There shall be a Municipal Court in the Borough pursuant to the provisions of N.J.S.A. 2B:12-1 et seq., to be known as the "Municipal Court of the Borough of Alpha." The Municipal Court shall have a seat held in the Borough Hall or such other place as the Council designates and shall exercise all the functions, powers, duties and jurisdiction conferred by law upon municipal courts.
A. 
There shall be a Municipal Judge, who shall be appointed by the Mayor with the advice and consent of the Council for a term of three years commencing on January 1. He shall possess the qualifications set forth in N.J.S.A. 2B:12-4 et seq.
B. 
The Borough Council may by ordinance or resolution provide for a clerk (Municipal Court Administrator) and any necessary clerical and other assistants for the Municipal Court.
C. 
Compensation. The compensation of the Municipal Judge shall be established by ordinance and shall be in lieu of any and all fees. The compensation of the clerk (Municipal Court Administrator), clerical and other assistants may be established by ordinance or resolution.
A. 
The office of Municipal Public Defender is hereby created.
B. 
The Municipal Public Defender appointed hereunder shall be an attorney at law of the State of New Jersey in good standing, and shall serve for the term of one year from his or her date of appointment; however, he or she may continue to serve in office pending reappointment or appointment of a successor.
C. 
The Municipal Public Defender may be appointed to the position of Municipal Public Defender in the Borough of Alpha as well as any other municipal court within the State of New Jersey.
D. 
The Municipal Public Defender shall not be required to reside within the Borough of Alpha.
E. 
The appointment as Municipal Public Defender of the Borough of Alpha shall not disqualify said attorney from representing private clients in the Borough of Alpha subject to the Rules of Court Governing the Conduct of Lawyers, Judges and Court Personnel of the State of New Jersey.
F. 
Duties.
(1) 
The duty of the Municipal Public Defender shall be to represent, except in the case of temporary unavailability or conflict of interest, any defendant charged with an offense in the Municipal Court of the Borough of Alpha who is an indigent municipal defendant entitled to representation pursuant to the laws of this state.
(2) 
All necessary services and facilities of representation, including both expert and lay investigation and testimony as well as other preparations, shall be provided to the Municipal Public Defender in every case when required. Any such cost of investigation shall be the responsibility of the Borough of Alpha. The factors of need and real value to the defendant of such experts and investigative services may be weighed against the financial constraints of the Borough of Alpha in determining the necessary services and facilities of representation. The final determination as to the necessity of said services required shall be made by the Judge of the Municipal Court of the Borough of Alpha.
(3) 
The Municipal 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 Federal District Court and other collateral functions reasonably related to the defense. 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.
G. 
Eligibility for services of the Municipal Public Defender.
(1) 
Eligibility for services of the Municipal Public Defender shall be determined by the Judge of the Municipal Court of the Borough of Alpha on the basis of the need of the defendant, except as provided herein. Need shall be measured according to Section 14 of P.L. 1967, Chapter 43, N.J.S.A. 2A:158A-14, and the guidelines promulgated by the New Jersey Supreme Court, from time to time.
(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 Judge shall refer the defendant to the Municipal Public Defender provisionally, and if subsequently it is determined that the defendant is ineligible, the Municipal Judge shall inform the defendant and the defendant shall be obliged to engage his own private counsel and to reimburse the municipality for the cost of services rendered to that time by the Municipal Public Defender.
(3) 
The Municipal Judge shall make an investigation of the financial status of each defendant seeking representation by the Municipal Public Defender and shall have the authority to require the defendant to execute and deliver a 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 Municipal Judge of the Borough of Alpha is authorized to obtain information from any public record office of this state or of any subdivision or agency thereof on request and without payment of fees ordinarily required by law for the purposes set forth in this subsection.
(4) 
Wherever a person entitled to representation by the Municipal Public Defender pursuant to this section is under the age of 18 years, the eligibility for services shall be determined on the basis of the financial circumstances of the individual and the financial circumstances of the individual's parents or legal guardians.
(5) 
The Borough of Alpha shall be entitled to recover the costs of legal services from the parents or legal guardians of a defendant under 18 years of age either by single payments or in installments for any services rendered by the Municipal Public Defender pursuant to this section.
(6) 
The Judge of the Municipal Court of the Borough of Alpha shall have authority to require parents or legal guardians to execute and deliver the written requests or authorizations required under this section 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.
(7) 
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 as determined by the Judge of the Municipal Court, in such amounts as can reasonably be expected to be paid, but no default or failure in making payment shall affect or reduce the rendering of services.
(8) 
The Borough of Alpha 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 the defendant as is paid to the office of the Municipal Public Defender as provided for herein.
(9) 
To effectuate such a lien for the Borough of Alpha, the Municipal Attorney for the Borough of Alpha shall file a notice setting forth services rendered to the defendant and the reasonable value thereof with the Clerk of the Superior Court.
(10) 
The filing of such a notice with the Clerk of the Superior Court shall constitute a lien on the property of the defendant 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 said notice, the Municipal Attorney shall send by certified mail, or serve personally, a copy of the notice, with a statement with date of filing, to or upon the defendant at the defendant's last known address.
H. 
Fees. Any person applying for representation by the Municipal Public Defender or Court-approved counsel shall be required to pay an application fee of $200. Notwithstanding the same, the Judge of the Municipal Court of the Borough of Alpha may waive the required application fee in whole or in part, only if said Judge determines, in his 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 Judge may permit a person to pay the application fee over a specified period of time not to exceed four months from the date of application. The Municipal Public Defender shall receive compensation in accordance with the salary ordinances adopted from time to time by the Borough of Alpha.
I. 
Definitions. The terms used herein shall have the following meanings:
INDIGENT DEFENDANT
A person who is entitled to be represented by a Municipal Public Defender who does not have the present financial ability to secure competent legal representation.
MUNICIPAL PUBLIC DEFENDER
A person appointed to represent indigent defendants in proceedings over which the Municipal Court of the Borough of Alpha has jurisdiction.
[1]
Editor's Note: This section was originally adopted 2-10-1998 by Ord. No. 98-3 and was moved to this chapter at the request of the Borough.