The Jersey City Municipal Prosecutor has broad oversight over the city’s law and code enforcement matters and the city’s commitment to increased quality of life for Jersey Citians. The prosecutor achieves this mission as chief of the Public Safety Division of Quality of Life, which promotes safe streets, clean neighborhoods, community engagement, and the reduction of blight and other public nuisances.
The prosecutor’s division is community-driven and leads with education before enforcement. The prosecutor’s division achieve its important mission with the support of a dedicated team of over 65 members, including law enforcement officers, code inspectors, constituent service representatives, attorneys, and professional support staff.
Offices, Units, and Programs
The following offices and programs comprise the Quality of Life Division. Explore our pages to learn both about our past successes on behalf of the community and how you can tell us where our attention is needed now and in the future.
Our
Trial Team is a dedicated team of lawyers and professional staff that handles our litigation of all criminal offenses, traffic infractions, and quality of life violations filed by over a dozen state and local enforcement agencies. Our courthouse recently surpassed others as the State's highest-volume courthouse, and our municipal prosecutors and staff handle each case with integrity.
The Resident Response Center (RRC) is community-driven and our residents are their eyes and ears. The RRC is our "one-stop shop" for our community. Residents can contact the RRC staff to report issues or get questions answered. The RRC staff works hard to keep our community heard, informed, and engaged.
The Office of Code Compliance (OCC) is responsible for the enforcement of Jersey City's local ordinances and codes. Comprised of inspectors and staff, the office oversees the inspections of resident, commercial, and open-space properties as well as other matters related to compliance with laws that protect and maintain our quality of life.
The OCC's operations are community-driven and guided by a progressive approach of "education before enforcement" to proactively encourage compliance rather than reactively respond to violators. Inspectors lead with conversation and education, while court-summonses and prosecutions are our last resort.
Quality of Life Taskforce
The Mayor Fulop's Quality of Life Taskforce was formed in April 2019 to target the city's worst quality of life offenders. The Taskforce is led by Prosecutor Hudnut and is comprised of seven code enforcement offices, four police units, and many other stakeholders that concentrate their efforts against the worst quality-of-life offenders. To date, the Taskforce has successfully prosecuted absentee landlords, local polluters, negligent businesses, and other public nuisances.
JCPD Quality of Life Unit
The JCPD Quality of Life Unit was created in 2019 to address quality of life violations that negatively impact our City through cross-departmental coordination and cooperation. The unit is a progressive, problem-solving, community-driven operation that is responsive to the Prosecutor. The officers of the unit are tasked with identifying and investigating negligent property owners, absentee landlords, commercial bad actors, public nuisance bars, and other disorderly person violations. The Quality of Life Unit is committed to maintaining a safe, clean community for all of our City's residents.
ABC Prosecutions
The Office of the Municipal Prosecutor also prosecutes violations filed against bars and other liquor license holders before the ABC Board of Commissioners. The Jersey City Police Department's ABC Unit is responsible for investigating and issuing violations prior to our involvement. The shared mission of the ABC Unit and the Prosecutor is to eliminate the disorder and public nuisance associated with problematic alcoholic beverage establishments. ABC violations have damaging effects on the quality of life for Jersey City residents.