New Jersey has its own labels for charges. You won't hear "felony" or "misdemeanor" in its courts.

• Indictable crimes are ranked by degree. The worst are first degree; fourth degree sits at the bottom. Elsewhere, people would say felonies. The Criminal Part of the Law Division of Superior Court hears them.
• Disorderly persons offenses, and the even smaller petty disorderly persons offenses, sit on the lower level. They are a lot like misdemeanors. Town municipal courts hear them.
• Traffic tickets, local ordinance cases and fish and game charges go to the municipal court in the town where the event took place.

Plenty of serious cases begin with a complaint at a town court before moving to Superior Court. Every indictable complaint needs a judge to find probable cause. If there is none, the complaint is dismissed. Prosecutors can also downgrade a charge and return it to the town court.

The county prosecutor reviews about 6,000 adult indictable complaints a year. About 3,000 are sent down to town courts, about 500 are dropped, and about 2,500 go to a grand jury and are indicted.

Locally, the Superior Court goes by the name Monmouth Vicinage. The state has 15 vicinages in all. Its home is the county courthouse, 71 Monument Park, Freehold, NJ 07728. Some court pages call the street Monument Street instead. Every office uses one main number, 732-358-8700, with these extensions:

• Criminal Division main line: ext. 87913
• Pretrial Services: ext. 87440
• Family Division, youth cases: ext. 87240
• Records requests: ext. 87370
• Recovery Court: ext. 87340
• Central Fee Office, for bail and payments: ext. 87040
• Municipal Division (the county office over all 32 town courts): ext. 87245

Probation has its own building at 2407 Route 66, Ocean, NJ 07712. Reach it through the same main number at ext. 87904.

Offices keep business hours on weekdays. Call before you go, since many hearings for people in jail are held by video.

The 53 towns share 32 municipal courts. Court days below come from the Judiciary's statewide session list. Where a street address is missing, call the court and ask where sessions are held.

• Aberdeen and Matawan (shared court): 1 Aberdeen Square, Aberdeen, NJ 07747, 732-583-4200, ext. 141. Both towns sit every Wednesday.
• Hazlet: 255 Middle Road, Hazlet, NJ 07730, 732-264-2231, ext. 129. Every Monday, plus the 2nd Tuesday.
• Keansburg: 29 Church Street, Keansburg, NJ 07734, 732-787-0215. Every Thursday.
• Keyport: 70 West Front Street, Keyport, NJ 07735, 732-739-5155. Three Tuesdays a month.
• Union Beach: 732-264-9098. The 1st, 2nd and 3rd Wednesdays.
• Middletown: 732-615-2036. The 1st and 3rd Mondays and every Thursday.
• Atlantic Highlands and Highlands (shared court): 100 First Avenue, Atlantic Highlands, NJ 07716, 732-291-3100. Atlantic Highlands sits the 2nd and 4th Tuesdays, Highlands the 1st and 3rd.

• Red Bank and Shrewsbury Township: Red Bank borough hall, 90 Monmouth Street, Red Bank, NJ 07701, 732-530-2716, ext. 115. Every Thursday.
• Rumson and Fair Haven: 80 East River Road, Rumson, NJ 07760, 732-530-7131, ext. 4. Rumson sits the 2nd and 4th Wednesdays, Fair Haven the 2nd and 4th Thursdays.
• Little Silver: 732-842-3881. The 1st and 3rd Thursdays.
• Shrewsbury Borough: 732-842-2868. The 1st and 3rd Wednesdays.
• Oceanport, Sea Bright and Monmouth Beach: 910 Oceanport Way, Oceanport, NJ 07757, 732-222-8222. Oceanport sits the 2nd and 4th Mondays, Sea Bright the 1st and 3rd Thursdays. Monmouth Beach's own court page sends its cases to this building.
• Tinton Falls and Eatontown: 556 Tinton Avenue, Tinton Falls, NJ 07724, 732-542-3400, ext. 201. Tinton Falls sits Tuesdays and Eatontown Thursdays, both at 8:00 a.m. The office is open 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and 8:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on Tuesday and Thursday. The state's session list also files Monmouth Beach under this court, so ask which one has your case.
• Holmdel and Colts Neck (shared court): 732-946-2820. Holmdel sits every Wednesday and Colts Neck three Fridays a month. The state's 2022 address list puts Holmdel's court at 4 Crawfords Corner, Holmdel, NJ 07733.

• Long Branch: 732-571-6500. Every Tuesday and Wednesday.
• Ocean Township and West Long Branch (joint court): 399 Monmouth Road, Oakhurst, NJ 07755, 732-531-5005, then press 4 and 9. Open 8:30 a.m. to 4:15 p.m. on weekdays.
• Deal, Interlaken and Loch Arbour: 190 Norwood Avenue, Deal, NJ 07723, 732-531-1343.
• Asbury Park: One Municipal Plaza, Asbury Park, NJ 07712, 732-502-4549. Every Friday.
• Bradley Beach, Avon-by-the-Sea and Allenhurst: 701 Main Street, Bradley Beach, NJ 07720, 732-776-2999, ext. 1045. Each town has its own monthly court days.
• Neptune Township: 25 Neptune Boulevard, Neptune, NJ 07753, 732-988-5200; ask for the court. Court is held Thursdays. The office is open 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., and the payment window closes at 3:30 p.m.
• Neptune City: 732-775-1690. The 1st and 3rd Wednesdays.
• Belmar, Lake Como and Spring Lake: 601 Main Street, Belmar, NJ 07719, 848-220-9620. Open 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
• Wall, Sea Girt and Spring Lake Heights: one court inside Wall Township, 732-449-4666. Wall sits every Tuesday and Wednesday.
• Brielle and Manasquan: 201 East Main Street, Manasquan, NJ 08736, 732-223-0600. Two Tuesdays a month for Brielle and two Wednesdays for Manasquan.

• Freehold Borough and Township (two separate courts): the borough court is at 38 Jackson Street, Freehold, NJ 07728, 732-462-2444, and sits every Tuesday. The township court is at One Municipal Plaza, Freehold, NJ 07728, 732-294-2151, and sits Tuesdays and Wednesdays.
• Howell and Farmingdale: 300 Old Tavern Road, Howell, NJ 07731, 732-938-4848, ext. 4112. Howell sits Wednesdays and Fridays, Farmingdale the 1st Wednesday.
• Manalapan: 120 Route 522, Manalapan, NJ 07726 (at Taylor's Mills Road), 732-446-6656. Court on Mondays. The office is open weekdays 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. and takes no complaints after 3:30 p.m.
• Englishtown: 15 Main Street, Englishtown, NJ 07726, 732-446-4457, ext. 22. Court at 5:00 p.m. on the 1st and 3rd Wednesdays. The office is open 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., with no payments after 3:30 p.m.
• Marlboro: 1979 Township Drive, Marlboro, NJ 07746, 732-536-0300, ext. 510. Court on Thursdays. The Violations Bureau is open Monday to Thursday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
• Millstone and Roosevelt: 732-446-6219. Two Mondays a month.
• Allentown and Upper Freehold: 314 Route 539, Cream Ridge, NJ 08514, 609-758-0262, ext. 3. The 1st and 3rd Thursdays.

The first steps move fast. Police either hand the person a complaint-summons with a court date, or seek a complaint-warrant from a judge. Inside 12 hours, a judge or a court officer must review whether there is probable cause.

1. Anyone held on a warrant stays at the jail while Pretrial Services builds a Public Safety Assessment. This short report scores the risk of missing court or a new arrest.
2. No more than 48 hours may pass between jail booking and the first appearance. Indictable cases go to one central courtroom, where a judge named by the Chief Justice presides (R. 3:4-2).
3. At that hearing the judge can assign the Office of the Public Defender.
4. The judge then frees the person on their word or sets release rules. If the prosecutor filed a motion, a detention hearing comes next.

Someone released on a summons gets a first court date within 60 days. For questions about when a hearing is set, call Pretrial Services at the courthouse, 71 Monument Park, Freehold, NJ 07728, 732-358-8700, ext. 87440.

Town courts work faster and with lower stakes than Superior Court. There is no jury. Juries hear only cases with a possible sentence over six months.

• Disorderly persons offense: a $1,000 fine at most, and as long as six months behind bars.
• Petty disorderly persons offense: a $500 fine at most, and as long as 30 days behind bars.
• Traffic and town law cases, including drunk driving, are heard here too.

Each town court has a municipal prosecutor. A person facing jail, a license loss or penalties over $800 can ask for a municipal public defender. Income decides who gets one. That application can cost up to $200, which the judge may reduce.

Some first-timers can avoid a conviction. Conditional discharge is for certain low-level drug charges and can be used only once. Conditional dismissal works for many other minor charges, with a year of watch by probation. Each costs $75 to apply. Domestic violence and drunk driving are not allowed in conditional dismissal.

Tickets can be paid or a not guilty plea entered at NJMCdirect.

Penalties climb with the degree of the crime:

• First degree: 10 to 20 years, with fines as high as $200,000
• Second degree: 5 to 10 years, and up to $150,000
• Third degree: 3 to 5 years, and up to $15,000
• Fourth degree: up to 18 months, and up to $10,000

The case usually goes through these stages:

1. Pre-indictment conference. The court sets it within 45 days of the first appearance, and early deals and diversion are often worked out there.
2. Grand jury. Up to 23 residents, picked at random, weigh the evidence. At least 12 must agree before an indictment is returned. If the person is in jail, the indictment must come within 90 days.
3. Arraignment. No later than 14 days after indictment, the court tells the person the charges formally.
4. Status conferences. At most two are held, starting with the ICDC (initial case disposition conference) as the first.
5. Pretrial conference. Once it ends, a late plea deal needs the presiding judge's approval.
6. Trial. The jury must be unanimous. If the person sits in jail, the trial clock is 180 days from the indictment.
7. Sentencing. The judge states the reasons in open court and signs the final judgment.

Often, yes. Pretrial Intervention (PTI) is for people, mostly first-timers, charged with indictable crimes. The person follows set rules for a while, much like probation. If they finish, the charges are dismissed and there is no conviction on the record.

• Apply online or at the Criminal Division. Apply before the case reaches its first disposition conference following arraignment. Earlier is better.
• The fee is $75 and can't be refunded, but it may be waived for someone who can't pay.
• Locally, PTI lasts one to three years. A PTI prosecutor advises the court on whether to accept each person.
• PTI is a one-time chance. It is off the table for anyone who has had it before. The same goes for anyone given a conditional discharge or a conditional dismissal in the past.

Adults struggling with drugs or alcohol may qualify for Recovery Court instead. Treatment usually lasts one to two years. It is closed to anyone with a violent charge now or in the past. Call the courthouse at 732-358-8700 and ask for ext. 87340. The prosecutor also lists programs named Restart, Recovery Diversion, Link 2 Care and Hope in Monmouth; ask the defense lawyer if any fit.

Two state laws add tough minimum terms.

• NERA, the No Early Release Act. It covers robbery, carjacking, kidnapping, murder and other violent crimes. Parole stays closed until the person has done 85 percent of the time (N.J.S.A. 2C:43-7.2). After that comes extra parole: 5 years for a first-degree crime, 3 for second degree.
• The Graves Act. It covers certain crimes where the person used or carried a firearm. No parole is possible during a set minimum. That minimum is 42 months, or half the full term when half is more.

These charges also make jail before trial more likely. A prosecutor can ask to hold the person. If the charge is murder or carries a possible life sentence, the law starts from the idea that jail is needed. Many violent convictions, like robbery and kidnapping, can never be wiped from a record.

The County Prosecutor's Office handles indictable crimes. Its office is at 132 Jerseyville Avenue, Freehold, NJ 07728, 732-431-7160. Its Intake and Screening Unit reads each adult indictable complaint from all 53 towns. In town courts, a municipal prosecutor handles the case.

The state Office of the Public Defender takes indictable cases for people who can't afford a lawyer. Its local office is at 7 Broad Street, Freehold, NJ 07728, 732-308-4320.

• On the 5A form, the person lists income, bills, home and job.
• The judge, not the public defender, decides who qualifies.
• The public defender's apply page walks through each step.
• Town courts have their own public defender forms at the court window.

• Superior Court cases: search by name in Promis/Gavel public access. It holds criminal cases back to 1980.
• Town tickets and complaints: enter the number in the Municipal Court Case Search.
• By phone: call the courthouse at 732-358-8700, ext. 87913 for the Criminal Division or ext. 87370 for records.
• Copies of records: Judiciary Customer Services, 609-421-6100. This line can also tell you which town a ticket belongs to.
• Federal cases: PACER charges a small fee per page.

Court records requests go under Court Rule 1:38, not the state's public records law. The person's lawyer is often the quickest source for the next date.

The Sheriff's Warrant/Fugitive Section serves criminal warrants across the county. Call the Sheriff's Office any hour at 732-431-6400 and ask for that section. Wanted fugitives statewide are on the State Police fugitive list. To check a name, call the Sheriff, the town court handling the case, or the Criminal Division at the courthouse, 71 Monument Park, Freehold, NJ 07728, 732-358-8700, ext. 87913. Town complaints can be found in Municipal Court Case Search. Clearing one usually means a planned surrender, set up by a lawyer, at the jail, 1 Waterworks Road, Freehold, NJ 07728, 732-431-7860. Another way is to ring the court that issued it and ask for a fresh date.

Federal prosecutors file cases from this area in the Trenton branch of the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey, 402 East State Street, Room 2020, Trenton, NJ 08608, 609-989-2065. Case numbers that begin with "3:" are Trenton cases. The clerk's office is open 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. on weekdays.

1. Federal agents arrest and charge the person. A magistrate judge sees them right away, often that day or the next.
2. At that hearing, the person hears the charges and gets a lawyer lined up. The judge rules on custody.
3. A detention hearing under 18 U.S.C. 3142(f) happens at that first hearing unless a short delay is granted.
4. The U.S. Marshals keep anyone held. Their Trenton office shares the courthouse building, 609-989-2069. They often use county jails, and this county's jail is one the Federal Public Defender works with.
5. U.S. Pretrial Services in Trenton, Room 100 of the same building, 609-989-2056, supervises people released before trial.

The Federal Public Defender's Trenton office helps people who can't pay: Station Plaza 4, 22 South Clinton Avenue, Trenton, NJ 08609, 4th floor, 609-989-2160. After a prison sentence, look up the person on the Federal Bureau of Prisons inmate locator.

ICE has no power to stop the state case. But a detainer can change what happens when the person is let go. These are the federal steps:

1. The agency files a detainer on Form I-247A.
2. The detainer requests that the person be kept for up to 48 hours after they would otherwise be released (8 CFR 287.7(d)).
3. ICE comes to take the person into its own custody.
4. ICE handles New Jersey through its Newark Field Office, 970 Broad Street, 11th Floor, Newark, NJ 07102, 973-776-3274. One site ICE uses a lot is the Elizabeth Contract Detention Facility, 625 Evans Street, Elizabeth, NJ 07201, 908-282-5700.
5. Look for the person on the ICE Online Detainee Locator.

In this state, the Attorney General's Immigrant Trust Directive narrows step 2. Holding someone for ICE after their release time is allowed in just three cases. The first is a current charge or past conviction for an offense on the Directive's violent or serious list. Second, a conviction for another indictable crime within five years. Third, a signed federal removal order lodged at the jail. In any of these cases, release still has to happen by 11:59 p.m. that day. Staff must also tell the person, on paper and in a language they know, whenever ICE asks for something. A 2019 revision ended the county's 287(g) program. Since a guilty plea can affect immigration status, ask the defense lawyer about it before any plea.

The county jail can hold people serving shorter sentences as well as people awaiting trial. A state prison term goes to the New Jersey Department of Corrections, Whittlesey Road, P.O. Box 863, Trenton, NJ 08625, 609-292-4036.

A new state prisoner starts at a reception center. Staff do health, mental health and drug use checks, then score the person on a set scale. The result is a custody level. Close custody is the strictest and community custody the most open. That level decides which prison they go to, and a committee reviews it at least once a year.

• Find a state prisoner on the Department of Corrections person search page.
• Our New Jersey prison directory covers every state prison.
• Parole release decisions come from the State Parole Board, P.O. Box 862, Trenton, NJ 08625, 609-292-4257.

Youth cases are a Family Division matter, handled at the county courthouse, 71 Monument Park, Freehold, NJ 07728, 732-358-8700. Ask for ext. 87240, the juvenile delinquency desk.

• When a judge orders detention, the county pays for a bed at the Middlesex County Juvenile Detention Center. Address: Apple Orchard Lane, P.O. Box 7164, North Brunswick, NJ 08902, 732-297-8991.
• A few beds are also kept at the Ocean County Juvenile Detention Center, 165 Sunset Avenue, Toms River, NJ 08754, 732-288-7708.
• House arrest and ankle monitors for ages 11 to 18 are run by the county's Division of Juvenile Detention Alternatives, 3000 Kozloski Road, 3rd Floor, Freehold, NJ 07728, 732-866-3688.
• Teens 15 and up accused of the gravest crimes can face a waiver motion. If the prosecutor files it within 60 days of the complaint and the Family judge grants it after a hearing, the case moves to adult court.
• The public defender's local office, 732-308-4320, can defend a youth. Parents are responsible for the cost in youth cases.

New Jersey's constitution requires that victims get "fairness, compassion and respect" from the justice system. Victims may also sit in on public hearings unless they are kept out as a witness (N.J. Const. art. I, para. 22). New Jersey's Crime Victims Bill of Rights goes further. Victims get updates on the case, may speak in person to the judge before sentencing, and must be kept free from intimidation.

• Victim-Witness Unit of the County Prosecutor's Office, 132 Jerseyville Avenue, Freehold, NJ 07728, 732-431-6459. Staff give case updates, go with victims to court, help with claims and VINE sign-up, and help get property back.
• Victims of Crime Compensation Office, 50 Park Place, Newark, NJ 07102, 877-658-2221. It can help pay medical, counseling, funeral and lost wage costs. Claims need a police report made inside 9 months, and the claim itself filed inside 5 years of the crime.
• VINE sends alerts when an offender is released or moved. Sign up at VINELink or call 877-846-3465.