NJ still needs more judges, panel told

With civil and matrimonial trials unfolding without interruption across the Garden State for the first time in more than a year and judicial vacancies at their lowest point since 2019, New Jersey Judiciary officials said more work still remains.

At an Assembly budget hearing on Monday morning, Glenn Grant, the state’s acting administrative director of the courts, said that although judicial vacancies are down, as of January the backlog of trial matters stood at 81,415 — more than double the number in June 2019.

Grant acknowledged that the issue isn’t something that will be addressed in a year but said officials hope to get the backlog down to 2019 levels by 2027 with a three-year plan.

The Judiciary would get about $895.5 million in the governor’s proposed budget. This is about $10 million — or 1% — less than what the state’s court system received in the 2024 adjusted appropriation.

The New Jersey Judiciary is an independent branch of government responsible for maintaining the court system and protecting the rights of residents. The central office, known as the Administrative Office of the Courts, manages administration of the state Supreme Court, the Appellate Division of the Superior Court and the trial divisions of the Superior Court. The Judiciary provides oversight of municipal courts as well.

What was said?

At Monday’s Assembly hearing, Judiciary officials discussed ongoing challenges — including affordable housing and car thefts — but they were steadfast in underlining that their work hinges on

New Jersey’s benches being full.

Grant said officials would ultimately like to see the number of vacancies be closer to 30 or even 25 as opposed to the current 39.

“The Judiciary doesn’t elect or appoint judges. We’ve seen remarkable progress over the last year and a half, over the last six months more specifically. We are asking the other two branches of government, including the Senate, to continue that same level of tension,” Grant said. “You’ve got to have ongoing, consistent introduction of new candidates, review and evaluation by the governor’s office and then presented to the Senate. As long as that kind of dedicated consistency is happening, we believe confidently that we will have judges across our system.”

Assemblywoman Nancy Muñoz, the minority budget officer, asked about the chief justice’s decision to reopen courts in Passaic County last week. Civil and matrimonial trials had been suspended there since last July.

Muñoz also asked about the order of prioritization in terms of addressing the backlog, which Grant said was already built into the way the Judiciary handles cases, with the criminal trial backlog taking precedence. But he said that overall the fastest way to handle the issues would be to make sure there is a “constant inflow of judges.”

What comes next?

The Assembly committee hearing is just step one of the budget process for the Judiciary. Next, Grant will testify before the state Senate’s Judiciary Committee. Then it’s up to lawmakers to decide what its funding should look like. They have until the end of June to finalize the budget and get it to Murphy’s desk.