Monmouth County Court: Criminal Appeals

23 volumes, 1947-1979

29 microfilm rolls, 1956-1968

3 cu. ft. (sample cases), 1956-1968

History

The Monmouth County Court was in existence from 1947 to 1979 and was divided into two divisions, a probate division and a law division. The law division exercised both civil and criminal jurisdiction. The criminal jurisdiction consisted primarily of appeals from penalties imposed by Municipal Courts. In 1979, the jurisdiction of the County Court was transferred to the Superior Court.

Under the 1947 Constitution, minor criminal offenses originally heard and tried in municipal courts could be appealed to the Appellate Division of the Superior/County Court Criminal Court. Cases brought to the court related to all motor vehicle violations including drunken driving, speeding, careless driving, hit and run, and overtime parking. The court also heard cases relating to bastardy, disorderly persons, violations of the Fish & Game Law, and violations of probation.

The appeal was initiated by a written notice of appeal from the defendant (or defendant's attorney) to the Municipal Court which rendered the judgment, briefly stating the judgment rendered and the defendant's decision to appeal to the County Court. If the appeal was from a monetary penalty, the appellant had to make a deposit that was double the penalty in the Municipal Court. If the appeal was from a term of imprisonment or a combination of imprisonment and a penalty, then the court would fix the sum. The defendant was then released, if in custody, pending outcome of the appeal.

Within ten days of the appeal, the Municipal Court had to deliver a certified copy of the record and judgment in the case, together with the deposit, to the County Court. The appellant also had ten days to apply to the County Court for an order fixing the date of the hearing. If a tape or stenographic record of the original Municipal Court proceedings had been made, the appellant had ten days to deliver an original and copy of the transcript.

The County Court heard and determined the appeal, usually without a jury. The judgment was recorded in the County Court Criminal Record books, for which the Archives has a complete set (23 volumes).

Appeals from judgments by a municipal court in a civil action were rare but handled in the same way if possible.

Reference: Rules Governing the New Jersey Courts, Newark: Soney and Sage Co., 1968.

The record series consists of County Court Criminal Record Books (23 volumes, 1947-1979) and case files (1956-1968) with documents pertaining to each appeal.

The Books are permanent records. For each case, a chronology of the appeal and the final judgment is provided. Information in the books includes appeal number, appellant’s name, municipality where offense was committed and attorneys for defendant. The books provide a chronological account of the proceedings of each case, and the final judgment of the Superior Court. Beginning in 1956, indictment numbers begin at #1 each year.

In 1995, the Superior Court authorized the destruction of the case files, 1956-1968, stored in 21 record cartons in the Monmouth County Archives Record Center. Appraisal of a sample of the records determined that although there was a high proportion of similar cases involving speeding and other automobile-related cases, the records did document the range of cases that came before the Municipal Courts, for which few detailed records are available. In addition, it was determined that some interesting case files were quite detailed, especially when a transcript of the original proceedings was included in the case file. Examples of unusual cases include those pertaining to violation of a pig ordinance, wearing clothes of the opposite sex, a train blocking a highway, and failure to relinquish a telephone party line in an emergency. A number of cases with local history content involve the legality of municipal zoning ordinances. The transcripts often provide information about the defendants, social conditions, neighborhoods, and social behavioral patterns.

After elimination of duplicates and fasteners, sequencing within folders, and separation of a very few confidential documents, the case files were microfilmed on 29 rolls of film in original (docket number) order. A selected sample of about 2.5 record cartons (102 cases) was retained on paper and the rest were discarded. The selection was made for the following reasons: interesting court transcript, photographs, uncommon situations, and as example of a common type of case. Case files retained on paper are signified by a target inserted in the folder before microfilming.

There are no restrictions on access to the books, microfilm, or the sample cases, except for a few confidential documents which were not filmed and retained separately. Researchers will be provided with microfilm when it can meet their research needs.

Although there is no index to the entire series on microfilm, the books provide a one page summary of each case in chronological order.

An inventory of the sample cases is available in the repository. The inventory is provided in three sequences: by docket number, name of defendant, and crime.

Requests for access to case files after 1994 will be directed to the Superior Court.

January 31, 1996; rev. October 26, 1998; rev. April 4, 2001. \crimapp.fa

BOOKS

See Superior Court: Municipal Appeals for continuation of series.

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