Under the Rules Governing the Courts of New Jersey (R.3:4-2), all defendants charged with an indictable complaint (as opposed to a disorderly persons offense) must appear before a judge to be informed of the charges against them and to arrange bail, if appropriate. Although defendants charged with offenses listed in R.3:26-2(a) can only make their first appearance before the Superior Court, the majority of first appearances are within the jurisdiction of the municipal court. In 1987, a Central Judicial Processing Court was established in Essex County to handle this responsibility for all municipalities in the County. The Essex County Prosecutor's Office assigns an Assistant Prosecutor / Director and five Assistant Prosecutors to this Court. They are supported by a paralegal specialist. The Assistant Prosecutors appear in Court for arraignment and bail hearings.

In addition, the Assistant Prosecutors and support staff involved in the Central Judicial Processing (CJP) Unit are responsible for case screening. All criminal complaints in Essex County charging an indictable crime are "screened" so as to identify cases that properly state a crime subject to prosecution in Superior Court, and to divert those cases that can be more quickly and appropriately resolved at the Municipal Court level. The nature of the offense, surrounding circumstances, quality of the evidence and the character of the defendant are considered in making the screening decision. The assistant prosecutors performing the screening function can either administratively dismiss the charges, downgrade the charges to non-indictable offenses, or downgrade the charges. and refer the case to the Special Remand Court. By performing this type of early case screening, cases can be appropriately diverted before they enter the Grand Jury and Trial stages, thereby avoiding the waste of time, energy and precious resources.

Generally, the first level of case screening in the Prosecutor's Office occurs at the municipal level (See INITIAL SCREENING description). Although the Office's CJP Unit was established for bail and arraignment purposes only, its original function has been expanded to include a second level of screening for most cases. In some cases (certain complaints filed by County and State law enforcement officials), the Assistant Prosecutors in the CJP Unit provide the initial screening. In addition to the screening options discussed above, complaints reviewed by the CJP Unit can be referred to Special Remand Court, where the Prosecutors Office retains the responsibility to prosecute the "tougher and stronger" disorderly persons cases, often involving drug-related offenses. Also, the CJP Unit can schedule cases for an expedited plea conference in the Pre-Indictment Plea Disposition Court, where a plea offer may be discussed.

Indictable cases are referred to any one of 15 Vertical Prosecution Courts or to a specialized prosecution squad. The nature of the offense, surrounding circumstances, quality of the evidence, character and arrest / conviction history of the defendant are all considered in making the screening decision. By performing this type of early case screening, cases can be diverted before they enter the grand jury and trial stages, thereby conserving valuable judicial and prosecutorial resources.

In 2008, the CJP Court arraigned approximately 11,306 criminal defendants. Of these, 9,737 were referred for possible presentation to the Grand Jury, and 1,522 were referred to the Special Remand Court for resolution. In 2009, the CJP court arraigned another 12,247 defendants. Of these, 10,906 were referred for possible Grand Jury presentation, and 1,132 were referred to the Special Remand Court.

Over the past five years, the CJP Unit has worked in conjunction with the Essex County Chiefs of Police, the Essex County Sheriff's Office and other agencies to develop standardized arrest and incident reports in addition to a secure electronic data exchange also known as the ILEI (Integrated Law Enforcement Initiative). The ILEI will allow participating law enforcement agencies in Essex County and the New Jersey State Police to share and exchange information electronically through a secure fiber optic network. In 2008, the ILEI "went live", allowing the CJP Unit to electronically access police arrest and incident reports from the Newark Police Department. In 2009, the Unit worked closely with NPD and other ILEI participants to increase the availability and reliability of information. This development has enabled CJP and ISU attorneys to routinely utilize the network thereby enhancing the efficiency and effectiveness of case screening and evaluation. This Unit will continue to benefit as information from arrest activity from the Sheriff's Office becomes available. The system will eventually expand to all municipal police departments in Essex County.