New Jersey Center for Civic Education
The New Jersey Center for Civic Education is an independent non-profit organization affiliated with the Rutgers University School of Arts and Sciences and located on the Rutgers-Piscataway campus. The Center is dedicated to:
Find information about bills, statutes, districts, legislators and the New Jersey legislature. View or listen to live proceedings. The Kids Page answers questions about the law-making process and includes state symbols and puzzle pages.
The faculty, staff, and students of Rutgers University-Camden share a commitment to our host city of Camden, NJ. This guide provides easy access to university and library resources that support civic engagement in the classroom and the community.
Branches of New Jersey Government
The government of the State of New Jersey, like that of the United States, is divided into three coequal branches: the legislative, the executive, and the judicial. The principal function of the Legislature is to enact laws. The Executive Branch (the Governor, Lieutenant Governor and State agencies) carries out the programs established by law. The Judiciary (the Supreme Court and lower courts) punishes violators, settles controversies and disputes, and is the final authority on the meaning and constitutionality of laws.
The Legislature consists of two Houses: a 40-member Senate and an 80-member General Assembly. The Senate and Assembly chambers are located in the State House in Trenton.
Senators must be at least 30 years old and residents of the state for four years prior to election. Members of the Assembly must be at least 21 and state residents for two years. All legislators must live in the districts they represent.
While legislators spend a considerable amount of their time on legislative matters, service in the Legislature is considered to be part-time, and most legislators also hold other employment.
The chief of the executive branch is the governor who is elected every four years to a four-year term. A governor cannot serve more than two consecutive terms.
The governor officially resides at Drumthwacket, located in Princeton but works out of an office in the State House in Trenton. Constitutionally, New Jersey’s chief executive is one of the most powerful governors in the United States. In addition to overseeing the departments, agencies boards and commissions that make up the executive branch, the governor signs bills into law and can call the legislature into special session. The governor has the power to grant pardons and is the only person with the authority to call in the National Guard.
The judicial branch decides how state laws should be applied. The governor appoints judges to the Supreme and Superior courts with the Senate's approval. The judges serve seven-year terms, but after they have been re-appointed once, they can serve until they are 70.
The highest court in the judiciary branch is the state Supreme Court. This court hears cases involving constitutional problems and other major matters. The Supreme Court consists of a chief justice and six associate justices.
The chief justice investigates complaints against the courts, supervises the clerks and court workers, and oversees the court finances.
The state Superior Court is divided into the Appellate, Law, and Chancery divisions. Superior Court is where most trials take place. The Appellate Division hears appeals of decisions from lower courts and state agencies. Law hears cases in its Criminal Division and Civil Division. Chancery consists of a General Equity Division and Family Division. General Equity cases involve matters such as contracts. The Family Division deals with family and children's legal matters.
With the New Jersey State Legislature's website you can:
Get all the information about New Jersey elections and voter registration information through New Jersey's Voter Information Portal.