Surf City Municipal Court – What To Know

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

Surf City Municipal Court is at 813 Long Beach Boulevard, Surf City, NJ 08008, on Long Beach Island, and it holds one Monday session a month at 10:00 a.m. that defendants can attend on Zoom or in person. Its docket covers Surf City’s parking and moving violations, DWI arrests, borough ordinance complaints and disorderly persons offenses. Its office is staffed only in the afternoon, from 2:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. on weekdays. If you need a lawyer for a Surf City case, dial (848) 238-2100; we take calls around the clock, and Spanish-speaking callers can be helped in Spanish.

Surf City Criminal Defense Lawyer

Surf City is a year-round community of about 1,200 people that fills with renters and day visitors every summer. Its court is just as small, but the consequences of a conviction there are the same as anywhere in New Jersey: points and insurance increases for moving violations, an ignition interlock and possible license loss for DWI, and a permanent criminal record for a disorderly persons offense. Our Ocean County criminal defense attorneys handle Surf City matters from the first notice through trial, on Zoom or in the Long Beach Boulevard courtroom.

Why Surf City Clients Call Us

• One session a month. Surf City’s judge sits once a month, so a missed or postponed date usually means waiting until the following month.
• Session dates move around. Court usually sits on the second Monday, but some sessions fall on another Monday and some months have none, so we confirm your date before you plan around it.
• Traffic volume rose sharply. Moving violations filed in Surf City climbed from 213 to 368 over the latest court year, an increase of about 73%.
• Remote attendance has prerequisites. The borough requires remote defendants to watch two videos and sign in about half an hour early, steps that are easy to miss.

Surf City’s Monday Court Schedule

Surf City sets the year’s sessions in advance. Each falls on a Monday at 10:00 a.m., usually the second Monday and usually one a month, with no added summer dates and no separate DWI session. Some sessions fall on a different Monday, and some months have none. Your notice lists your exact date; call the court at (609) 494-3984 to confirm.

Reaching The Surf City Court Office

The court office is open Monday through Friday from 2:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. Citizen complaints are taken from 2:30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m., but not on court dates. The court administrator is Tracey Figueiras, the fax number is (609) 494-3812, and email goes to SurfCity.mc@njcourts.gov.

What Surf City’s Court Numbers Mean

Few Ocean County municipal courts are smaller than Surf City’s. For the twelve months ending June 2026, the Judiciary’s statistics record 758 filings there, up roughly 31% from 578 the prior year; only Barnegat Light, Harvey Cedars and Mantoloking took in fewer. The docket splits almost evenly between moving violations (368, or about 49%) and parking tickets (358, about 47%). There were just 30 criminal filings, 4 of them indictable and 17 disorderly persons complaints, and DWI filings dropped from 4 to 2.

The court resolved 658 cases, an 87% clearance rate, which means it closed fewer cases than came in and its docket grew by year’s end. As of June 30, 2026, there were 40 cases in backlog and 177 pending. With totals this small, one busy summer or a single enforcement detail can swing the figures a lot from year to year, and none of it says anything about how your own case will come out.

Attending Surf City Court Remotely

Each Surf City session can be attended in person at 813 Long Beach Boulevard or over Zoom. Each session date has its own Zoom registration link, and anyone appearing remotely must meet these requirements:

• Watch the videos first. Defendants must view the opening statement video and a video titled “Attending Municipal Court Remotely” before the session.
• Sign in about 30 minutes ahead. The borough asks remote participants to log in roughly half an hour before 10:00 a.m.
• Use your full legal name. Join under your legal first and last name so the court can find your case.
• Turn on audio and video. Allow the Zoom app to use your camera and microphone, and join from a closed room.
• Phone access is allowed. Callers on a telephone signal the court by pressing *9.

Criminal matters always require an appearance; you cannot resolve a criminal complaint by mail or online. Anyone who needs an interpreter should tell the court administrator before the court date, and people needing a disability accommodation should notify the court office in advance.

What Cases Does Surf City Municipal Court Handle?

Surf City Municipal Court rules on traffic violations, DWI, parking tickets, borough ordinance complaints and disorderly persons offenses. Below are charges it commonly sees:

Criminal And Disorderly Persons Offenses

• N.J.S.A. 2C:33-4 — harassment arising from rental or neighbor conflicts
• N.J.S.A. 2C:20-3 — theft of lower-value property
• N.J.S.A. 2C:12-1(a) — simple assault
• N.J.S.A. 2C:35-10(b) — being under the influence of a controlled dangerous substance

DWI And Traffic Offenses

• N.J.S.A. 39:4-50 — driving under the influence
• N.J.S.A. 39:4-98 — speeding on Long Beach Boulevard
• N.J.S.A. 39:4-144 — running a stop sign or failing to yield
• N.J.S.A. 39:4-97 — careless operation of a vehicle
• N.J.S.A. 39:3-40 — operating while your license is suspended

Surf City has no state or federal highway. Its main road is Long Beach Boulevard, County Route 607, which runs the length of the island and carries the borough’s through traffic. The free LBI Shuttle and the Ocean Ride OC9 bus also run along the boulevard.

Paying Or Contesting A Surf City Ticket

The borough takes ticket payments online at NJMCdirect, in person at the court’s payment window, or by mail. Payments at the window or by mail must be cash, check or money order. Here is how the borough’s rules work in practice:

• Some tickets can be paid without going to court. If the “Court Appearance Required” box is not checked and the offense is on the Statewide or Local Violations Schedule, you may pay it, but the borough warns that doing so is a guilty plea and gives up your right to a lawyer and a trial.
• You can dispute some tickets online. Eligible state traffic tickets can be contested through NJMCdirect. Once the prosecutor responds, you have five days to reply, so check your email every day.
• Time-payment orders. If you get a payment plan at a virtual session, the order is emailed to you; at an in-person session it is handed to you at the violations window.
• A public defender is available. The borough’s public defender is Debra Rumpf, Esq. You qualify only if you face a consequence of magnitude and meet the income guidelines, the judge may ask for proof of income, and approved applicants are assessed up to $200.

Before paying a moving violation, check how many points it carries and whether your license is at risk.

Preparing For Your Surf City Court Date

• Phone between 2:00 and 4:30. Staff are available from 2:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. on weekdays, so plan any questions or postponement requests for that window.
• Register for the right date. Use the Zoom registration link that matches your session date, not an earlier month’s link.
• Finish the required videos. Watch both videos before your session so you are ready when your case is called.
• Arrange an interpreter early. Tell the administrator ahead of time if you need language help.
• Keep the 20-day appeal deadline in mind. You have 20 calendar days after a conviction to file an appeal, with a $100 filing fee and a transcript deposit.

When A Surf City Charge Leaves Municipal Court

Indictable offenses are outside the Surf City court’s authority. When the police file a charge such as burglary, assault causing serious injury or third-degree theft, the complaint is sent to the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office, reachable at (732) 929-2027. Cases that move forward go to the Superior Court for Ocean County, which sits in Toms River. Where the prosecutor concludes the facts support only a lesser offense, it may be downgraded and returned across the causeway to be resolved in Surf City. Ask about diversion options, including conditional dismissal and Pretrial Intervention, if this is your first offense.

Nearby Courts

Long Beach Island has several separate municipal courts. The courts closest to Surf City are those of Ship Bottom, Long Beach Township and Harvey Cedars, with Barnegat Light at the island’s northern tip and Beach Haven to the south. Across the bay on the mainland is Stafford Township. Because each island town has its own court, the location of the stop decides which one hears your ticket.

Official court page: Surf City Municipal Court (Borough of Surf City)

Surf City Municipal Court FAQs

Talk To A Surf City Criminal Defense Lawyer Today

With Surf City holding court only once a month, the weeks before your session are the time to build a defense, not the morning of. Phone (848) 238-2100 for a no-cost, confidential conversation about your case. Someone is available at every hour, including weekends, and we speak Spanish. Island visitors can meet with us by phone or video from home, and we can also arrange a face-to-face meeting.