year, followed by 2% annual increases for the following four years.
In addition to the $200,000 Branchburg will pay $15,000 for its share of the municipal court judge's salary, Francesco Taddeo now serves as judget.
In its 2022-23 budget, Branchburg appropriated $200,000 for the municipal court, not including the salaries for prosecutor and public defender.
In 2021, Branchburg received $161,768 in municipal court revenue. A municipality keeps only a percentage of what is collected in municipal court with the rest going to the state.
For the nine months from July 2021 through May 2022, Branchburg officers wrote 3,197 tickets, including 35 drunken driving violations and 108 parking tickets, state records say.
About 300 of New Jersey's 564 municipalities have shared municipal courts. Hillsborough and Montgomery already share municipal courts as do Somerville and Bridgewater. Bedminster, Bernards, Bernardsville and Peapack-Gladstone also are a municipal court.
Under the agreement, Hillsborough agrees to provide all the services and facilities necessary for the operation of a municipal court, including a courtroom, judge's chambers, office space, equipment, supplies, file storage and employees.
Hillsborough will also be responsible for the appointment and salary of the judge, court administrators, prosecutors, public defenders and security personnel.
Revenue collected by the shared court will be deposited in separate accounts for each municipality. Branchburg's records will be maintained separately from Hillsborough's records
Hillsborough's municipal courtroom and offices are located at the township's municipal complex at 379 South Branch Road
This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: Branchburg, Hillsborough shared municipal court services coming Oct. 1
