Shrewsbury to Consider Shared Court

Shrewsbury Mayor Donald Burden said he’s willing to consider a challenge delivered from Red Bank Mayor Pat Menna that area to promote shared services and cut costs.

At the meeting Monday night, Burden said the idea has been tossed around for about three years, with little in the way of progress as its never progressed beyond an initial discussion stage. But, he said, he’s not opposed to the idea, as long as it’s done properly.

“It’s all negotiable,” he said.

The initial public discussion came last week when Menna, at a Red Bank council meeting, said area towns, including Red Bank, Shrewsbury, Rumson, Fair Haven, and Little Silver consider combining their court into one, which he’s already dubbed the Two Rivers Municipal Court.

Red Bank Councilman Michael DuPont added that towns in Sussex County have saved hundreds of thousands of dollars by combining their courts. Menna added that Matawan, Hazlet, and Keyport are combining their municipal court starting next year.

With most courts operating just once a week or bi-monthly, Menna said towns are enduring the cost of an extra public defender, prosecutor, judge, and court staff that should all be rolled into one. Burden did not completely disagree, but stopped short of committing Shrewsbury to the idea.

“We haven’t had a chance to respond (to Menna),” he said. “We’ve had some very preliminary and early informal discussions about it.”

Shrewsbury’s court operates every other Tuesday. One of the biggest issues Burden said is that of personnel. Though Menna said it’s not necessary that Red Bank host the court, there’s still the reality that several professionals throughout the area will lose their positions, regardless of how they’ve performed in them, if a combined court is developed.