There shall be a Department of Law, the head of which shall
be the Borough Attorney. He shall be appointed by the Mayor with the
advice and consent of the Council, but need not serve full time and
shall be paid such compensation, as shall be approved by the Council,
for all services.
It shall be the duty of the Borough Attorney to attend all meetings
of the Council. He shall:
A.
Advise the Council, the Mayor and the officers of the Borough in
all matters which may be submitted to him for his opinion.
B.
Draw such ordinances and resolutions as may be required of him by
the Council.
C.
Prepare all legal instruments relating to the business of the Borough.
D.
Prosecute and defend, as attorney and counsel for the Borough, all
actions which may be brought by or against it, or any Borough officer,
or in which the Borough is interested in any state or federal court,
including hearings and litigation before any board, body, commission
or administrative agency, and including tax appeals before the County
Board of Taxation or the State Division of Tax Appeals and the courts.
E.
Not prosecute and/or defend the Borough with respect to any litigation
existing at the time of the adoption of this chapter.
F.
Prepare all bonding ordinances as may be required and such other
duties as may from time to time be assigned to him by the Mayor or
the Council.
A Special Attorney may be appointed by the Council as may be
required from time to time.
[Added 1-19-1998 by Ord. No. 1998-543]
A.
Within the Department of Law, there shall be a legal assistant to
serve as Municipal Public Defender in accordance with P.L. 1997, c.
256.[1] The Public Defender shall be licensed to practice law
in New Jersey and shall serve for a term of one year from the date
of his or her appointment and until the appointment and qualification
of his or her successor.
(1)
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 the Municipal Court who is
an indigent municipal defendant entitled to representation pursuant
to P.L. 1997, c. 256.
(2)
The Public Defender shall be responsible for handling all phases
of the defense, including but not limited to discovery, pre-trial
and post-trial hearings, motions, removals to courts of other jurisdiction
and other collateral functions reasonably related to the defense.
As used in this subsection, "post-trial hearing" shall not include
de novo appeals to the Superior Court.
(3)
The Municipal Public Defender shall represent an indigent 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 defend that indigent defendant.
[1]
Editor's Note: See N.J.S.A. 2B:24-1 et seq.
B.
Eligibility for services of the Municipal Public Defender shall be
determined by the Municipal Court Judge on the basis of need of the
defendant. Need shall be measured according to N.J.S.A. 2A:158A-14
and guidelines promulgated by the New Jersey Supreme Court. 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 the municipality
for the cost of services rendered to that time.
C.
Fee; deposit in dedicated fund.
(1)
A person applying for representation by the Municipal Public Defender,
or court-approved counsel, shall pay an application fee of $200. 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.
(2)
Funds collected pursuant to Subsection C(1) of this section shall be deposited in a dedicated fund administered by the Chief Financial Officer of the Borough. Such funds shall be used exclusively to meet the costs incurred in providing the services of a Municipal Public Defender including, when required, expert and lay investigation and testimony.
D.
Collection of money due the Borough.
(1)
The Borough Attorney, in the name of the Borough, may do all things
necessary to collect any monies due the Borough by way of reimbursement
for services rendered by the Public Defender. The Borough Attorney
shall have all the remedies and proceedings available for collection
which are available for and upon the recovery of a judgment in a civil
action and shall also be permitted to collect counsel fees and costs
from the defendant for such collection action so that the same are
not borne by the municipality.
(2)
If the defendant has, or reasonably expects to have, a means to meet
some part, though not all of the costs of services rendered, the defendant
shall be required to reimburse the municipality, either by a single
payment or in an installment in such amounts as he can reasonably
be expected to pay; but no default or failure in making payments shall
affect or reduce the rendering of services.
(3)
The 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.
(4)
To effectuate such a lien for the municipality, the Borough Attorney
shall file a notice setting forth 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 the 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 Borough 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 Borough Attorney shall
fail to give notice, the lien shall be void.
(5)
The Borough Attorney is authorized to compromise and settle any claim
for services performed pursuant to this act whenever the financial
circumstances of the person receiving the services are such that,
in the judgment of the Borough Attorney, the best interests of the
state will be served by compromise and settlement.
