Neither one. New Jersey sorts offenses into two families with their own names.

Indictable crimes line up with what other states label felonies. There are four degrees. Going from least to most serious:

• Fourth degree: as much as 18 months in prison
• Third degree: three to five years
• Second degree: five to ten years
• First degree: ten to twenty years, with fines that can top out at $200,000

Only the Superior Court decides these.

Disorderly persons offenses sit roughly where misdemeanors sit elsewhere. The penalty limit is six months behind bars plus a $1,000 fine. A petty disorderly persons offense tops out at 30 days and $500. Municipal courts take these, and also traffic, fish and game, weights and measures, and town ordinance cases.

Juries hear only cases where more than six months is possible. That is why a municipal judge rules alone.

Every Superior Court office for the county sits in the Justice Center, 65 Park Avenue, Flemington, NJ 08822. They share a single switchboard, 908-824-9750. Ask for the extension you need:

• 13110 for criminal cases and the criminal records room
• 13120 for Pretrial Services
• 13830 for the Family Division in general, 13330 for juvenile delinquency, 13350 for domestic violence
• 13860 for Probation
• 13060 for the Central Fee Office in Finance

Hunterdon is grouped with Somerset and Warren in one court region, which the Judiciary calls a vicinage. The Judiciary's municipal court office for the county works from the same building. Expect weekday business hours and phone ahead.

People held on these charges are housed at the Warren County Correctional Center, 175 County Route 519 South, Belvidere, NJ 07823-1950, 908-475-7900.

Shared courts are common in this rural county, so a town's name may not match the court's. Session days below come from the Judiciary's list.

• Raritan Township Municipal Court, One Municipal Drive, Flemington, NJ 08822, 908-782-8818. Towns: Raritan Township, Frenchtown and Holland Township. Flemington Borough's court has also met here since June 1, 2023. Office hours are 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on weekdays. Zoom sessions begin at 10:00 a.m. and in-person sessions at 1:00 p.m., by notice only. Open files from the Joint Court of the Delaware Valley, dissolved in 2020, are kept here.
• Clinton Township Municipal Court, 1370 Route 31 North, 3rd Floor, Annandale, NJ 08801, 908-735-3730. Towns: Clinton Township plus Union Township, Lebanon Township, High Bridge, Hampton and the Town of Clinton. Court sits each Wednesday.
• Bethlehem/Bloomsbury Joint Court, 405 Mine Road, Asbury, NJ 08802, 908-735-4559. Towns: Bethlehem Township, Bloomsbury, Lebanon Borough and Glen Gardner. Alexandria Township moved its cases here on April 15, 2026. Court sits the second and fourth Tuesdays.
• Joint Court of East Amwell Township and Delaware Township, 1070 Route 202/31, Ringoes, NJ 08551, 908-782-6855. Towns: East Amwell, Delaware Township, Franklin Township and Stockton. Court sits the second and fourth Mondays.
• Washington Township and Califon Borough Municipal Court, 43 Schooley's Mountain Road, Long Valley, NJ 07853, 908-876-3852. Califon shares this court with a Morris County township.
• Kingwood Township Municipal Court, 908-996-4276, for Kingwood Township and Milford. Third Thursdays.
• Lambertville Municipal Court, 609-397-1335, for the city of Lambertville. First and second Wednesdays.
• Readington Township Municipal Court, 908-534-2414. First, second and fourth Thursdays.
• Tewksbury Township Municipal Court, 908-832-7684. Third Tuesday and third Thursday.
• West Amwell Township Municipal Court, second Wednesdays. Judiciary Customer Services at 609-421-6100 can give you its direct line.

Police choose the paperwork, and that choice sets the pace. A complaint-summons sends the person home with a later court date. A complaint-warrant keeps them in custody, and then:

1. Inside 12 hours, a judge or judicial officer checks that there is probable cause.
2. Pretrial Services runs its risk scoring and writes a recommendation. Reach that office in the Justice Center, 65 Park Avenue, Flemington, NJ 08822, at 908-824-9750, extension 13120.
3. No more than 48 hours after jail intake, the person makes a first appearance before a judge at a central location picked by the Chief Justice (R. 3:4-2).
4. The charges are read out, and the public defender can be assigned on the spot.
5. The judge sets release terms, unless the prosecutor has filed for detention. Then a detention hearing is scheduled.

When you phone about the hearing, give staff the person's complete name and birth date so they pull the right file.

Municipal courts handle disorderly and petty disorderly persons offenses, traffic and ordinance cases. A typical path:

1. A police complaint is filed, and a notice arrives with a court date.
2. At the first listing, the judge explains the charge and the person's rights, and covers whether they want a lawyer.
3. The municipal prosecutor and the defense may settle on a plea.
4. If not, the judge holds a bench trial. No jury sits in municipal court.
5. Sentences can reach six months and $1,000 for a disorderly persons offense, or 30 days and $500 for the petty kind.

A first offense may qualify for a program that avoids a conviction. Conditional discharge covers lower-level drug charges. Conditional dismissal covers most other first offenses but leaves out domestic violence, DWI and several other kinds. A person gets each program one time only, and each costs a $75 application fee.

Cases can also change courts. A crime complaint may start in a town court before going up, and a crime can be downgraded and sent back down.

After the first appearance, a crime case usually moves like this:

1. Early conference. The court schedules it no more than 45 days past the first appearance. The two sides may settle early here, or move the case into Pretrial Intervention.
2. Grand jury. A randomly drawn group of local residents, no more than 23, weigh the evidence in private. Twelve votes produce an indictment. For a jailed defendant, that has to happen inside 90 days, minus excludable time.
3. Arraignment. No later than 14 days after the indictment, the court formally gives the charges.
4. Status conferences. A case gets two of these at most. The opening one has a long name: the initial case disposition conference.
5. Pretrial conference. Plea offers usually close here. A later plea needs approval from the Criminal Presiding Judge.
6. Trial. When the defendant remains locked up, jury selection has to begin inside 180 days from indictment, minus excludable time. The jury's verdict must be unanimous.
7. Sentencing. The judge states the reasons on the record, then signs the judgment of conviction.

Cases often run long. Across the state in 2023, only 46.9% wrapped up inside 22 months.

State law adds mandatory time for some crimes.

• Graves Act. Certain crimes committed with a firearm bring a parole-free minimum, set at one-half of the sentence or 42 months, whichever is greater.
• No Early Release Act (NERA). On listed crimes, including homicide, kidnapping, robbery, carjacking, sexual assault, aggravated assault and home invasion, 85% of the term must pass before parole is possible. After release comes a stretch of parole supervision, which is five years on a first-degree crime and three on a second-degree one.

These charges also make a hold before trial more likely. The prosecutor may seek detention, and a murder or life-term charge starts with a legal presumption that the person stays in.

Maximum fines rise with the degree, to $15,000 at third degree, $150,000 at second and $200,000 at first.

The county Prosecutor's Office brings every crime case. Its office is in the Justice Center, 65 Park Avenue, Flemington, NJ 08822, 908-788-1129. Its mailing address is P.O. Box 756, Flemington, NJ 08822. Lesser town cases are handled by a municipal prosecutor, and the town court can tell you who that is.

Free defense in crime cases comes from the Office of the Public Defender, 84 Park Avenue, Suite G-102, Flemington, NJ 08822, 908-782-1082. A judge reviews the court's 5A financial form and decides if the person qualifies.

Town courts have their own public defenders. One is assigned when a person can't pay a lawyer and could be jailed, have driving privileges taken, or face penalties over $800. Applying can cost up to $200. The judge may lower that fee or drop it.

Each court type has its own tool.

• Crime cases in Superior Court: begin at the Judiciary's Find a Case page, or phone the criminal records room in the Justice Center, 65 Park Avenue, Flemington, NJ 08822, at 908-824-9750, extension 13110.
• Non-traffic town court complaints: type the number printed on the complaint into the Municipal Court Case Search. The court's own office can also look it up.
• Traffic and parking tickets: NJMCdirect lets you view a ticket, pay it, plead not guilty or request another date.

Judiciary Customer Services, 609-421-6100, handles requests for court record copies and helps when you are unsure which town wrote a ticket.

Warrants on county cases are served by the Sheriff's Office, 71 Main Street, Building 1, Flemington, NJ 08822, 908-788-1166, staffed 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. It keeps a Wanted Persons List, most entries with a photo. The State Police run New Jersey's Most Wanted. You may also call the Sheriff, or the clerk of the court that issued it. Clearing one starts with a lawyer, who can arrange a surrender. A town court warrant can often be handled by calling that court for a fresh date. Superior Court warrant questions belong with the Criminal Division in the Justice Center, 65 Park Avenue, Flemington, NJ 08822, 908-824-9750, extension 13110.

Federal crimes from this area are prosecuted at the Trenton seat of the U.S. District Court. The clerk works from 402 East State Street, Room 2020, Trenton, NJ 08608, 609-989-2065, and keeps 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. weekday hours.

1. First appearance. Within about a day of arrest, a magistrate judge covers the charges and the question of a lawyer.
2. Detention hearing. It normally happens right then. The prosecution can push it back up to three days, the defense up to five (18 U.S.C. 3142(f)).
3. Marshals custody. A person not released stays in U.S. Marshals custody. Their Trenton office is at 402 East State Street, Trenton, NJ 08608, 609-989-2069, and can say which jail has them.
4. Defense. The Federal Public Defender works from Station Plaza #4, fourth floor, 22 South Clinton Avenue, Trenton, NJ 08609, 609-989-2160.
5. After sentencing. The Bureau of Prisons takes over. Use the Federal Bureau of Prisons inmate locator.

Filings in federal cases can be read through PACER.

No. The state charges keep going even with a detainer on file, and the person keeps the right to counsel and to every hearing. The detainer mostly matters on the day of release:

1. A detainer arrives on ICE Form I-247A.
2. It asks that the person be held for up to 48 hours after they would otherwise be released (8 CFR 287.7(d)), giving ICE time to pick them up.
3. Detainees can be brought to the Elizabeth Contract Detention Facility, 625 Evans Street, Elizabeth, NJ 07201, 908-282-5700.
4. Locate them with the ICE Online Detainee Locator or through the ICE Newark field office, 970 Broad Street, 11th Floor, Newark, NJ 07102, 973-776-3274.

New Jersey's Immigrant Trust Directive limits county jails. Extra time for ICE is allowed only for someone with a charge or conviction from the Directive's serious-offense appendix, anyone with an indictable conviction dated within five years, or someone whose final removal order from a federal judge is on file. Any such hold is cut off at 11:59 p.m. on release day. Notice of the ICE request has to reach the person in writing. Counties are also barred from 287(g) agreements with ICE. A non-citizen should ask the defense lawyer how a plea could affect immigration status.

State prison terms for indictable crimes are carried out by the New Jersey Department of Corrections, Whittlesey Road, P.O. Box 863, Trenton, NJ 08625, 609-292-4036.

New arrivals first spend time at a reception unit. There they get medical, psychological and substance use reviews and an objective classification score. A classification committee sets the custody level, chooses a prison and job, and looks at the case again at least yearly.

The search tool is on the DOC's Offender Information page. Our state prison directory lists each facility. For release on parole, contact the State Parole Board, P.O. Box 862, Trenton, NJ 08625-0862, 609-292-4257.

A charge against someone under 18 is filed in the Family Part of Superior Court, which keeps youth cases apart from adult ones. The juvenile desk, in the Justice Center at 65 Park Avenue, Flemington, NJ 08822, is reached at 908-824-9750, extension 13330.

If a judge orders a youth held, the place is the Morris County Juvenile Detention Center, 460 West Hanover Avenue, Morris Township, NJ 07960, 973-285-2959. It serves Morris, Sussex, Warren and this county by agreement.

Waiver to adult court is possible for some grave crimes when the youth was 15 or older. The prosecutor's motion is due within 60 days after the complaint comes in, and a Family Part judge must hold a hearing (N.J.S.A. 2A:4A-26.1). The public defender's office at 908-782-1082 handles defense, and parents can be held responsible for its cost.

Fair, kind and respectful treatment is a victim's right under the state Constitution (N.J. Const. art. I, para. 22). More detail sits in the Crime Victims Bill of Rights (N.J.S.A. 52:4B-36). Among the rights:

• updates on the case and its outcome
• a statement in person to the sentencing judge
• freedom from intimidation
• information on financial help and social services

Help in court comes from the Prosecutor's Office of Victim Witness Advocacy, Justice Center, 65 Park Avenue, Flemington, NJ 08822, 908-788-1403. The Victims of Crime Compensation Office, 877-658-2221, may cover costs like medical care, counseling, lost wages and burial. The crime needs to be reported to police within nine months, and the claim filed within five years. Registering with VINELink, or by phone at 877-846-3465, brings notice when the person's custody changes.

Several programs can lead to dismissal:

• Pretrial Intervention (PTI). Aimed at people new to the system. Apply online or at the Criminal Division, best before indictment and at the latest before the first disposition conference after arraignment. The $75 fee is waivable. The case may be paused for a period of up to 36 months. Meeting all the conditions leads to dismissal.
• Recovery Court. Treatment-based supervision for adults with substance use problems who face nonviolent charges, usually lasting a year or two.
• Veterans Diversion. A Veterans Diversion option run by the Prosecutor's Office.
• Conditional discharge or dismissal. For lower-level charges in municipal court.

Earlier use of PTI, conditional discharge or conditional dismissal bars PTI. Down the road, an expungement can seal a record, and a judge may order one at once when charges are dismissed. For PTI, the Criminal Division can help: Justice Center, 65 Park Avenue, Flemington, NJ 08822, 908-824-9750, extension 13110.