By NANETTE LoBIONDO GALLOWAY
VENTNOR – The city could be reimbursed for any cost overages experienced after it stopped holding court at City Hall in favor of joining the Atlantic County Central Municipal Court, which was designed as a collaboration to offer savings for taxpayers over the cost of running their own municipal courts.
The Atlantic County Board of County Commissioners held an emergency meeting Wednesday, July 10 as a formality to accept a $1 million LEAP (Local Efficiency Achievement Program) grant, which will be used to reimburse member towns for court costs associated with hearing thousands of State Police cases originating in non-member towns.
Superior Court Assignment Judge Michael J. Blee made a rare appearance before the legislative board to explain that the grant would be used to reimburse towns for the cost of hearing State Police cases originating in non-participating towns, which has created a “disincentive” for other towns to join the system.
Atlantic County officials are hoping the grant will stem the tide of defections from the central court system and encourage other towns to join, further reducing costs for all participants.
Ventnor was a founding member of the Central Municipal Court, while Margate and Longport formed their own joint court. However, the city notified the county last June of its intention to leave in favor of forming a joint court with Brigantine.
Officials said although not as “robust” as initially promised, the central court still saves Ventnor taxpayers money over operating its own court, but residents were not being served due to a backlog of cases, which could be caused by the county court having to hear thousands of State Police cases.
At the behest of NJ Sen. Vince Polistina who introduced legislation last year to relieve the central court from hearing state or county cases originating from outside participating municipalities, Gov. Phil Murphy Jan. 16 signed Senate Bill 4040.
Last November, in anticipation of the bill’s approval, Blee temporarily halted Ventnor’s defection, citing financial stability, staffing and social services offered at the county court as factors in deciding that the court system should maintain the “status quo” until the legislation was finalized.
The first of its kind in the state, the Atlantic County Central Municipal Court became operational at the historic Atlantic County Courthouse in Mays Landing in January 2022 with 10 of the county’s 21 municipalities participating.
Relieving the court of hearing thousands of non-member cases is expected to offer additional savings, and the county is hoping other towns will come on board.
The original agreement that created the central court called for State Police complaints to be heard in the central court regardless of where the cases originated. Atlantic County Executive Dennis Levinson called it a “glaring anomaly” that in 2022 resulted in an additional 9,884 filings from non-participating towns that burdened the collaboration.
“We are inundated with State Police cases,” Levinson said in December. “We’re still saving towns money, but not as much as we could.”
Passing the legislation would bring about “fairness,” he said.
The legislation clarifies that the county court will only hear new cases falling within the territorial jurisdiction of the municipalities participating in the court system. State Police cases will now be filed in the court of the municipality where the complaint originates.
Blee, who attended the special emergency meeting virtually July 10, clarified that the legislation does not take effect until Aug. 1, and that all State Police summonses filed by July 31 will still be processed by the Central Municipal Court, which could take up to a year to complete. The case load will drop significantly after that.
“This money will be targeted to reimburse those towns who participated in a fair manner,” Blee said, noting a stakeholder meeting would be held to be open and transparent about the disbursements.
In a press release issued following the meeting, Levinson said the grant funds would offset the costs incurred from the time of the court’s inception in January 2022 through July 2024.
“The legislation and the substantial state grant will greatly assist the court and the citizens it serves,” stated county Board of Commissioners Chairwoman Maureen Kern said. “The 10 towns that currently participate in the Central Municipal Court will see even more savings.”
The Central Municipal Court of Atlantic County is the first of its kind in New Jersey. Levinson invited other towns to join.
“It’s not too late to realize savings for your taxpayers by joining the consolidated court. Home rule’s duplication of services is unnecessary and costly,” he said.
Landgraf said Ventnor held a meeting with Blee and court staff a few weeks ago about the backlog of cases and gave the county court until the end of the year to see if things improve. The court has addressed some of the city’s issues, he said, but “it’s still a work in progress.”
“If we can still save money and the issues we had with processing cases are resolved and they can give our residents the services they deserve, we will stay,” Landgraf said.
In the meantime, Ventnor is still pursuing an agreement with Brigantine, he said.
The county executive admitted to some growing pains but feels the court is making headway.
“We’ve had some challenges and we’ve addressed them. In addition to the savings towns enjoyed by joining the court, we’ve been able to reduce the cost of security and, through legislation, reduce the case load,” he said. “With this state grant, we will be able to help our towns save more money for their taxpayers at a time when costs at the supermarket and elsewhere continue to rise. We are encouraged about the future of this court.”
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