Ocean County
Situated within the Atlantic Coastal Plain of central New Jersey, Ocean County prides itself as the second largest in the state and one of four counties in New Jersey bordering the Atlantic Ocean. The county was established in 1850 with a land area of 628.78 square miles and 286.6 square miles and is currently inhabited by over 600,000 residents.
The Ocean County Superior Court system is made up of several divisions, including civil, criminal, family, municipal, and probate divisions. The Civil Division of the county's Superior Court mostly hears civil cases involving disputes in which a person (plaintiff) claims that the action of another individual (defendant) has hurt them and seeks monetary compensation. Matters like landlord/tenant disputes, car accidents, breaches of contracts, and medical malpractices are examples of such cases. Generally, the Civil Division of the Superior Court handles civil matters in which the amount in dispute does not exceed $20,000 and is further subdivided into the following parts to handle varying cases as outlined below:
- Special Civil Part - Hears civil cases in which the amount in controversy is between $5,000 and $20,000, and those with $5,000 or less, known as small claims
- General Equity Part - This part hears civil cases in which the plaintiffs are not seeking monetary damages. Such cases include matters involving foreclosures, trade secrets, and labor matters
The Family Division of the Oceanic County Superior Court hears cases emanating from families. Such cases usually relate to matters involving paternity, divorce, child support, domestic violence, family crisis, custody, legal guardianship, adoption, juvenile delinquency, foster care placement, and termination of parental rights. The Criminal Division handles all indictable criminal matters involving adult offenders in the county. The Municipal Division of the Superior Court processes various cases, including ordinance violations, certain penalty enforcement actions, vehicle and traffic violations, and disorderly and petty disorderly persons offenses.
The role of the Probation Division in the county's judicial system is crucial, as it promotes children's, the community's, and families' welfare and safety by doing the following:
- Enforcing court orders
- Monitoring behavior
- Supervising offenders
- Intervening to ensure positive results
The Ocean County Clerk is the custodian of all public court records generated from the county courts. Public court records are non-sensitive documents and information gathered from all legal cases within the judicial system. Records of criminal, civil, family, and probate cases are all available for public access at the Office of the Ocean County Clerk. Interested persons can also look up the county's public court records online via the Ocean County Clerk's Public Record Search Portal.
