A 2979 New Jersey General Assembly · 2026-2027 Regular Session

Permits counties to establish county-municipal courts with limited, countywide jurisdiction.

This bill allows counties in New Jersey to create "county-municipal courts" with limited, countywide jurisdiction. It directly affects counties (specifically first-class counties with over 900,000 residents and low population density) and their municipalities, which must agree to have local violations heard in the new court instead of their individual municipal courts. Key provisions include requiring municipalities to adopt ordinances agreeing to transfer cases to the county court within two years, allowing existing municipal courts to be abolished, and specifying that these courts handle cases like health department violations and criminal pretrial hearings. The bill amends existing law to define "county-municipal court" and streamline case handling across county boundaries.
Bill status in committee 1 of 4 stages cleared
Introduction
Jan 2026
Committee Review
Floor Vote
Governor
Introduced Jan 13, 2026 Last action Jan 13, 2026
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Full legislative history

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Total actions
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Committee
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Jan 13, 2026
Introduced
Introduced, Referred to Assembly Judiciary Committee
lower
1 primary · 0 co-sponsors

Sponsors

Role
Legislator
Party
State
District
P
Photo of Erik Peterson
Erik Peterson
RRepublican
NJ
23