New Jersey Uses the Superior Court
New Jersey does not use Texas-style numbered district courts or county courts at law. The county-level trial court is the Superior Court. It is a statewide court of general jurisdiction, organized by vicinages rather than separate county courts. Passaic County is Vicinage 11.
The Superior Court handles two broad kinds of work. The Law Division covers civil and criminal cases. The Chancery Division covers family, general equity, foreclosure, and probate part matters. Above the trial court sit the Appellate Division and the Supreme Court of New Jersey. The Tax Court is a separate statewide court for tax matters.
This structure dates to the 1947 Constitution, which reorganized New Jersey courts into the modern Supreme Court and Superior Court. The state later built its vicinage system to manage the trial court county by county. That history is why a Passaic case is a Superior Court case, not a county district court case.
The Passaic Vicinage
The Passaic Vicinage is based at the Passaic County Courthouse, 77 Hamilton Street, Paterson. NJ Courts lists the vicinage at this address with phone 973-653-2910 and hours Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The vicinage page names Assignment Judge Rudolph A. Filko and Trial Court Administrator Melanie M. Nowling.
The vicinage page also links to jury service, chambers contacts, division offices, ADA accommodations, interpreter services, and customer service. Ceremonial courtroom 222 at 77 Hamilton Street and ninth-floor courtrooms in the administration building have hosted Law Week and other events. The table lists the main Passaic court offices.
| Office | Address | Phone |
|---|---|---|
| Superior Court, Passaic Vicinage | 77 Hamilton Street, Paterson | 973-653-2910 |
| Surrogate's Court | 71 Hamilton Street, Room 101, Paterson | 973-881-4760 |
| Passaic County Clerk | 401 Grand Street, Room 130, Paterson | 973-225-3690 |
| Office of the Public Defender | 66 Hamilton Street, Paterson | 973-977-4150 |
The Law Division
The Law Division is the trial court's home for civil and criminal cases. On the civil side, it hears suits above the Special Civil threshold, including torts, contracts, and professional malpractice, plus the Special Civil Part for smaller claims, landlord-tenant, and small claims. On the criminal side, it handles indictable offenses, the serious crimes prosecuted by the County Prosecutor.
Criminal Division records include complaints, indictments, accusations, pleas, judgments of conviction, and sentencing data where public. For the search tools that reach these records, see Passaic County court records and arrest records.
The Law Division also runs specialty programs. Recovery Court, the state's drug court model, and Pretrial Intervention both operate through the Superior Court for eligible defendants. In 2024, the Passaic Vicinage lifted a moratorium on civil and matrimonial trials after new judges were appointed, easing a backlog that had slowed many older cases.
The Chancery Division
The Chancery Division handles equity and family work. The Family Part covers divorce, custody, support, domestic violence restraining orders, adoption, and juvenile matters. General Equity hears cases seeking court orders rather than money damages. The Foreclosure unit processes mortgage foreclosures, many of them uncontested.
The Probate Part connects to the county Surrogate for wills, estates, and guardianships. Many family and probate records carry strong privacy protection. For those, see marriage and divorce records and the Surrogate's Court page.
Municipal Courts in Passaic County
Below the Superior Court are the Municipal Courts, the local limited-jurisdiction courts. Each city, borough, and township has one. They handle traffic and parking tickets, local ordinance cases, disorderly persons offenses, and many first appearances on complaints.
Municipal courts are not part of the Superior Court, and they keep their own dockets. A traffic ticket or local ordinance matter starts here, not at 77 Hamilton Street. See traffic court records for how municipal matters work and how to find one.
Superior Court vs Municipal vs Federal Court
Three court systems can touch a Passaic County resident, and they are easy to mix up. The comparison below lays out who hears what, so you start at the right place.
| Point | Superior Court | Municipal Court | Federal District Court |
|---|---|---|---|
| Level | State trial court | Local limited court | Federal court |
| Hears | Indictable crimes, civil suits, family, foreclosure | Traffic, ordinances, disorderly persons | Federal crimes and federal civil cases |
| Records | NJ Courts public access | NJMCDirect and municipal court | PACER and CM/ECF |
| Where | 77 Hamilton Street, Paterson | Town court locations | Newark and other federal courthouses |
How a Case Moves Through the System
Cases move up a clear ladder. A local matter may start in municipal court, while a serious crime or a major civil suit starts in the Superior Court. Appeals then climb to the state's higher courts.
Case flow: Municipal Court › Superior Court (Law or Chancery) › Appellate Division › Supreme Court of New Jersey
Appeals from the Superior Court trial divisions and the Tax Court go to the Superior Court, Appellate Division. The Supreme Court of New Jersey is the court of last resort, reviewing appeals from the Appellate Division and other matters set by rule.
Federal District Court Is Separate
Federal court is a different system from the Superior Court. Passaic County sits within the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey, which handles federal crimes, federal civil rights claims, and other federal jurisdiction. Its records are not in NJ Courts. The image below is the federal district court site.
The page shown is the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey. Federal records are reached through PACER, the federal case access system, shown next.
The page above is PACER. For filing and docket access in the district, attorneys and the public use CM/ECF, shown below.
The page above is the District of New Jersey CM/ECF system. Bankruptcy is handled by its own federal court, shown next.
The page above is the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of New Jersey. Federal appeals go to the Third Circuit, shown below.
The page above is the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. Federal crimes are prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney's Office, shown next.
The page above is the U.S. Attorney's Office, District of New Jersey. Federal inmate searches run through the BOP locator, covered on the inmate records page, not through any state tool.
Appeals and Local Court Contacts
Once a trial court decides a case, a party may appeal. State appeals go to the Appellate Division, then possibly the Supreme Court of New Jersey. Federal appeals go to the Third Circuit. The path depends on which system heard the case.
For day-to-day Passaic matters, the vicinage division offices handle civil, criminal, and family questions, and the ombudsman offers procedural help, not legal advice. For court records and copies, see the Clerk of the Superior Court and court dockets.