Union County Plans To Temporarily Suspend Civil Trials Due To Shortage Of Judges

ELIZABETH, N.J. (CBSNewYork/AP) - Court officials in one northern New Jersey county plan to temporarily suspend all civil trials for two months due to a shortage of judges.

The Star-Ledger reported that Union County will put civil trials on hold during July and August. The newspaper said that an official announcement is due to be made Monday morning.

There are now seven judicial vacancies among the county's allotted 25 positions, and court officials said that two more judges are due to retire by summer's end.

To compensate for the current vacancies, four retired judges were recalled to service on a part-time basis and have been hearing civil cases. But those judges will be on vacation in July.

Court officials said that the vacancies have caused a significant backlog in civil cases in the county.

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