Virtual Courtroom Poster

Criminal First Appearances

First appearance hearings are held within 24 to 48 hours of a defendant being taken to a county jail. At the hearing, the prosecutor’s office must make a motion to have the defendant detained. Otherwise, the judge will set conditions of release based on input from pretrial services staff, the prosecutor, and the defense attorney. Defendants taken into custody on weekends will have their first appearances conducted online from the jail.

There are two ways to watch criminal court hearings online:

  1. Most court hearings are livestreamed here.
  2. Criminal first appearances in which an ASL interpreter is required can be viewed using the link listed for each county below.

Virtual Courtroom participants, including judges and attorneys will find more information here.

NJCourts Atlantic Public Broadcast
(if no Virtual Courtroom is listed, check Cape May)

NJCourts Cape May Public Broadcast
( if no Virtual Courtroom is listed, check Atlantic)

NJCourts Bergen Public Broadcast

Virtual Courtroom & Bergen County Jail
Bergen County Jail
160 South River Street, Hackensack, NJ 07601


Visitors can park in the Visitors Lot off of South River Street.  The court proceedings can be viewed via the internet virtual courtroom which will be broadcast in the Jail’s Reception Area for the public viewing.

NJCourts Camden Public Broadcast

The waiting area or lobby will be opened to the public.  The public will be able to view the virtual hearing from the waiting room on the 4th Floor of 6 Executive Campus, 1112 Union Ave, Cherry Hill, NJ 08002 or from home. 

NJCourts Cumberland Public Broadcast
(if no Virtual Courtroom is listed, check Gloucester or Salem)

NJCourts Gloucester Public Broadcast
(if no Virtual Courtroom is listed, check Cumberland or Salem)

NJCourts Salem Public Broadcast
(if no Virtual Courtroom is listed, check Cumberland or Gloucester)

NJCourts Essex Public Broadcast

Essex County Courthouse - CJP
50 West Market Street, 5th floor Room 502, Newark, N.J. 07102


NJCourts Hudson Public Broadcast

Hudson County Administration Building
595 Newark Avenue, Jersey City, NJ 07306



Location information: CJP courtroom is on the ground floor (Room G5)
Entrance information:  Enter through the CJP entrance on Central Avenue
Parking information:  There is a paid parking lot on the corner of Central and Pavonia Aves.

NJCourts Monmouth Public Broadcast

Saturday start times are 3 p.m., Holiday Weekend start times are 1:30 p.m.

For other livestreamed court hearings, go to our main livestream page.

NJCourts Sussex Public Broadcast
(if no Virtual Courtroom is listed, check Morris)

NJCourts Passaic Public Broadcast

Passaic County Superior Court
77 Hamilton Street, Courtroom 118, First Floor, Paterson, NJ 07505



Telephone number for Passaic County Pretrial Services is 973-247-8383.
NJCourts Somerset Public Broadcast
(if no Virtual Courtroom is listed, check Hunterdon)
NJCourts Hunterdon Public Broadcast
(if no Virtual Courtroom is listed, check Somerset)

NJCourts Union Public Broadcast

Union County Jail (Ralph Oriscello Correctional Facility)
15 Elizabethtown Plaza, Elizabeth, N.J 07207


Parking:  The Bollwage Parking Lot is open 24/7.  This is the closest pay lot to the Union County Correctional Facility.  Their website is:  http://www.elizabethparking.org/
Entrance to the Union County Correctional Facility is through the main entrance. Once you clear security and the magnetometer, go up the stairs to the 2nd floor where the courtroom is located.
No contraband is allowed.  If you bring it, it will be confiscated.
No Cell phone use at all in the courtroom. This includes the taking of photos and/or any type of recording.