Adjournment: Case rescheduled for another date and time.
Appeal: A request for the Superior Court to review and reverse a court’s decision.
Arraignment/First Appearance: Reading of the complaint to the defendant in open court or stating the substance of the charge, and advising the defendant of certain rights and possible penalties.
Attorney/Lawyer: A person trained in the law who represents clients in legal matters.
Bail/Bond: Money or other security provided to the court to temporarily allow a person’s release from custody and assure they appear in court for each appearance until the case is decided.
Bail Forfeiture: The bail is lost if the defendant fails to appear in court for each appearance.
Bench Warrant: A warrant issued by the court (from the bench) for the arrest of a person for failure to appear or failure to comply with a court order.
Calendar: List of cases scheduled for hearing in court.
Certified Disposition: A written certified copy of the judge’s decision in a case.
Commit: To send a person to jail.
Community Service: Work performed for a municipality or nonprofit organization for a certain period of time without pay. By law, the Judge must order community service for certain traffic offenses and may order community service for criminal convictions.
Complaint: A formal written charge stating a person has committed a criminal offense.
Concurrent Sentence: Sentence for more than one crime that are to be served at the same time.
Conditional Discharge: To release the charges against a person subject to a condition.
Consecutive Sentence: Sentence for two or more crimes to run one after another.
Contempt of Court: Willful disobedience of a judge’s command or an official court order.
Court Administrator: A person appointed by the court to oversee the administrative, non-judicial activities of the court.
Discovery: The pretrial process by which one party discovers the evidence that will be relied upon in the trial of the opposing party.
Expungement: An official and formal erasure of a record or partial contents of a record.
Failure to Appear (FTA): The failure of any party to appear in court in response to a complaint/notice issued.
Fine: To sentence a person convicted of an offense to pay a penalty in money. In criminal convictions, it may be in addition to imprisonment or a condition of probation
Incarcerate: To be jailed or held in a correctional facility.
Indictable Offense: A serious criminal offense referred to the County Prosecutor for a determination if the case should be presented to the Grand Jury and heard in Superior Court.
Indigent: Needy or Impoverished.
Judge: An appointed public official with authority to hear and decides cases in court.
Jurisdiction: The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
Letter of representation: Letter from attorney stating he/she will represent the defendant in court.
Missed court dates: The “notice to appear” date on a payable ticket is considered the first court date. If not paid by that date a failure to appear notice will be issued with an additional cost. The date on this notice is considered as the second court date.
Municipal Court: A court having jurisdiction over cases arising within the municipality in which it sits.
Plea: The defendant’s declaration in open court that he/she is guilty or not guilty.
Plea Bargaining: The process through which an accused person and the prosecutor negotiate a mutually satisfactory disposition of a case. Such bargains are not binding on the court.
Pro Se: Refers to persons who present their own cases without lawyers.
Probable Cause: A reasonable belief that a crime has been committed.
Probation: An alternative to imprisonment allowing a person found guilty or pleading guilty to an offense to stay in the community, usually under conditions and under the supervision of a probation officer. Violation of probation can lead to its revocation and to imprisonment.
Prosecutor: A trial lawyer representing the government in a criminal case and the interests of the state in civil matters. The prosecutor in our court is Kevin S. Quinlan, Esquire.
Public Defender: An attorney may be appointed by the court if you meet the requirements after completing a Financial Questionnaire to Establish Indigency form and approved by Judge Sicheri. There may be an application fee of up to $200.00. Only those cases that have a possibility of jail time, driver’s license suspension and substantial fines are eligible for a public defender. The public defender for our court is Brian Rumpf, Esquire.
ROR: Release of a person from custody without the payment of any bail/bond with the promise to appear in court.
Sentence: The punishment ordered by a court for a defendant convicted of a crime.
Statute: A law written by the Legislature.
Stay: A court order halting a judicial proceeding.
Summons: A notice to a defendant that he/she has been charged with a crime and is required to appear in court.
Surety: One who posts bail.
Waiver: Intentionally giving up a right
Warrant: A court order authorizing law enforcement officers to make an arrest.
Court, Parks, and Township Offices Closed
Due to the National medical crisis- Township and Court offices will be closed to the public. Employees will still be working and able to take phone calls, accept payments and correspondence via the drop off box - located at the front door by the Tax office.
For your financial security please pay by check or money order if using the drop box, or online payment is always an option.
In addition, per CDC recommendation, township parks will be closed until further notice.
Any questions, please call (609) 296-3337 and select the appropriate extension.