Avalon, Stone Harbor To Share Court

Posted April 1st 2021

Avalon and Stone Harbor entered into a shared services agreement at the start of the year that will result in a shared court system. Under the agreement, the boroughs each will save an estimated $150,000 annually, while additionally improving efficiency of court operations for both towns.

“This is a move that certainly makes sense from a financial and logistical point of view,” said Stone Harbor Mayor Judith Davies-Dunhour. “When exploring shared services, a municipality not only wants to save money but also wants to ensure the service being provided does not suffer in a manner that adversely affects the taxpayer. In this case, the taxpayer is served and the service being provided remains efficient and effective.”

The agreement includes moving the court to Avalon’s Borough Hall as well as utilizing a single court administrator, deputy court administrator, municipal prosecutor, and public defender. Before this agreement, Avalon and Stone Harbor shared a court administrator, Deborah Scott, who retired on Dec. 31, 2020. Moving forward, Stone Harbor Municipal Court Judge James Birchmeier will preside over Stone Harbor cases through the end of his appointment in August 2021. After that, Avalon Municipal Court Judge Andrew Cafiero will preside over both towns’ court cases. In addition, there will be one court schedule that will be utilized by both municipalities with cases being heard on the same day.

“As sister communities, we are always working to save taxpayer money while improving the level of services that we provide,” said Avalon Mayor Martin Pagliuhi. “Avalon welcomes the opportunity to manage court operations for both municipalities.”

Visit avalonboro.net and shnj.org for court information.