Public Hearing on Regional Court System in Matawan Oct. 18 [POLL]

The Matawan Borough Council will hold a public hearing for an ordinance introduced Sept. 21 that would abolish the municipal court and create a regional court system between Matawan Borough, Hazlet Township and Keyport Borough.

The hearing will be held at tonight's council meeting, which starts at 7 p.m. at the Matawan Municipal Community Center at 201 Broad Street.

The ordinance eliminates each municipality's individual court, including the Municipal Court of the Borough of Matawan. Starting Jan. 1, 2012, any summonses, municipal court matters, or pending cases from all three municipalities would be processed by the Joint Municipal Court of Hazlet, Keyport and Matawan.

The Joint Municipal Court would reside in Hazlet, according to Matawan Mayor Paul Buccellato, as they have the largest and most up-to-date facility.

"Hazlet has video conferencing back to [the Monmouth County Jail], so transportation costs of prisoners are eliminated," Buccellato said.

The municipalities would share the cost of the services, however revenue generated from summonses and court fees would not be shared.

According to a mutual written agreement between the municipalities, Matawan would be responsible for 22.46 percent of the total cost.

Buccellato said that it would save the borough between $100,000 and $110,000 per year, which is higher than the original estimate of $80,000 saved per year.

Read more about the Joint Regional Court .