[Adopted 5-12-1986 by Ord. No. 0-86-7]
There shall be a Division of Law, the head of
which shall be the Township Attorney. In accordance with the requirements
of N.J.S.A. 40A:9-139, he shall be appointed by the Township Committee
for a one-year term and receive such compensation as shall be provided
by ordinance.
The Township Attorney shall be the legal advisor
to the Township Committee and to all departments except those handled
by the Township Prosecutor, the Board of Adjustment Attorney and the
Planning Board Attorney. The Township Attorney shall prosecute or
defend actions and proceedings by and against the Township and every
department thereof. In furtherance of these general powers, and without
limitation thereto, he shall:
A.
Advise the Township Committee as to the form and sufficiency
of all ordinances and resolutions prior to their passage.
B.
Review and approve all contracts, deeds, documents
and instruments prior to the execution thereof by or on behalf of
the Township.
C.
Conduct or defend appeals from orders, decisions or
judgments affecting any interest of the Township as he may, in his
discretion, determine to be necessary or desirable or as directed
by the Township Committee.
D.
Subject to the approval of the Township Committee,
have power to enter into any agreement, compromise or settlement of
any litigation in which the Township is involved.
E.
Render opinions in writing upon any question of law
submitted to him by the Township Committee with respect to their official
powers and duties or the powers and duties of any officer of the Township.
F.
Maintain a record of all actions, suits, proceedings
and matters which relate to the Township's interest and report thereon
from time to time as the Township Committee may require.
The Township Prosecutor may be appointed by
the Township Committee. He shall serve at the pleasure of the Township
Committee and receive such compensation as may be agreed to from time
to time. The Township Prosecutor shall have the same qualifications
required of the Township Attorney, and he shall have the power and
duty of conducting prosecutions for crimes and offenses cognizable
by the Municipal Court of the Township of Plainsboro, including violations
of ordinances of the Township, other than the Zoning Ordinance,[1] complaints of any department under state law and for violations
of rules and regulations duly promulgated by any department, except
such crimes and offenses as may be the duty of the County Prosecutor
to prosecute.
Whenever the Township Attorney deems that the
interest of the Township so requires, he may, with the approval of
the Township Committee, appoint special counsel to assist him in the
preparation, trial or argument of such legal matters or proceedings
as he may determine. If the Township Attorney should be disqualified
with respect to any matter, the Township Committee may appoint special
counsel to represent the Township for and with respect to such matter.
All papers, documents, memoranda, reports and
all other materials relating to the administration of the Division
of Law shall be and remain the property of the Township. Upon the
termination of his service with the Township, the Township Attorney
shall forthwith surrender to his successor all such property, together
with written consent to substitution of his successor in all legal
actions and proceedings then pending to which the Township is a party,
as the Township Committee may require.
[Added 4-12-1995 by Ord. No. 0-95-09; amended 12-29-1997 by Ord. No. 0-97-21]
A.
There shall be a Municipal Public Defender who is
an attorney-at-law of the State of New Jersey in good standing and
shall serve for a term of one year from the date of his appointment,
and may continue to serve in office pending reappointment or appointment
of a successor.
B.
It shall be the duty of the Municipal Public Defender
to represent, except in the case of temporary unavailability or conflict
of interest, any defendant charged with an offense in municipal court
who is an indigent municipal defendant entitled to representation
pursuant to this act. All necessary services and facilities of representation
pursuant to this act, including both expert and law investigation
and testimony as well as other preparations, shall be provided in
every case. The municipality shall be responsible for payment for
services pursuant to this section. The factors of need and real value
to a defendant may be weighed against the financial constraints of
the municipality in determining the necessary services and facilities
of representation. The final determination as to necessity for services
required shall be made by the Court.
C.
The Municipal Public Defender shall be responsible
for handling all phases of the defense, including but not limited
to discovery, pretrial and post-trial hearings; motions, removals
to Federal District Court and other collateral reasonably related
to the defense. The municipality shall not be required to pay for
the expert and lay investigation or testimony until March 22, 1999.
D.
Representation of indigent defendants.
(1)
The Municipal Public Defender shall represent an indigent
defendant charged in Municipal Court with a crime as specified in
N.J.S.A. 2B:12-18 or, if in the opinion of the Municipal Court, there
is a likelihood that the defendant, if convicted of any other offense,
will be subject to imprisonment or other consequence of magnitude,
the Municipal Public Defender shall represent an indigent defendant.
(2)
If there is a vacancy in the office of Municipal Public
Defender, if the Municipal Public Defender is temporarily unavailable
or if a finding of conflict of interest precludes the Municipal Public
Defender from representing an indigent defendant, the Municipal Prosecutor
may prosecute the offense if the Municipal Court appoints a qualified
attorney to represent the indigent defendant. Unless rates are otherwise
established by the municipality the attorney shall be entitled to
compensation at the same rate as attorneys hired by the Office of
the Public Defender in conflict cases, with payment to be made within
30 days. Once appointed, the attorney shall carry out all duties of
the Municipal Public Defender in connection with the case that is
the subject of the appointment.
E.
Eligibility for services.
(1)
Eligibility for services of the Municipal Public Defender
shall be determined by the Municipal Court on the basis of the need
of the defendant. Need shall be measured according to Section 14 of
P.L. 1967, c.43 (N.J.S.A. 2A:158A-14) and guidelines promulgated by
the New Jersey Supreme Court.
(2)
In the event that a determination of eligibility cannot
be made before the time when the first services are to be rendered,
or if an initial determination is found to be erroneous, the Municipal
Court shall refer the defendant to the Municipal Public Defender provisionally,
and if subsequently it is determined that the defendant is ineligible,
the Municipal Court shall inform the defendant, and the defendant
shall be obliged to engage his own counsel and to reimburse for the
cost of the services rendered to that time.
(3)
The Municipal Court shall make an investigation of
the financial status of each defendant seeking representation pursuant
to this act and shall have the authority to require a defendant to
execute and deliver written requests or authorizations required under
applicable law to provide the Court with access to records of public
or private sources, otherwise confidential, as may be of aid in evaluating
eligibility. The Court is authorized to obtain information from any
public record office of the state or of any subdivision or agency
thereof on request and without payment of the fees ordinarily required
by law.
(4)
Whenever a person entitled to representation by a
Municipal Public Defender pursuant to this act is under the age of
18 years, the eligibility for services shall be determined on the
basis of financial circumstance of the individual and the financial
circumstances of the individual's parents or legal guardians. The
municipality shall be entitled to recover the cost of legal services
from the parent or legal guardians as provided in this section, in
Section 16 of the Act, and the Municipal Court shall have authority
to require parents or legal guardians to execute and deliver the written
requests or authorization required under applicable law in order to
provide the Court with access to records of public or private sources,
otherwise confidential, as may be of aid to it in evaluating eligibility.
(5)
If the defendant has or reasonably expects to have
means to meet some part, though not all, of the cost of the services
rendered, the defendant shall be required to reimburse the municipality,
either by a single payment or in installments in such amounts as he
can reasonably be expected to pay; but no default or failure in making
payment shall affect or reduce the rendering of services.
(6)
A municipality shall have a lien on any property to
which the defendant shall have or acquire an interest for an amount
equal to the reasonable value of the services rendered to a defendant
pursuant to this act as calculated at the same rate as the Office
of the Public Defender bills clients at that time.
(7)
To effectuate such a lien for the municipality, the
municipal attorney shall file a notice setting other services rendered
to the defendant and the reasonable value thereof with the Clerk of
the superior Court. The filing of the notice with the Clerk of the
superior Court shall constitute a lien on property for a period of
10 years from the date of filing, unless discharged sooner, and, except
for such time limitations, shall have the force and effect of a judgment.
Within 10 days of the filing of the notice, the Municipal Attorney
shall send, by certified mail, or serve personally, a copy of the
notice with a statement of the date of the filing to or upon the defendant
at the defendant's last known address. If the Municipal Attorney shall
fail to give notice, the lien is void.
F.
A municipality shall require by ordinance person applying
for representation by a Municipal Public Defender or court-approved
counsel to pay an application fee of not more than $200, but only
in an amount necessary to pay the costs of Municipal Public Defender
services. In accordance with guidelines promulgated by the Supreme
Court, the Municipal Court may waive any required application fee,
in whole or in part, only if the Court determines, in its discretion,
upon a clear and convincing showing by the applicant, that the application
fee represents an unreasonable burden on the person seeking representation.
The Municipal Court may permit a person to pay the application fee
over a specific period of time not to exceed four months.
