New Jersey Courts

Sonya Noyes
Municipal Division Manager
973-247-8101
973-424-6890 fax

Passaic Vicinage Municipal Division

Municipal court hours and locations

The Municipal Division is responsible for a wide range of programs and technologies aimed at improving the municipal court system and the services that it renders to the citizenry of the State of New Jersey. In Passaic County there are sixteen municipal courts. These are located in Bloomingdale, Clifton, Haledon, Hawthorne, Little Falls, North Haledon, Passaic, Paterson, Pompton Lakes, Prospect Park, Ringwood, Totowa, Wanaque, Wayne, West Milford and Woodland Park.

The Municipal Court is the court of lesser criminal and quasi-criminal jurisdiction in the state. Yet the late Chief Justice Vanderbilt stated that it was the most important court, because it was here that the majority of our citizens receive their only impression of our system of justice. The processing of all indictable charges begins in the municipal court. Disorderly persons offenses, traffic offenses and violations of local ordinances are all adjudicated in the municipal court. The municipal court is also the court where victims of domestic violence are able to request temporary restraining orders during the hours that Superior Court is not in session.

The Municipal Court is divided into a violations bureau and the trial court. Most traffic and ordinance violations can be paid through the violations bureau. Offenses that require a court appearance and contested matters are scheduled for court. The court hours vary in each municipal court and are listed below. Each municipal court in Passaic County maintains a full time court office.

The municipal courts currently offer the Complementary Dispute Resolution (CDR) program. This is a program in which disputes between citizens may be resolved through mediation. This program is staffed by volunteers who have had a minimum of 18 hours of specialized training. Examples of the type of cases that can be heard in mediation are: harassment; simple assault; theft of property or services under $200.00; trespassing; bad checks under $200.00; noise complaints; disorderly conduct; destruction of property; creating a disturbance; and animal complaints.

The Municipal Division Manager's Office for Passaic Vicinage is located at 77 Hamilton Street on the sixth floor.

510 Belmont Avenue
Haledon 07508