In separate meetings on Nov. 12 the governing bodies of Dennis Township and Sea Isle City authorized an agreement to share municipal court services. The change comes at the end of a 10-year arrangement made in 2014 in which Dennis shared court services with Upper Township.
According to the agreement, the new arrangement goes into effect on Feb. 1, 2025. The annual term of the contract will be Feb. 1 to Jan. 31 each year. The total term of the agreement is four years.
Sea Isle City Mayor Len Desiderio told the public at the City Council meeting that Sea Isle submitted a proposal to provide the services at the request of Dennis Township. Desiderio call the arrangement “a fair deal between the two communities that will provide for the continuation of municipal court functions in Dennis at no cost to Sea Isle’s taxpayers.”
The amount Dennis will pay for year one of the agreement is $115,000 plus “an amount equal to one half of all revenue Dennis receives from Dennis Municipal Court Matters.” According to Jessica Bishop, Dennis Township administrator and chief financial officer, the township sought bids from both Upper Township and Sea Isle City. The Dennis governing body decided to sign with Sea Isle based on a cost savings of $92,000 over the four-year term.
The sharing of court services is relatively common. In Cape May County only three municipal courts in 2025 will stand alone without a shared service relationship with another municipality. These courts are Ocean City, North Wildwood and Upper Township.
The way a shared service arrangement works can vary.
If two municipalities agree to share court services, one is usually providing service to the other for a fee. The courts may share space, staff, supplies and security arrangements. Each court keeps its unique identity and court name. Although cases are heard in a common location, those cases remain within the jurisdiction of the original court.
When someone travels north on Dune Drive to argue a parking ticket received in Stone Harbor, it is because the courtroom and the court personnel are at an Avalon facility.
Municipalities can consolidate courts into a single joint court as well. This option causes the consolidating courts to lose their previous identities. They become one court with a larger area of jurisdiction. There are also major differences in the appointment of a judge for such a court. The governing bodies lose control they once had.
Most of the time the shared court model is used, as it is across many county municipalities. The goal is usually to save money and perform the services more efficiently. The leading entity in the sharing relationship provides the facilities. In the case of the newly approved relationship between Dennis and Sea Isle, those Dennis residents who will have business in municipal court will travel to Sea Isle City to conduct that business.
In Cape May County the shared model is used throughout, with Cape May City providing municipal court services to Cape May Point as well as sharing a court administrator with West Cape May; Wildwood providing services to West Wildwood, Avalon doing the same for Stone Harbor, Middle Township servicing Woodbine, and Wildwood Crest in an arrangement with Lower Township.
Contact the reporter, Vince Conti, at vconti@cmcherald.com.
