Oxley: The Man Who Would be Judge?

Judge carefully any news you've heard about Monmouth County GOP Chairman Joseph Oxley seeking to sit on the bench in the county courthouse.

Those reports, posted recently on Politickernj.com are "premature" according to State Senator Joseph Kyrillos (R-13), who sits on the senate judiciary committee.

For more accurate reports about Oxley's supposed candidacy for the bench inside the , Kyrillos, of Middletown, yesterday suggested interested parties read More Monmouth Musings' post.

For now, Oxley, a partner with the Lyndhurst-based law firm of Scarinci Hollenbeck, is focused on re-election as chairman of the county GOP for 2012 and 2013 according to the latter blog site.

Oxley, the county sheriff from 1996 to 2007, could not be reached for comment at press time.

To date, Governor Chris Christie has not nominated Oxley for one of the three vacant Republican judgeships at the courthouse in Freehold.

As a member of the state senate's judiciary committee, Kyrillos would be one of the legislators reviewing Christie's nominations and recommending qualified candidates.

Oxley is a member of the New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and New York bar associations according to the Scarinci Hollenbeck web site. He is based in the firm's Ocean Township office.

Now completing his first two-year term as GOP chairman, Oxley grew up in Middletown. He formerly served as the township's mayor and deputy mayor before winning election to the sheriff's office in 1995.

Oxley has also served as legal counsel for the township planning board, board of education, and township committee. He has also served as municipal attorney in Sea Bright and Highlands and as public defender for the Colts Neck Board of Education.