The importance of having a lawyer represent you in your criminal case extends to all levels of charges and all levels of court appearances. The fact that your case is scheduled for municipal court says nothing about its seriousness. In fact, most cases make their way through municipal court at some point in the process.
For help in municipal court, work with our experienced attorneys. We can represent you at all stages of your case and, ideally, keep serious cases from getting past the municipal court level. Even if you are dealing with something like a traffic ticket, you should have a lawyer to help protect your rights and prevent penalties like points or license suspensions.
For your free case evaluation, contact our municipal court attorneys from Lombardo Law Group by calling (609) 418-4537.
What Happens in Municipal Court in Burlington, NJ?
Municipal court is the most local level of court in NJ. There are county-level trial courts that hear trials for felonies (indictable crimes, as they are called in NJ), and those cases will usually have preliminary hearings or other preliminary levels of the case in municipal court before the case is sent up to the county-level court. Otherwise, municipal court handles hearings and trials for other levels of cases that our attorneys for a case in municipal court can help you with: traffic offenses, disorderly persons offenses (similar to misdemeanors), petty disorderly persons offenses, and ordinance violations.
Traffic Tickets
If you are facing a traffic ticket and want to challenge it, you do that in municipal court. It is important to note that traffic offenses include even some of the most serious traffic violations, such as drunk driving and reckless driving. If you are facing charges for these serious offenses, you will do so in municipal court and should definitely have a lawyer represent you because these charges can easily result in a license suspension and even jail time.
Misdemeanors/Disorderly Persons Offenses
Lower-level misdemeanors are called “disorderly persons offenses” in New Jersey or “petty disorderly persons offenses” for what other states call “infractions” or “summary offenses.” Petty offenses can end up with a max of 30 days of jail time and disorderly persons offenses can see as much as 6 months in jail, so these are still serious criminal charges, and you should have a lawyer represent you.
These cases can be filed against you for things like simple assault, theft, some drug crimes, and other lower-level criminal offenses. Keep in mind that these cases all result in a possible jail sentence under 1 year, which means defendants are not entitled to a trial by jury. Municipal courts do not use juries, and the case will be a bench trial.
Local Ordinance Violations
Violations of local laws are often penalized with a fine, and these cases are heard without a jury in municipal court as well.
Felonies/Indictable Crimes
These cases are tried before a jury (if you want one) at the county-level court. However, early stages of the case are handled in municipal court, such as preliminary hearings to determine whether there is probable cause to try you for the case. You will also face bail hearings, your initial appearance, arraignments, and other early stages of the case in municipal court.
What Happens if I Miss a Municipal Court Date in Burlington, NJ?
Just because the court is called “municipal court” rather than “Superior Court” – the county court – you might expect it to be less serious. However, this truly is the most common criminal court that people are summoned to to answer for the crimes they are accused of committing. As such, a court date in municipal court is incredibly important, and missing your court date can result in serious problems.
Judges are authorized to issue bench warrants for defendants who miss a municipal court date. This type of warrant allows you to be arrested and brought to court by force the next time you encounter a police officer for other reasons. Police will often do a warrant check during traffic stops or when you get arrested for a separate offense, then turn you in to face the municipal court business you missed.
You can usually prevent a bench warrant from being issued simply by showing up with your lawyer on the date requested. If a warrant has already been issued, contact our lawyers to discuss how you can have the warrant quashed and a new court date issued or what other options you might have to avoid arrest.
In any case, if you missed a court date – whether you were arrested on a bench warrant or not – that means you have business before the court you also need to take care of. Our lawyers will be able to represent you on the bench warrant issue, but we can also represent you in the case that was scheduled in municipal court, helping you fight those underlying charges, traffic tickets, or other legal issues.
Jury Trials and Appeals from Municipal Court in Burlington, NJ
As mentioned, there are no jury trials in municipal court. The right to a trial by jury only attaches in felony cases – i.e., cases with a potential of over a year in prison. Since the cases tried in municipal court are all punished by a maximum of 30 days or 6 months in jail, you do not get a jury trial in municipal court.
The exception here is that you do get a jury trial at the Superior Court level for indictable crimes, which are considered felonies. However, the business that takes place at municipal court will not be a trial; these hearings are done before a judge only.
Nonetheless, our lawyers are typically able to appeal any trial decisions that take place in municipal court by having the record re-analyzed by a Superior Court judge. In this “de novo” hearing, the judge will reassess questions of guilt or innocence, potentially refuting the verdict reached by the municipal court.
Call Our Municipal Court Attorneys in Burlington, NJ Today
Contact Lombardo Law Group’s lawyers for municipal court cases today at (609) 418-4537 for a free evaluation of your case.
