Surrogate and Sheriff named to leadership positions
NJ Constitutional Officers Association picks Rosemarie Peters as President, Shaun Golden as VP

FREEHOLD, NJ – The Constitutional Officers Association of New Jersey (COANJ) has elected Monmouth County Surrogate Rosemarie D. Peters as President and County Sheriff Shaun Golden as Vice President of the statewide organization. 

COANJ is a nearly century-old professional organization of the elected constitutional officers of all 21 counties. The membership includes Sheriffs, County Surrogates, County Clerks, and Registers of Deeds and Mortgages.

Peters is completing her sixth year as Surrogate. She was named by the New Jersey Supreme Court to its Judiciary-Surrogate Liaison Committee. She is a graduate of the Rutgers School of Law-Newark and a member of both the New Jersey and Monmouth Bar Associations. Peters served on the Middletown Township Committee for 18 years, four of them as Mayor and three as Deputy Mayor.

Golden is serving his first term as Monmouth County’s Sheriff after his election to the post in 2011.   He was appointed to the Sheriff’s position when former Sheriff Kim Guadagno became Lt. Governor in January 2010. Golden was a career law enforcement officer for 18 years, serving as a police officer with the Colts Neck and Toms River police departments. He holds a master’s degree in administration from Seton Hall University, is a NJ Certified Public Manager and an adjunct professor at Monmouth University.  

For more information about the Monmouth County’s constitutional officers, log onto the county Web site at www.visitmonmouth.com. Or, you can call the Surrogate’s Office at 732-431-7330 and the Sheriff’s Office at 732-431-7139.

In 2012, Peters served as COANJ vice president and Golden served as secretary.

The county Surrogate has the authority to qualify executors and trustees named in wills, to appoint administrators for those who die without wills, and to appoint guardians for minors and legally incapacitated persons. The Surrogate’s Office is also responsible for overseeing the procedure in contested estate matters, in the declaration of incapacitation, in appointment of guardians, and in the granting of adoptions in the Superior Court of New Jersey.

The Surrogate’s Court is a department of county government, as well as a branch of the Superior Court of New Jersey in the Chancery Division. The Surrogate serves as Deputy Clerk of the Superior Court, Chancery Division, Probate Part, and Chancery Division, Family Part for adoptions, as well as Judge of the Surrogate’s Court.

The county Sheriff oversees four divisions: law enforcement, communications, corrections and emergency management. Law enforcement responsibilities include warrants, court security, civil process and youth detention services. The county’s 9-1-1 Communications Center provides 9-1-1 services to more than 40 municipalities and provides dispatch service for other local police, fire and first aid departments.

The county’s Correctional Institution houses county, state and federal inmates in a 1,328-bed, direct supervision facility. The Office of Emergency Management develops, maintains and implements the county’s all-hazard Emergency Operations Plan that outlines how the county will function during emergency or disaster conditions.

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