Lacey Township (Forked River) Municipal Court – What To Know

Reviewed by William A. Proetta, Esq. · Updated October 2026

Lacey Township Municipal Court sits in the township’s municipal building at 818 West Lacey Road, Forked River, NJ 08731, and it decides Lacey motor vehicle summonses, drunk driving charges, low-level criminal complaints and local ordinance cases on Tuesdays, some in the courtroom and some on Zoom. Under a shared services agreement, the same courtroom now hears Ocean Township (Waretown) cases, and Lacey’s office staff also handle Pine Beach’s court administration, but each town’s cases stay on its own calendar. Judge Benjamin H. Mabie III presides over Lacey’s own docket. For a Lacey charge, our phone at (848) 238-2100 is staffed 24/7, and Spanish-speaking callers are welcome (hablamos español).

Lacey Township Criminal Defense Lawyer

Lacey cases can start on Route 9, near Parkway Interchange 74, or in the township’s shopping areas. A disorderly persons conviction in Forked River can send you to jail for up to six months; a DWI brings an ignition interlock requirement and, in many cases, a license suspension. Our Ocean County criminal defense team represents people charged in Lacey from the first court notice through trial or a negotiated result.

Why Lacey Township Clients Call Us

• Three towns, one court office. Lacey shares its clerks and records with Ocean Township and Pine Beach, and Waretown cases are now heard in Lacey’s own courtroom. We make sure your matter is tied to the right town’s calendar, judge and prosecutor, because a notice for the wrong session is an easy way to miss court.
• Tuesday sessions that switch formats. Lacey mixes in-person Tuesdays with Zoom Tuesdays, sometimes in back-to-back weeks. We make sure you know which kind your date is and prepare you for it.
• A steady DWI docket. The NJ Judiciary counted 95 DWI filings in Lacey for July 2025 through June 2026, the sixth-highest total among Ocean County’s municipal courts.
• Trials late in the day. On in-person days, regular sessions run at 8:45 a.m. and 12:30 p.m., with trials at 2:00 p.m. A contested case is planned around that afternoon slot.

How the Lacey Shared Court Works

Lacey Township is the lead agency for a shared municipal court. Lacey supplies the courtroom, equipment, office staff and record storage, while Lacey, Ocean Township and Pine Beach each still appoint their own judge, municipal prosecutor and public defender. In practice that means:

• Lacey cases go before Judge Benjamin H. Mabie III.
• Ocean Township (Waretown) cases go before Judge Philip M. Miller. Ocean Township closed its own court office on Railroad Avenue on July 27, 2026, and its cases have been heard in Forked River since then. See our Ocean Township page for that court’s schedule.
• Pine Beach cases go before Judge Stacey Kerr. Pine Beach sessions are held on the first Wednesday of the month at Pine Beach Borough Hall, 599 Pennsylvania Avenue, or on Zoom, as the Pine Beach notice directs.
• One administrator. Christina DeMey serves as court administrator for the shared court, so the same window handles payments and paperwork for all three towns.

What decides the court is the town where the offense happened, not where you live. A stop on Route 9 just south of the Lacey line, for example, is an Ocean Township case even though you would still drive to West Lacey Road for it.

What Lacey Township’s Court Numbers Mean

Lacey’s docket shrank a little over the latest court year. NJ Judiciary statistics for July 2025 through June 2026 show 5,113 filings, down about 5.7% from 5,423 the year before. Moving violations accounted for 3,654 of them, roughly 71%. The court received 1,346 criminal filings, a total that includes indictable complaints first filed here before transfer, and DWI filings slipped from 100 to 95.

The court resolved 5,004 matters, a 98% clearance rate, so it closed nearly as many cases as it opened and the docket held close to steady. Lacey had 570 cases in backlog and 961 pending as of the end of June 2026. These are measures of how busy the court is; they say nothing about how a particular charge will turn out.

Zoom and In-Person Sessions in Lacey

Lacey Township Municipal Court sits on Tuesdays and uses both formats, alternating in-person and Zoom sessions. Your notice states the Tuesday, the time slot and whether you appear on Zoom or at Town Hall; the court office at 609-693-1100, extension 2262, can confirm.

• Virtual appearances require pre-registration. Everyone appearing by Zoom must register in advance through the township’s Virtual Court Information page.
• Times vary by session. Virtual sessions start at times such as 8:45 a.m., 10:30 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. Your notice names your slot.
• No recording. Recording a Zoom court session is not allowed.
• In-person days are at Town Hall. In-person sessions are held at Town Hall, 818 West Lacey Road.

What Cases Does Lacey Township Municipal Court Handle?

The Forked River courtroom sees a mix of lower-level criminal complaints and motor vehicle cases. Here is a selection, listed by statute:

Criminal and Disorderly Persons Offenses

• N.J.S.A. 2C:35-10(b) — being under the influence of drugs, a disorderly persons charge heard in Forked River
• N.J.S.A. 2C:36-2 — paraphernalia, often charged together with possession after a car search
• N.J.S.A. 2C:20-11 — retail theft complaints signed by store security
• N.J.S.A. 2C:12-1(a) — assault charges at the disorderly persons level
• N.J.S.A. 2C:33-4 — harassing communications or conduct, frequently from neighbor disputes
• N.J.S.A. 2C:17-3 — damage to property under the disorderly persons threshold

DWI and Traffic Offenses

• N.J.S.A. 39:4-50 — Lacey Township DWI
• N.J.S.A. 39:4-50.4a — declining the Alcotest after a DWI arrest
• N.J.S.A. 39:6B-2 — uninsured vehicle operation
• N.J.S.A. 39:4-98 — rate-of-speed tickets, including on the Parkway
• N.J.S.A. 39:3-29 — failing to carry or show a license, registration or insurance card

Lacey traffic tickets can come from the Garden State Parkway around Interchange 74 and the Forked River Service Area at milepost 76, from U.S. Route 9 as it runs through Forked River, and from County Route 539. Lacey’s shopping areas, with stores such as Walmart, Home Depot and ShopRite, are another place where local complaints can begin.

Paying or Contesting a Lacey Township Ticket

Lacey’s window does not take cards, which sets it apart from some nearby courts.

• Online. Pay through NJMCdirect, the state’s municipal court payment site, using the information printed on your ticket.
• At the window. In-person payments are accepted from 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. in cash, by check or by money order. Credit cards are not accepted at the Lacey window.
• By mail. Write the summons number on your check or money order and send it to Lacey Township Municipal Court, 818 West Lacey Road, Forked River, NJ 08731. Do not send cash.
• Filing a complaint. Citizen complaints are taken from 8:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. and are not accepted while court is in session.

Sending in the fine is the same as pleading guilty. The conviction goes on your driving record with whatever points, surcharges and insurance consequences follow, and it cannot easily be undone afterward. Before you pay a ticket that carries points or could cost you your license, speak with a defense lawyer about whether it can be contested or amended. People who cannot afford a lawyer can apply for the municipal public defender; Lacey provides a Public Defender Application.

Getting Ready for Your Lacey Court Date

• Check the town on your notice. Because Lacey, Ocean Township and Pine Beach share one court office, confirm that the town, date and judge on your paperwork match your ticket.
• Register early if you are on Zoom. Unregistered participants may not be admitted to a virtual session.
• Bring cash, a check or a money order. If you expect to pay a fine at the window on the day of court, remember that cards are not taken there.
• Reach the court by phone. The Lacey court office is at 609-693-1100, extension 2262.
• Collect your proof. Have your license, registration, insurance card, the ticket or complaint, and any photos, receipts or repair records ready to show.

When a Lacey Township Charge Leaves Municipal Court

Indictable crimes, such as burglary, aggravated assault or distribution of drugs, start with a complaint filed in Lacey but are not decided there. Lacey forwards those files to the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office; cases that move forward are heard in Ocean County Superior Court in Toms River. In some files the prosecutor downgrades an indictable charge to a disorderly persons offense and sends it back to Lacey, where the penalties are lower. People without a record may also be eligible for diversionary programs such as Pretrial Intervention or conditional dismissal, which can lead to the charge being dismissed.

Nearby Courts

Lacey Township borders Barnegat, Berkeley Township, Manchester and Ocean Township, and Woodland Township in Burlington County lies to the west. Pine Beach is not a neighbor, but its court is administered from the Lacey office. If you were stopped near a town line, the location on the ticket decides which court has the case.

Official court page: Lacey Township court information on laceytownship.org

Lacey Township Municipal Court FAQs

Talk to a Lacey Township Criminal Defense Lawyer Today

The weeks before a first appearance in Forked River are when the most options are still open. Call (848) 238-2100 for a free and confidential review of your Lacey Township case. Someone picks up around the clock, every day, and we take calls in Spanish too. We can talk it through over the phone or on a video call, or sit down in person if you prefer.