Atlantic County commissioners approve $1M. state grant for Central Municipal Court

Atlantic County's Central Municipal Court will get a million-dollar grant to offset costs for non-participating towns.

The county municipal court system handles about 10,000 State Police cases each year that originated in towns that do participate in towns that did not opt-in to the Central Municipal Court.

The Atlantic County Board of Commissioners held an emergency meeting Wednesday, as they were required to accept the Local Efficiency Achievement Program, or LEAP, grant by the deadline Thursday.

It received unanimous approval.

The funds will cover costs from January 2022 through this month for handling the State Police cases that originated in the 13 Atlantic County towns that do not participate in the central system, Atlantic County Executive Dennis Levinson explained..

Things will change Aug. 1.

A bill sponsored by Sen. Vince Polistina amends the original legislation to have State Police summonses filed in the municipality where they originated.

“The legislation and the substantial state grant will greatly assist the court and the citizens it serves,” Commission Chairwoman Maureen Kern said. “The 10 towns that currently participate in the Central Municipal Court will see even more savings.”

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, Superior Court Assignment Judge Michael Blee noted.

He said he believes that by early next year, there will be a noticeable difference in the case load.

The Central Municipal Court of Atlantic County was established in January 2022, the first of its kind in the state.

The 10 participating municipalities are Corbin City, Egg Harbor Township, Estell Manor, Galloway Township, Hamilton Township, Linwood, Northfield, Port Republic, Ventnor and Weymouth Township

Levinson offered any non-participating town that would like to join the option to do so.

“It’s not too late to realize savings for your taxpayers by joining the consolidated court," he said. "Home rule’s duplication of services is unnecessary and costly.”

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.”