Lavallette Hires New Municipal Court Judge

Gavel (Credit: Brian Turner/Flickr)

Lavallette has replaced its longtime municipal judge following his retirement earlier this year.

The borough council voted this week to hire Arnaldo V. Maestrey as its municipal court judge at an annual salary of $24,600.

Maestrey is a former employee of the New Jersey State Police and the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office. The Lavallette position is his first as a municipal court judge. He was once named in a report by New Jersey Watchdog as one of 125 employees of prosecutor’s offices who were collecting salaries on top of state pensions.

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At $24,600, however, the appointment is on the low end for municipal court judges in Ocean County. Lavallette will be the only jurisdiction in which he serves. Mayor Walter LaCicero said six candidates applied for the position and all of them except Maestrey worked in multiple courts.

“All of the judges have one thing in common, and that is that they start in one small town,” said LaCicero.

Attorney James J. Gluck, a municipal court judge in other local communities, had been filling in temporarily. Frank Salzer was the borough’s previous judge.