Impact – Essex County Surrogate's Court

Highlights

In 2025, we attended various community events, like the Essex County Vicinage National Adoption Day, a celebration and finalization of adoptions for children in foster care. The Superior Court, Family Part, New Jersey Division of Child Protection and Permanency, Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA), members of the Alpha Kappa Alpha (AKA) sorority, and Rutgers Law School, along with our other partners, did a wonderful job celebrating family.

We partnered with several Essex County municipalities and organizations, including East Orange, Irvington, and Essex Community Land Trust, to discuss financial literacy, building generational wealth, and estate planning resources with residents.

We celebrated the start of the new school year in the City of Orange at the Mayor's Annual Back-to-School Bookbag Giveaway in August. The event featured a bouncy house, music, face painting, food, and various vendors providing information and resources to the community.

Our staff turned gratitude into action during the holidays by personally purchasing and distributing turkeys and toys to schools, churches, and women’s shelters throughout Essex County and neighboring Hudson County.

Essex County Residents Served

Essex County Surrogate’s Court had a busy 2025. We continued our efforts to educate the public on the breadth of services our office provides through various events, media coverage, videos, and more, ensuring that we provide Essex County residents with the support they need to make the right decisions for their families.

Taxpayer Dollars Saved

The Essex County Surrogate’s Court provides invaluable support services to the Essex County community at little to no cost to our taxpayers. In 2025, the revenue generated from our services covered 100% of our budget, making our office efficient, impactful, and most importantly, self-sustaining.

Looking Ahead

In 2023, we embarked on a journey to digitize all public records dating from the 1700s through 2016. The main project, which took three years and cost approximately $1 million, has been completed, allowing us to make previously archived microfiche, microfilm, and book records accessible online. Our next priority is digitizing adoption records, which we estimate will be completed in 2027.

During the pandemic, we recognized that physical access to records could become limited under certain circumstances. Digitizing these records ensures that the public can continue to access them regardless of physical availability. In addition, this effort helps preserve fragile paper records from the 1700s and 1800s that have deteriorated over time.