There are 21 counties in the state of New Jersey. The New Jersey Superior Court subsumed and replaced the New Jersey County Courts, which were abolished in 1978. The Superior Court has 15 vicinages (jurisdictional districts or circuits), some encompassing two or three counties, each of which has its own courthouse or courthouses. Frequently the county courthouse is home to the appropriate vicinage of the Superior Court. Some counties have different facilities for different divisions, such as the criminal, civil, family, and finance courts. In some counties there are other buildings which house court facilities where proceedings take place, some of which are historic county courthouse or administration buildings, which may also serve as offices for county, state or federal agencies.
Many court buildings have been evaluated by the state historic preservation office (SHPO) and have been listed on the New Jersey Register of Historic Places (NJRHP) and the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP), either individually or as contributing properties (CP) to historic districts. Several have been documented by the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS). Three courthouses (at Salem, Sussex, and Burlington) dating from the 18th century that are among the oldest courthouses in the United States still in active use.
The Richard J. Hughes Justice Complex in Trenton, the state capital, is home the administrative headquarters of the statewide court system of the Judiciary of New Jersey, including the New Jersey Supreme Court and the Appellate Division of the New Jersey Superior Court.
The below lists include buildings in active use as well as extant historic buildings that have served county courthouses.
Courthouses
| County, Courthouse, Location | Image | Map | Built, Architect | SHPO NJRHP (SR) NRHP (NR) HABS | Notes | References |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Atlantic, Atlantic County Criminal Courts Complex, Mays Landing, Hamilton Township 39°26′18″N 74°41′28″W / 39.4383°N 74.6912°W | 1978 | |||||
| Atlantic, Atlantic County Civil Courts Complex, Atlantic City 39°21′50″N 74°25′36″W / 39.3640°N 74.4266°W | ||||||
| Bergen, Bergen County Court House, Hackensack 40°52′43″N 74°02′38″W / 40.8786°N 74.0438°W | 1910–12, James Riely Gordon | SR: 520 (1982) NR: 83001468 (1983) | ||||
| Burlington, Burlington County Courthouse, Mount Holly 39°59′46″N 74°47′21″W / 39.9961°N 74.7891°W | 1796, Michael Rush | CP: Mount Holly Historic District SR: 842 (1972) NR: 73001084 (1973) HABS NJ-27 | ||||
| Camden, Camden County Hall of Justice, Camden 39°56′35″N 75°07′21″W / 39.9430°N 75.1225°W | 1982 | |||||
| Cape May, Cape May County Courthouse, Cape May Court House, Middle Township 39°05′00″N 74°49′26″W / 39.0834°N 74.8238°W | 1927, Edwards & Green | |||||
| Cumberland, Cumberland County Courthouse, Bridgeton 39°25′39″N 75°14′21″W / 39.4275°N 75.2391°W | 1909, Watson & Huckel | CP: Bridgeton Historic District SR: 1020 (1982) NR: 82001043 (1982) | ||||
| Essex, Essex County Courthouse, Newark 40°44′14″N 74°10′44″W / 40.7372°N 74.1789°W | 1905, Cass Gilbert, Piccirilli Brothers | SR: 1246 (1975) NR: 75001135 (1975) | Family Court located in Gibraltar Building | |||
| Gloucester, Gloucester County Courthouse, Woodbury 39°50′19″N 75°09′12″W / 39.8386°N 75.1534°W | 1885, Hazelhurst and Huckel | CP: Broad Street Historic District SR: 1429 (1988) | Also a Gloucester County Family Court building | |||
| Hudson, Hudson County Courthouse, Jersey City 40°43′54″N 74°03′27″W / 40.7316°N 74.0575°W | 1910, Hugh Roberts | SR: 1510 (1970) NR: 70000385 (1970) HABS NJ-841 | ||||
| Hudson, Hudson County Administration Building, Jersey City 40°43′57″N 74°03′29″W / 40.7326°N 74.0581°W | 1953, 1964 | |||||
| Hunterdon, Hunterdon County Courthouse, Flemington 40°30′45″N 74°51′38″W / 40.5125°N 74.8606°W | 1996 | |||||
| Mercer, Mercer County Criminal Courthouse, Trenton 40°12′55″N 74°45′48″W / 40.2154°N 74.7633°W | 2013 | |||||
| Mercer, Mercer County Civil Courthouse, Trenton 40°13′01″N 74°45′50″W / 40.2170°N 74.7638°W | ||||||
| Middlesex, Middlesex County Courthouse, Civic Square, New Brunswick 40°29′41″N 74°26′43″W / 40.4946°N 74.4454°W | 1959 | Also a Middlesex County Family Courthouse (see table below) | ||||
| Monmouth, Monmouth County Courthouse, Freehold 40°15′51″N 74°16′42″W / 40.2642°N 74.2782°W | 1954, James W. Mancusa | |||||
| Morris, Morris County Courthouse, Morristown 40°47′52″N 74°29′02″W / 40.79773°N 74.48397°W | 1827, Lewis Carter, Joseph M. Lindsley | SR: 2190 NR: 77000898 | ||||
| Ocean, Ocean County Courthouse, Toms River 39°57′11″N 74°11′41″W / 39.95300°N 74.19475°W | 1851 | SR: NR: 83001610 | ||||
| Passaic, Passaic County Court House, Paterson 40°54′48″N 74°10′16″W / 40.9134°N 74.1711°W | 1904 | |||||
| Salem, Salem County Court House, Salem 39°34′22″N 75°27′58″W / 39.5729°N 75.4661°W | 1969 | |||||
| Somerset, Somerset County Courthouse, Somerville 40°34′06″N 74°36′37″W / 40.56844°N 74.61039°W | 1907–09 | SR: 2582 NR: 89001216 | ||||
| Sussex, Sussex County Judicial Center, Newton 41°03′31″N 74°45′17″W / 41.0587°N 74.7547°W | 1992 | |||||
| Union, Union County Courthouse, Elizabeth 40°39′44″N 74°12′58″W / 40.66216°N 74.21602°W | 1925–31, Albert Randolph Ross | SR: 2665 (1994) NR: 950001143 (1995) | ||||
| Warren, Warren County Courthouse, Belvidere 40°49′39″N 75°04′35″W / 40.8275°N 75.0765°W | 1826, L. H. Lewis | CP: Belvidere Historic District SR: 2747 (1978) NR: 80002525 (1981) |
Historic buildings, annexes, additional and alternative courthouses
| County, Courthouse, Location | Image | Map | Built, Architect | SHPO NJRHP (SR) NRHP (NR) HABS | Notes | References |
| Atlantic, Atlantic County Courthouse, Mays Landing, Hamilton Township 39°27′07″N 74°43′34″W / 39.452°N 74.726°W | 1838, 1916, 1978 | CP: Mays Landing Historic District SR: 338 (1990) NR: 90001245 (1990) | Office of County Clerk | |||
| Cape May, Old Cape May County Courthouse, Cape May Court House, Middle Township 39°05′02″N 74°49′24″W / 39.08375°N 74.82326°W | 1848 | SR: 1006 (1981) NR: 81000389 (1981) HABS NJ-1112 | ||||
| Hunterdon, Old Hunterdon County Courthouse, Flemington 40°30′38″N 74°51′34″W / 40.51045°N 74.85933°W | 1828, Springer | CP: Flemington Historic District SHPO: 79 (1977) SR: 1587 (1980) NR: 80002493 (1980) HABS NJ-771 | ||||
| Mercer, Mercer County Courthouse, Trenton 40°12′57″N 74°45′45″W / 40.21585°N 74.76263°W | 1900–02, William Slack | Mercer County Prosecutors Office | ||||
| Middlesex, Middlesex County Family Courthouse, Civic Square, New Brunswick 40°29′33″N 74°26′50″W / 40.4924°N 74.4471°W | 2000 | |||||
| Passaic, Old Passaic County Court House, Paterson 40°54′50″N 74°10′16″W / 40.91392°N 74.17112°W | 1902, Fred Wesley Wentworth (supervising architect) | CP: Passaic County Court House and United States Custom House & Post Office Historic District SR: 5441 (2015) | ||||
| Passaic, Passaic County Court House Annex, Paterson 40°54′52″N 74°10′17″W / 40.91437°N 74.17141°W | 1899, Fred Wesley Wentworth | |||||
| Salem, Old Salem County Courthouse, Salem 39°34′20″N 75°28′00″W / 39.57214°N 75.46666°W | 1735, 1818 | CP: Market Street Historic District SR: 2449 NR: 75001157 | 2nd oldest U.S. courthouse in continual use | |||
| Sussex, Sussex County Courthouse, Newton 41°03′32″N 74°45′13″W / 41.05879°N 74.75365°W | 1765 original 1847 rebuilt | CP: Newton Town Plot Historic District SR: 2618 (1979) NR: 79001523 (1979) | Sussex County Judicial Center |
See also
- List of counties in New Jersey
- Courts of New Jersey
- Judiciary of New Jersey
- List of United States federal courthouses in New Jersey
- List of the oldest courthouses in the United States
- List of courthouses in the United States
- Vicinage Clause
Sources
- "New Jersey Courts: County Courts". State of New Jersey Department of Judiciary.
- "Counties in New Jersey". Courthouse History: New Jersey.
- "New Jersey". Emporis. Archived from the original on April 6, 2015.
- "New Jersey and National Registers of Historic Places". New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection-Historic Preservation Office.
- Deacon, John. "American Courthouses". www.courthouses.co.
wikipedia, wiki, encyclopedia, book, library, article, read, free download, Information about List of county courthouses in New Jersey, What is List of county courthouses in New Jersey? What does List of county courthouses in New Jersey mean?