NJ Attorney General Dismissed From Toms River Mayor's Lawsuit

TOMS RIVER, NJ — The New Jersey Attorney General has been dismissed as a defendant in a lawsuit filed by Toms River Mayor Daniel Rodrick alleging interference with his authority by Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer.

In an order issued Aug. 18 by Superior Court Judge Robert Lougy, state Attorney General Jennifer Davenport, the state Attorney General's Office and the state Division of Criminal Justice Prosecutor's Supervision Bureau were dismissed from the lawsuit filed in late May by Rodrick and Toms River Business Administrator Jonathan Salonis.

Lougy, who is the assignment judge in Mercer County, also ordered that the lawsuit be transferred to Ocean County Superior Court for future action.

In the lawsuit Rodrick alleges Billhimer has been interfering in Rodrick's oversight of the Toms River Police Department dating back to February 2024. He named the state Attorney General's office as a defendant in its oversight role over the prosecutor's office.

In his ruling, Lougy said he dismissed the attorney general's office as a defendant because the lawsuit "contains no allegations or even facts that would tend to support a claim" that the attorney general's office used its authority over the county prosecutor's office "to infringe upon plaintiffs’ statutory rights."

"While Plaintiffs’ briefing suggests that discovery may give rise to facts that would support a cause of action against State defendants, discovery is not a tool 'designed to lead to formulation of a legal theory,' " Lougy wrote. "Plaintiffs' contention that State defendants are interested parties is conclusory and appears to be based only on State defendants’ alleged supervisory authority over County defendants."

Lougy additionally ruled the case should be transferred to Ocean County because "all of the specific acts described in plaintiffs’ Complaint giving rise to plaintiffs’ claim occurred in Ocean County and are attributed to County defendants."