6 events in Passaic County with a date

NJ making progress on ending judge vacancy crisis

By: Katie Sobko
NorthJersey.com
USA Today Network - New Jersey

..... New Jersey's judicial vacancies - which hobbled the state's court system during the pandemic and its aftermath - are at their lowest number in years as Governor Phil Murphy's term comes to an end.
..... The Garden State's judicial system has been plagued with vacancies for more than five years and reached a high of 75 as the pandemic began to wane in May 2023.
..... As 2026 begins, New Jersey's state court system has just 27 judicial vacancies - with no new vacancies in the coming two weeks as the baton is passed between the administration of Governor Phil Murphy and that of Governor-elect Mikie Sherrill and the Legislature's new session begins, according to the state Administrative Office of the Courts.
..... Another 16 jurists were confirmed by the state Senate on the afternoon of Monday January 12. [2026]
..... At the height of the vacancy crisis, state Supreme Court Chief Justice Stuart Rabner was forced to suspend civil and matrimonial trials in Passaic County in July 2023, and they weren't resumed for nearly a year.
..... That wasn't the only part of the state affected by the unprecedented gridlock.
..... Rabner suspended civil and divorce cases in Cumberland and Gloucester counties in early 2023, but reopened them that July. Cases in Hunterdon, Somerset and Warren counties were suspended in 2023 and reopened in March 2024.
..... The overall trial backlog was at about 38,000 in November 2025, down from more than 81,400 in January 2024.
..... In New Jersey, judges serve for an initial seven-year term and can be renominated for tenure, which allows them to sit on the bench until they reach the mandatory retirement age of 70.
..... Potential jurists are presented to the governor's office for consideration by members of the state senate from both parties.
..... These possible nominees are given a questionnaire, interviewed by the governor's office and subjected to background checks of their financial medical m criminal and educational history that require approval from the Attorney General's Office.
..... They then face a judicial advisory panel, including former members of the state Supreme Court, which determines whether the nominees are qualified.

..... Katie Sobko covers the New Jersey Statehouse. email: sobko@northjersey.com

HOME