Mahwah Court Backlogged with ‘Large Volume’ of DWI Cases

Mahwah may add additional court sessions to help clear a backlog of DUI court cases, some of which are up to a year old, township officials said at a Mahwah council meeting last Thursday.

According to Business Administrator Brian Campion, judges from the Superior Court in Hackensack first contacted township officials last April to discuss a “large number” of pending DWI cases remaining in the Mahwah court system.

The cases are supposed to be tried within 60 days of a DWI citation or arrest, Campion said. Any case that takes longer than that to process is considered “backlog” by the county.

“Relative to other towns, we have a large number of cases that are backlogged,” he said Thursday, but did not say exactly how many cases are pending. “We currently have two cases that are 365 days old.”

According to Campion, the backlog is likely the result of a combination of the volume of cases coming through the system, and multiple adjournments in cases that delay a final decision.

“We’ve seen a 41% increase in the number of cases,” Campion said. “Last year, 150 cases were filed.”

A year ago, the township added a few extra court sessions to attempt to handle the backlogged cases.

Officials said Hackensack judges have now made additional recommendations as to how the township should address the issue. Town legislators are now considering adding dedicated DWI court dates throughout the month, and a dedicated DWI judge and DWI prosecutor as a way to reach decisions on the pending cases.

The township council is set to hear a presentation on the options at its next meeting, on April 18. Officials said they are still calculating how much the additional sessions would cost, when they would be scheduled, and how they would fit into the proposed 2013 municipal budget.

However, officials said the township is feeling pressure from Hackensack to clear the backlog within the next nine to 12 months.

“This is a need to do, not a want to do, situation,” Mayor Bill Laforet said last Thursday.

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