Government of New Jersey

New Jersey's State House in Trenton, New Jersey, seen from the west

The government of the State of New Jersey is separated into three distinct branches: legislative, executive, and judicial. The powers of the state are vested by the state constitution, enacted in 1947, in a bicameral state legislature (consisting of the General Assembly and Senate), the Governor, and the state courts, headed the New Jersey Supreme Court. The powers and duties of these branches are further defined by acts of the state legislature, including the creation of executive departments and courts inferior to the Supreme Court. Like most states, the state allows the incorporation of county, and other local municipal government.

New Jersey State Constitution

Main articles: New Jersey State Constitution and History of the New Jersey State Constitution

Current constitution

New Jersey is governed under a constitution that was enacted in 1947 during a convention held at Rutgers University's College Avenue Gymnasium in New Brunswick, New Jersey. Much of the political structure of the 1844 constitution was carried into the 1947 document. The governor, elected by the people, was elected for a four-year term instead of a three-year term.

However, the old means of electing legislators with state senators decided by county boundaries was deemed unconstitutional by the Supreme Court of the United States. Under this system, a county with a large population made equal to a county with a small population in having only one senator. The Supreme Court in Baker v. Carr 369 U.S. 186 (1962) and Reynolds v. Simms, 377 U.S. 533 (1964) found this to violate the "one-man, one-vote" doctrine embodied in the Federal Constitution's 14th Amendment Equal Protection Clause. A constitutional convention held in 1966 created a state legislature with 40 coterminous legislative districts represented by one state senator and two state assemblymen.

In 2005, the constitution was amended to create the post of Lieutenant Governor, and to alter the order of succession in the event the governor's office was vacated. The resignation of two governors in 2001 and 2004 led to the state being led by several acting governor who simultaneously served as the president of the state senate. The issues regarding the separation of executive and legislative powers, and other concerns created a political controversy where public and media pressure sought a permanent solution to this problem which was inherited from previous state and colonial constitutions and political conventions.

Historical constitutions

New Jersey has been governed under the authority of several constitutional documents. As a colony, the first, the Concession and Agreement (1665), was written by the colony's Lords Proprietors, Sir George Carteret and John Berkeley, 1st Baron Berkeley of Stratton, which offered broad provisions for religious freedom. After the interests of Lord Berkeley and Carteret were sold to investors, New Jersey was divided into two distinct proprietary colonies West Jersey, and East Jersey each with their own constitutions enacted in 1681 and 1683 respectively. The proprietors were compelled to cede their political authority to the Crown, and both colonies were reunited in 1702 as a Crown colony under the direct command of Queen Anne.

At the onset of the American Revolution, New Jersey was governed by waning British colonial authority. William Franklin, the province's last royal governor before the American Revolution (1775–83), was marginalized in the last year of his tenure, as the province was run de facto by the Provincial Congress of New Jersey. Franklin considered the Provincial Congress to be an "illegal assembly" and attempted to reassert royal authority. In June 1776, the Provincial Congress formally deposed Franklin and had him arrested, adopted its first state constitution on July 2, 1776, and reorganized the province into an independent state. The newly formed State of New Jersey elected William Livingston as its first governor on August 31, 1776—a position he would be reelected to until his death in 1790.

While New Jersey was in a state of war, delegates of the Provincial Congress drafted the first constitution in a span of five days and ratified it only two days later. Its primary objective was to provide a basic governmental framework that would assume control of the territory after the collapse of royal authority and maintain civil order. This constitution served as the charter document for the State's government for the next 68 years. Among its provisions, the document granted suffrage rights to unmarried women and African-Americans who met the requirements of possessing sufficient assets or property as "freeholders". The legislature was elected each year and selected the state's governor. It did not specify an amendment procedure and had to be replaced entirely in a constitutional convention. The suffrage rights in the 1776 constitution were limited by the state legislature in 1807 to restrict voting rights to white male citizens who paid taxes. Women who voted in earlier elections tended to support the Federalist Party, and this effort was largely an effort of the Democratic-Republican Party's attempt to unify its factions for the 1808 presidential election.

The state's second constitution was adopted on June 29, 1844. Among its provisions was a distinct separation of powers into three branches (executive, legislative and judicial branches), limiting the right to vote to white males, and granted the people (as opposed to the legislature) the right of a popular election for the state's governor. The document limited the state government's ability to accumulate public debt.

Legislative

The New Jersey Senate during a session in June 2013

Main article: New Jersey State Legislature

The NJ Constitution provides for a bicameral Legislature consisting of a Senate of 40 members and an Assembly of 80 members. Each of the 40 legislative districts elects one Senator and two Assembly members. Assembly members are elected by the people for a two-year term in all odd-numbered years; Senators are elected in the years ending in 1, 3, and 7 and thus serve either four or two year terms.

The Legislature is responsible for the appointment of the New Jersey State Auditor, the only state officer which is appointed by the legislature.

Legislative districts

Main article: New Jersey Legislative Districts, 2011 apportionment

The members of the New Jersey Legislature are chosen from 40 electoral districts. Each district elects one Senator and two Assemblymen. New Jersey is one of seven U.S. states (with Arizona, Idaho, Maryland, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Washington) in which districts for the upper and lower house of the legislature are coterminous. Districts are redefined decennially by the New Jersey Apportionment Commission following each U.S. Census, as provided by Article IV, Section III of the State Constitution.

Senate

Main article: New Jersey Senate

General Assembly

Main article: New Jersey General Assembly

Executive branch

Chris Christie is New Jersey's 55th Governor.

The state executive is the Governor of New Jersey. He heads the executive branch, which is organized into departments, which may not number more than twenty according to the constitution. Temporary commissions may be allocated by law for special purposes outside of the departments.

There are eighteen departments and fifty-six agencies.

Governor

Main article: Governor of New Jersey

The Governor is responsible for appointing two constitutionally created officers, the New Jersey Attorney General and the New Jersey Secretary of State, with the approval of the senate.

Lieutenant Governor

Taking office on January 19, 2010, Republican Kim Guadagno became New Jersey's first modern lieutenant governor.

Main article: Lieutenant Governor of New Jersey

Prior to 2010, New Jersey was one of a few states in the United States that did not have a Lieutenant Governor to succeed to the governorship in the event of a vacancy in that office. For most of the state's (and previously the colony's) history, a vacancy in the position of governor was filled by the president of the State Senate (called the "Legislative Council" from 1776 to 1844), or during the colonial era by the president of the royal governor's Provincial Council. After several episodes where the state had multiple "acting governors" in the span of a few years following the resignations of Governor Christine Todd Whitman in 2001 and Governor James E. McGreevey in 2004, popular sentiment and political pressure from the state's residents and news media outlets sought a permanent and tenable solution to the issue of succession when the governor's office became vacant. A 2005 referendum to amend the constitution provided for the position of lieutenant governor to be created, to change the order of succession, and that the post would be filled in next gubernatorial election (2009).

The position of lieutenant governor is the second highest-ranking official in the state government. The lieutenant governor is elected on a ticket with the governor for a four-year term. The lieutenant governor's term is concurrent to the governor's four-year term. Because the position lacks distinct powers or purpose other than to exist solely as next in the order of succession, the state constitution requires that the lieutenant governor be appointed to serve as the head of a cabinet-level department or administrative agency within the Governor's administration. However, pursuant to the state constitution, a lieutenant governor cannot serve as the state's Attorney General.

Republican Kim Guadagno is the first to serve in the post in its modern form. Guadagno, previously the sheriff in Monmouth County, was chosen by Governor Chris Christie to be his running-mate on the Republican party ticket in the 2009 election. In addition to being lieutenant governor, Guadagno serves in Governor Christie's cabinet as New Jersey's 33rd Secretary of State.

Cabinet-level or principal departments

The state constitution provides that the governor appoints the heads of up to 20 principal departments. As of 2013, there are 15 cabinet-level or principal departments in the state's executive branch.

Principal department	Title	Current officeholder	Notes
Department of Agriculture	Secretary	Douglas H. Fisher	Department jointly managed by the Secretary of Agriculture and an 8-member State Board of Agriculture Department promotes and protect state agriculture and agribusiness; oversees school meal programs, distribution of surplus food from federal programs; oversees soil and water resources; maintains farmland for agricultural uses; promotes development of overseas markets for New Jersey products from its farms and fisheries; and administers agricultural education programs.
Department of Banking and Insurance	Commissioner	Kenneth E. Kobylowski	Department licenses and regulates all state-chartered financial institutions, regulates the state's insurance industry, and handles investigations and prosecutions for civil insurance fraud violations
Department of Children and Families	Commissioner	Allison Blake, Ph.D.	Department ensures the safety, well-being and success of children, youth, families and communities through licensing child care facilities; overseeing specialized educational services; preventing, investigating and intervening to stop child abuse and neglect, providing services for pregnant women, childrens' behavioral health, and welfare programs
Department of Community Affairs	Commissioner	Richard E. Constable, III (acting)	Department provides administrative guidance, financial support, and technical assistance to local governments, community development organizations, businesses and individuals to improve the quality of life in New Jersey. Oversees municipality's financial integrity and solvency, statewide implementation of building codes, fire safety codes, and promote community planning and economic development
Department of Corrections	Commissioner	Gary M. Lanigan	Department operates 14 major correctional or penal institutions, including eight adult male correctional facilities, three youth facilities, one facility for sex offenders, one women's correctional institution and a central reception / intake unit; and stabilization and reintegration programs for released inmates.
Department of Education	Commissioner	Chris Cerf	Department administers state and federal aid programs affecting more than 1.4 million public and non-public elementary and secondary school children; ensures schools comply with state and federal laws and regulations; oversees pupil transportation services; directs education programs for adults and for persons who are handicapped, disadvantaged or foreign-born
Department of Environmental Protection	Commissioner	Robert J. Martin	Department responsible for managing the state's natural resources and addressing issues related to pollution, monitors and sets standards for State's air quality and fresh, marine, ground water quality; compels environmental remediation of contaminated or polluted sites; oversees solid and hazardous waste management programs; protects and manages open space, wetlands, coastal and stream/floodplains, state parks, state forests, and protects private lands from wildfire; protects and manages the state's fish and wildlife resources
Department of Health	Commissioner	Mary E. O'Dowd, M.P.H.	Department records vital statistics (birth, marriages, deaths, etc.); protects the public health through regulatory compliance and community programs; evaluates and licenses health care facilities; facilitates medical research
Department of Human Services	Commissioner	Jennifer Velez, Esq.	Department serves seniors, individuals and families with low incomes; people with mental illnesses, addictions, developmental disabilities, or late-onset disabilities; people who are blind, visually impaired, deaf, hard of hearing, or deaf-blind; parents needing child care services, child support and/or healthcare for their children; and families facing catastrophic medical expenses for their children.
Department of Labor and Workforce Development	Commissioner	Harold J. Wirths	Deparment administers state- and federal-funded job training programs, workers' compensation courts, unemployment insurance program, temporary disability insurance program, family leave insurance program, wage and hour enforcement
Department of Law and Public Safety	Attorney General	John Jay Hoffman (acting)	Department responsible for public prosecutions, protecting and safeguarding civil and consumer rights, promoting highway traffic safety, maintaining public confidence in the alcoholic beverage, gaming and racing industries and providing legal services and counsel to other state agencies
Department of Military and Veterans Affairs	Adjutant General	Brigadier General Michael L. Cunniff	Department consists of New Jersey Army National Guard and New Jersey Air National Guard, and includes emergency services and disaster preparedness and response, and veterans affairs.
Department of State	Secretary of State	Kim Guadagno (as Lieutenant Governor)	Oversees state archives and records management; management and certification of elections; artistic, cultural and historical programs; promotes tourism; keeper of the state's Great Seal; also nominally oversees higher education and the Sports and Exposition Authority
Department of Transportation	Commissioner	James Simpson	Department oversees maintenance and operation of state's highway and public road system, planning and developing transportation policy and assisting with rail, freight and intermodal transportation issues; oversees New Jersey Transit (passenger rail, light rail, and bus); formerly included Division of Motor Vehicles (DMV), which was re-established in 2003 as the self-operating New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission (MVC).
Department of the Treasury	State Treasurer	Andrew P. Sidamon-Eristoff	Department work to ensure the most beneficial use of fiscal resources and revenues to meet critical needs, all within a policy framework set by the governor; to formulate and manage the state's budget, generate and collect revenues, disburse the appropriations used to operate New Jersey state government, manage the state's physical and financial assets, and provide statewide support services to state and local government agencies

Adminstrative agencies

• New Jersey Office of Administrative Law
• New Jersey Advisory Committee on Police Standards
• New Jersey Board of Public Utilities
• New Jersey Commission on Brain Injury Research
• New Jersey Building Authority
• New Jersey Casino Control Commission
• New Jersey Clean Air Council
• New Jersey Commission on Cancer Research
• New Jersey Commission on Higher Education
• New Jersey Commission on Science and Technology
• New Jersey Council on Local Mandates
• Delaware River Basin Commission
• New Jersey Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control
• New Jersey Division of Rate Counsel
• New Jersey Economic Development Authority
• New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission (Campaign and Lobbying Disclosure)
• New Jersey Emergency Management Agency
• New Jersey Energy Master Plan Agency
• Fort Monmouth Economic Revitalization Authority (FMERA)
• Garden State Preservation Trust
• New Jersey Governor's Council on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse
• Higher Education Student Assistance Authority
• New Jersey Highlands Council
• New Jersey Historic Trust (NJHT)
• New Jersey Homeland Security
• New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency
• New Jersey Housing Resource Center (NJHRC)
• New Jersey Office of Information Technology
• New Jersey Inspector General
• New Jersey Interstate Environmental Commission
• New Jersey Lottery
• New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission
• New Jersey Educational Facilities Authority (NJEFA)
• New Jersey Environmental Infrastructure Trust
• New Jersey Health Care Facilities Financing Authority (NJHCFFA)
• New Jersey Meadowlands Commission
• New Jersey Network (NJN)
• New Jersey Real Estate Commission
• New Jersey Redevelopment Authority (NJRA)
• New Jersey Schools Construction Corporation
• New Jersey Transit
• New Jersey Pinelands Commission
• New Jersey Pinelands Development Credit Bank
• New Jersey Professional Boards and Advisory Committees
• New Jersey Office of the Public Defender
• New Jersey Public Employment Relations Commission
• New Jersey Commission on Spinal Cord Research
• New Jersey State Casino Reinvestment Development Authority
• New Jersey State Commission of Investigation
• New Jersey State Employment and Training Commission
• New Jersey State Ethics Commission
• New Jersey State Library
• New Jersey State Parole Board
• New Jersey State Police
• New Jersey Turnpike Authority
• New Jersey Victims of Crime Compensation Board
• New Jersey Waterfront Commission of New York Harbor

Judicial

Main article: Judiciary of New Jersey

The state court system of New Jersey comprises the New Jersey Supreme Court, the state supreme court, and many lower courts.

Supreme Court of New Jersey

The Richard J. Hughes Justice Complex, in Trenton, is where the Supreme Court of New Jersey sits. It also houses the Administrative Office of the Courts which oversees the lower courts statewide.

Main article: New Jersey Supreme Court

The Supreme Court is the highest court in the state. It hears appeals from the Appellate Courts. It has the capacity, rarely exercised, to look into other cases within the judicial and executive branches.

The Court consists of a chief justice and six associate justices. All are appointed by the Governor with the advice and consent of a majority of the membership of the state senate. Justices serve an initial seven-year term, after which they can be reappointed to serve until age 70. The New Jersey Supreme Court was created and its role established by the delegates to the Constitutional Convention of 1947. As the highest court in the State, it replaced the prior Court of Errors and Appeals, created under the Constitution of 1844. It is the final judicial authority on all cases in the state court system, the sole determinant of the constitutionality of state laws with respect to the state constitution, and the arbiter and overseer of the decennial legislative redistricting.

Membership

Name	Title	Sworn in	Term expires	Mandatory retirement	Appointing Governor	Political affiliation
Stuart Rabner	Chief Justice	June 29, 2007	June 29, 2014	June 30, 2030	Jon Corzine (D)	Democrat[2]
Jaynee LaVecchia	Associate Justice	February 1, 2000	Tenured	October 9, 2024	Christine Todd Whitman (R)	Independent[3]
Barry T. Albin	Associate Justice	September 18, 2002	Tenured	July 7, 2022	Jim McGreevey (D)	Democratic[4]
Helen E. Hoens	Associate Justice	October 26, 2006	October 26, 2013	July 31, 2024	Jon Corzine (D)	Republican[5]
Anne M. Patterson	Associate Justice	September 1, 2011	September 1, 2018	April 15, 2029	Chris Christie (R)	Republican[6]
Vacancy (since May 20, 2010 when the seven-year term of Justice John E. Wallace, Jr. expired) (Democrat Mary Catherine Cuff temporarily assigned)	Associate Justice				Chris Christie (R)	Democratic[7]
Vacancy (since March 1, 2012 when Justice Virginia Long retired at age 70) (Republican Ariel A. Rodriguez temporarily assigned)	Associate Justice				Chris Christie (R)	Republican[8]

Superior Court of New Jersey, Appellate Division

Main article: New Jersey Superior Court, Appellate Division

According to Mandel's New Jersey Appellate Practice, "The Appellate Division of New Jersey's Superior Court is the first level appellate court, with appellate review authority over final judgments of the trial divisions and the Tax Court and over final decisions and actions of State administrative agencies."

The state's Supreme Court held that "an appellate court's judgment provides 'the final directive of the appeals courts as to the matter appealed, setting out with specificity the court's determination that the action appealed from should be affirmed, reversed, remanded or modified'"

Superior Court of New Jersey

Main article: New Jersey Superior Court

Municipal Court

The Municipal Courts carry out most of the day-to-day work in the New Jersey courts, where simple traffic tickets, minor criminal offenses, and small civil matters are heard.

Tax Court

The Tax Court is a court of limited jurisdiction. Tax Court judges hear appeals of tax decisions made by County Boards of Taxation. They also hear appeals on decisions made by the Director of the Division of Taxation on such matters as state income, sales and business taxes, and homestead rebates. Appeals from Tax Court decisions are heard in the Appellate Division of Superior Court. Tax Court judges are appointed by the Governor for initial terms of seven years, and upon reappointment are granted tenure until they reach the mandatory retirement age of 70. There are 12 Tax Court judgeships.

Budget

The budget for fiscal year 2010 was $29.3 billion. In April 2010, the government was anticipating a $10.7 billion shortfall, the highest for any state in the country.

Taxes

Property taxes rose 70% between 2000 and 2010. The real estate tax per homeowner in 2010 was $7,281.

County and municipal government

A map of New Jersey's 565 municipalities and 21 counties

Counties

Main articles: Board of Chosen Freeholders and List of counties in New Jersey

See also: List of United States counties and county-equivalents

New Jersey has 21 counties, each of which is administered by a Board of Chosen Freeholders—a elected commission of either three, five, seven, or nine seats determined by the size of the county's population—that oversee a range of executive and legislative functions. In most counties, the freeholders are elected "at-large" where each freeholder represents the entire county. Hudson County divides the county into nine districts that are equal in size of population, and each district is represented by one freeholder. Essex County and Atlantic County have five freeholders representing districts and four freeholders elected at-large. The concept of a "freeholder" derives from the state's colonial legal and political history which granted the right to vote provide that a citizen own or otherwise possess sufficient property or assets.

In some counties, members of the Board of Chosen Freeholders perform both legislative and executive functions on a commission basis, with each Freeholder assigned responsibility for a department or group of departments. In other counties (Atlantic, Bergen, Essex, Hudson, and Mercer), there is a directly elected county executive who performs the executive functions while the Board of Chosen Freeholders retains a legislative and oversight role. In counties without an executive, a county administrator (or county manager) may be hired to perform day-to-day administration of county functions.

Municipalities

Main articles: Local government in New Jersey and List of municipalities in New Jersey

As of 2013, New Jersey's 21 counties are divided into 565 municipalities. That means there are no independent cities or consolidated city-counties in New Jersey. There is no unincorporated territory. Title 40 of the New Jersey Statutes provides the state's municipalities to be incorporated under five types (city, town, township, borough and village), with twelve forms of management. The U.S. Census Bureau reports that New Jersey has 250 boroughs, 52 cities, 15 towns, 244 townships, and 4 villages. Several municipalities continue to operate under special charters that do not conform with the government formats prescribed by the current statutes. New Jersey's municipalities range in population from towns with from small single-digit or double-digit populations (as in Tavistock or Walpack Township) or cities in which of several hundred thousand persons reside (such as Newark, Paterson or Trenton).

See also

• History of New Jersey
• List of colonial governors of New Jersey (1624–1776)
• List of governors of New Jersey (1776–present)
• List of United States Senators from New Jersey
• New Jersey Provincial Congress
• United States congressional delegations from New Jersey

External links

• Official website