Seaside Heights Municipal Court – What To Know

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

Seaside Heights Municipal Court is located at 116 Sherman Avenue, Seaside Heights, NJ 08751; the court sits on varying Tuesdays and handles boardwalk-area disorderly persons charges, DWI, traffic and parking tickets, and borough ordinance violations. Judge Daniel Sahin presides. Because the borough draws large summer crowds to its boardwalk, this small-town court carries one of the heaviest criminal dockets in Ocean County. For help with a Seaside Heights case, reach us at (848) 238-2100 whenever you need to, including nights and weekends. Hablamos español.

Seaside Heights Criminal Defense Lawyer

A Seaside Heights case can begin with an argument outside a bar on the Boulevard, an open container on the beach, a fight near the piers, or a traffic stop on Route 35 or the Route 37 bridges heading home. Those charges are often treated as routine, but a disorderly persons conviction in New Jersey is a criminal record, punishable by as much as six months of jail time and a $1,000 fine. Our Ocean County criminal lawyers defend people charged in Seaside Heights, including visitors who live hours away and want the case handled without repeated trips back to the shore.

Why Seaside Heights Clients Call Us

• The county’s largest criminal caseload. Judiciary figures for the 2025–26 court year count 6,249 criminal filings in Seaside Heights, more than any other municipal court in Ocean County, Toms River included.
• Session days vary. Court sits on varying Tuesdays rather than a fixed week of the month, so the date printed on your notice is the one that matters.
• Zoom hearings for people who live elsewhere. The court runs virtual proceedings, which can spare a visitor charged during a shore trip from driving back for every listing.
• A steady stream of DWI arrests. The court took in 78 DWI filings during the year in a borough served by two state highways, Route 35 and Route 37.

Who Runs the Seaside Heights Court

These are the people you may deal with on a Seaside Heights case. Knowing who does what saves time when you call.

• Judge: Daniel Sahin.
• Court administrator: Jacqueline Holiday, CMCA, with deputy court administrators Lea Kirchgessner and Courtney Meyer.
• Violations clerk: Isabella Jenkins.
• Municipal prosecutor: David Casadonte, who presents the State’s side of cases in this court.
• Public defender: Matthew Heagen, assigned to defendants the court finds eligible.

The office takes calls and visits on weekdays between 8:30 in the morning and 4:30 in the afternoon. The phone number is 732-830-2202 and the fax is 732-830-6458.

Summer at the Seaside Heights Court

Seaside Heights had 2,440 residents in the 2020 census, but its summer population is commonly estimated at 30,000 to 65,000, with the peak in July and August. The boardwalk runs about two miles, with Casino Pier, Funtown Pier and the Breakwater Beach water park drawing day-trippers, and NJ Transit runs a seasonal bus to the shore from New York and Newark. That seasonal surge is reflected in the court’s parking and criminal caseload described below. If you were charged on vacation and have already gone home, do not ignore the notice. A missed date can lead to a bench warrant and, for traffic matters, a license suspension.

What Seaside Heights’s Court Numbers Mean

For the court year July 2025 to June 2026, NJ Judiciary statistics report 17,389 filings in Seaside Heights, up about 17.2% from 14,835 the year before, making it the third-busiest municipal court in Ocean County behind Lakewood and Toms River. Parking tickets made up 9,670 of those filings, about 56%, while moving violations accounted for only 1,392, about 8%. Criminal filings totaled 6,249, including 388 indictable complaints and 1,392 disorderly persons complaints. DWI filings slipped to 78 from 83.

The court resolved 18,335 cases across all types, a 105% clearance rate, which means it closed more matters than it received and cut into older cases. Even so, the report lists 3,398 cases in backlog and 5,551 pending as of June 2026, the second-largest backlog in the county after Point Pleasant Beach. Those totals describe the court’s volume; none of them predicts the result of a particular defendant’s case.

Seaside Heights Zoom Hearings

Seaside Heights runs virtual proceedings on Zoom. Here is what the court asks defendants to do:

• Look for the Zoom details on your notice. The connection information is printed on the court notice that comes by regular mail.
• Ask for an emailed link. Call 732-830-2202 and give the court an email address, and staff can send the Zoom link to you directly.
• Use a device with a camera and microphone. A laptop or desktop must have both. You may also use the Zoom phone app or dial in; on a call, press *9 to raise your hand.
• Log in 15 minutes early. If you join a quarter hour ahead, someone can test your connection before the session starts.
• Use your real first and last name. The court needs to match you to your case, so screen names and nicknames cause delays.
• Do not record. Recording the proceeding is prohibited.

If your notice tells you to appear in person, go to 116 Sherman Avenue. When you are not sure which format applies, call the court before the date rather than guessing.

What Cases Does Seaside Heights Municipal Court Handle?

The court decides disorderly and petty disorderly persons offenses, motor vehicle and DWI cases, parking tickets and borough ordinance complaints. Charges that regularly come before it include the following.

Criminal and Disorderly Persons Offenses

• N.J.S.A. 2C:33-2 — disorderly conduct, including boardwalk and bar-district arrests
• N.J.S.A. 2C:29-1 — obstruction, such as interfering with an officer’s investigation
• N.J.S.A. 2C:12-1(a) — simple assault
• N.J.S.A. 2C:35-10 — drug charges at the disorderly persons level, such as being under the influence of a controlled substance
• N.J.S.A. 2C:20-11 — shoplifting from boardwalk and Boulevard shops

DWI and Traffic Offenses

• N.J.S.A. 39:4-50 — DWI arrests near the boardwalk and bridges
• N.J.S.A. 39:4-50.4a — declining a breath test at the station
• N.J.S.A. 39:4-51b — open container of alcohol in a vehicle
• N.J.S.A. 39:3-10 — driving with no license or an expired one
• N.J.S.A. 39:6B-2 — uninsured driving

Motor vehicle stops here are concentrated on Route 35, which runs north toward Lavallette and south into Seaside Park, and on Route 37, which carries traffic over the Mathis and Tunney bridges to Toms River and the Garden State Parkway. Route 37 is often jammed on summer Friday afternoons.

Paying or Contesting a Seaside Heights Ticket

Seaside Heights points defendants to NJMCdirect to pay fines online, and asks them to call 732-830-2202 for information about a specific ticket or complaint. Before paying, keep these points in mind:

• A payment is a guilty plea. Once the fine is paid, the conviction stands, along with any points, surcharges or insurance consequences.
• Parking tickets and moving violations are different. A parking ticket carries no points, but a moving violation may, and some carry a possible license suspension. Get advice before paying anything with points attached.
• Criminal complaints cannot be paid off. A disorderly persons or DWI charge requires a court appearance.
• A public defender is available if you qualify. If you cannot afford a lawyer and face a consequence of magnitude, ask the court for the application to have Mr. Heagen or another public defender assigned.

Preparing for Your Seaside Heights Court Date

• Confirm the Tuesday. Because the session Tuesdays vary, check the exact date and time on your notice and call the court if you have lost it.
• Get your Zoom link early. Give the court an email address well ahead of the session so the link reaches you in time.
• Plan for the drive if you appear in person. Summer traffic on Route 37 can add a long delay; leave extra time.
• Bring the charging papers. Have your summons or complaint, your license, and, for traffic cases, your registration and insurance card.
• Gather proof. Receipts, photos, rideshare records, or the names of people who saw what happened can matter in a boardwalk-area case.

When a Seaside Heights Charge Leaves Municipal Court

If the police charge an indictable offense in Seaside Heights, such as aggravated assault or possession with intent to distribute, the complaint starts in the municipal court, then is transferred to the Ocean County Prosecutor. Felony-level cases are then prosecuted at the Ocean County Superior Court in Toms River, where the county seat is. Prosecutors can also downgrade an indictable charge and send it back to Seaside Heights to be resolved as a disorderly persons offense. People with no prior record should ask whether they qualify for diversionary programs, including conditional dismissal in municipal court or Pretrial Intervention in Superior Court.

Nearby Courts

Seaside Heights shares the barrier island with Seaside Park to the south and the Ortley Beach section of Toms River to the north. On the mainland side of Barnegat Bay are Berkeley Township and Island Heights, and farther up Route 35 is Lavallette. A ticket written a few blocks over the borough line belongs to that town’s court, not to Seaside Heights.

Official court page: Seaside Heights Municipal Court (Borough of Seaside Heights)

Seaside Heights Municipal Court FAQs

Talk to a Seaside Heights Criminal Defense Lawyer Today

A summer arrest in Seaside Heights can follow you long after the vacation ends, and the time to plan a defense is before your first Tuesday in court. For a free and confidential look at your case, call (848) 238-2100. The phone is answered at all hours, and Spanish speakers are welcome. If you live far from the shore, we can talk by phone or video call, and we can meet face to face if you prefer.