How to Appeal a Decision of a Municipal Court
Revised 11/2014, CN 10559-English (How to Appeal a Decision of a Municipal Court) page 3 of 8
6 STEPS FOR FILING YOUR APPEAL
STEP 1: Fill out FORM A (Notice of Municipal
Court Appeal).
STEP 2: Fill out FORM B (Transcript Request
Municipal Court).
As part of the appeal process, you must order an original
and a copy of the written record, also called a transcript,
of your Municipal Court hearing. To order these
transcripts, you must fill out FORM B (Transcript
Request-Municipal Court) and mail or deliver it to the
Municipal Court where your hearing took place.
NOTE: You will have to pay for the transcript in
advance. This non-refundable fee depends on the
length of your trial. Before you send or deliver the
Transcript Request-Municipal Court form to the court,
please call the court to get from them 1) the estimated
cost of the transcript and 2) who the check should be
written to. If you cannot afford to pay for the
transcript, ask court staff at either the Municipal or
Superior Court how you can apply to have the
transcript produced at court expense.
One of the two transcripts you are required to order is
for the Prosecutor and the other is for the Criminal
Division Manager at the Superior Court (see STEPS 4
and 6). If you want a transcript for yourself, you
should order a third copy when you place your original
transcript order.
STEP 3: Mail or deliver FORM A (Notice of
Municipal Court Appeal)) to the Municipal Court.
In order to let the Municipal Court Administrator of the
Municipal Court in which you were originally found
guilty know that you are filing an appeal, you must mail
or deliver FORM A (Notice of Municipal Court Appeal)
to that court. The Municipal Court must receive this form
no later than 20 calendar days (this includes weekends
& holidays) after the date you were found guilty. If the
Municipal Court does not RECEIVE the appeal form
by the 20 day deadline, your appeal will not be heard.
NOTE: Before you deliver or mail the original of
FORM A to the Municipal Court, please make some
extra copies. The information contained in STEPS 4
and 6 will let you know how many copies you will
need. These additional copies are needed to help you
complete the filing of your appeal.
If you mail FORM A instead of delivering it in person,
you should send it certified mail, return receipt requested.
Your post office can tell you how to do this.
STEP 4: Mail or deliver a copy of FORM A
(Notice of Municipal Court Appeal) to the
Prosecutor.
You must send a copy of FORM A to the Prosecutor no
later than 5 days after you mailed or delivered the
original copy of FORM A to the Municipal Court. If you
mail the form, instead of delivering it in person, you
should send it certified mail, return receipt requested.
In almost all cases the prosecuting attorney is the County
Prosecutor. However, in some cases the prosecuting
attorney may be a different person. To determine if the
prosecuting attorney for your case may be someone other
than the County Prosecutor, please refer to the sheet at the
end of this packet labeled Determining the Prosecuting
Attorney.
STEP 5: Fill out FORM C (Certification of
Timely Filing).
Fill out the Certification of Timely Filing (FORM C) and
attach it to a copy of FORM A. FORM C is your
certification telling the court that you mailed the
necessary papers on time and to the correct places.
STEP 6: Mail or deliver a copy of FORM A
(Notice of Municipal Court Appeal) and the
original of the FORM C (Certification of Timely
Filing) to the Criminal Division Manager at the
Superior Court.
You must send a copy of FORM A (Notice of Municipal
Court Appeal) and the original of FORM C (Certification
of Timely Filing) to the Criminal Division Manager at the
Superior Court. The Superior Court must receive these
forms no later than 5 days after the original copy of
FORM A (Notice of Municipal Court Appeal) was
received by the Municipal Court. If you mail the forms,
you should send them in one envelope certified mail,
return receipt requested.
The copy of FORM A and the original of FORM C
should be mailed or delivered to the Criminal Division
Manager at the County Courthouse in the county where
the original Municipal Court case was heard. This
address can be found in the Directory of Superior Court
Clerk’s Offices-Law Division contained in this packet. If
you are not sure which county you should file your appeal
in, ask someone at the Municipal Court for assistance.
NOTE: A filing fee of $100 is required to file your
Notice of Appeal with the Criminal Division Manager.
Make the check or money order payable to the Treasurer,
State of New Jersey. However, if you cannot afford to
pay for filing the appeal, ask the court staff at either the
Municipal or Superior Court how to apply for the waiver
of the filing fee.