Mayor Hawkins calls NJ State Supreme Court attempt to control hiring of municipal court administrators “an unprecedented power grab” and leads the NJ League of Municipalities to oppose the court measure.

The NJ League of Municipalities today passed a resolution calling for a change in a recent NJ Supreme Court rule governing the hiring process for municipal court administrators in New Jersey. The resolution was sponsored by Eldridge Hawkins, Jr., Mayor of Orange;  Daniel J. Reiman, Mayor of Carteret and Wayne Smith, Mayor of Irvington.

The resolution calls the Court’s move unconstitutional, calls for the Court to reconsider and amend its action; and calls upon the New Jersey State Legislature to either clarify that the appointments of municipal court administrators are within the sole discretion of the municipality, or direct the Judiciary to fund the Municipality Courts through their budget.

Background
On September 13, 2011, the New Jersey State Supreme Court adopted amendments to the Rules of Court, specifically R.1:34-3, which deals with the hiring process for municipal court administrators. It altered the process by giving the local State Assignment Judge the discretion to review resumes of the candidates for municipal court administrator.

Under the new rule, a panel consisting of the municipal court judge, the municipal division manager for the State courts, a municipal court administrator from another town in the area, and two (2) representatives from the municipality who are not members of the police department would interview the candidates. Then, the Assignment Judge could choose to interview the final candidate and would have the authority to approve or reject the selected candidate.

Statement by Orange Mayor Eldridge Hawkins, Jr.
“In the past, appointments of municipal court administrators have always been within the sole discretion of the municipal governing body. The new rule attempts to over-ride the role of local Mayors, local governing bodies, local voters and taxpayers. It shows a complete disregard for civil service rules and regulations and violates the concept of separation of powers. Neither the U.S. Constitution nor the New Jersey Constitution gives the judicial branch of government the power to intervene in the municipal hiring process. The Court action is an unprecedented power grab. The salaries of local court administrators and other municipal court costs are paid for by local taxpayers. If the State judiciary wants to control these appointments, let them also pay for the cost of administering our local courts.”

Statement by Bill Dressel, Executive Director, NJ League of Municipalities
"This is a clear usurpation of the traditional executive authority of the mayor. We encourage the legislature to act quickly to clarify this situation."