(A) The Municipal Court Clerk shall collect from the indigent defendant an application fee of $200. In accordance with guidelines promulgated by the New Jersey Supreme Court, the Judge of the Municipal Court may waive a portion or all of the required application fee, only if the court determines in its discretion, upon a clear and convincing showing by the applicant, that the application fee represents an unreasonable burden on the person seeking representation. The Municipal Court may also permit the indigent defendant to pay the application fee over a specific period of time not to exceed four months. A default or failure in making payments of the application fee shall disqualify the indigent defendant from receiving services by the Municipal Public Defender.
(B) If the indigent defendant has or reasonably expects to have means to meet some part, though not all, of the costs of the services rendered, the defendant shall, in addition to the application fee, be required to reimburse the Township, either by a single payment or in installments in such amount as he can reasonably be expected to pay; but no default or failure to make payments to meet some part, or all, of the costs of the services rendered, shall affect or reduce the rendering of services by the Municipal Public Defender. The Township shall have a lien on any property to which the indigent defendant shall have or acquire an interest in for an amount equal to the reasonable value of the services rendered to the indigent defendant pursuant to this chapter, as calculated at the same rate as the Office of the Public Defender bills the Township pursuant to § 33.20 at that time. To effectuate such a lien for the Township, the Township Solicitor shall file a notice setting forth services rendered to the indigent defendant and the reasonable value thereof with the Clerk of the Superior Court. The filing of the notice with the Clerk of the Superior Court shall constitute a lien on the property for a period of ten years from the date of filing, unless discharged sooner, and, except for such time limitations, shall have the force and effect of a judgment. Within ten days after the filing of the notice, the Municipal Attorney shall send by certified mail or serve personally a copy of the notice with a statement of the date of the filing to or upon the indigent defendant at the indigent defendant's last known address.
('74 Code, § 20-2) (Ord. 876-98, passed 6-8-98)