Manchester Mayor Palmer Nominated To Superior Court Judgeship

MANCHESTER, NJ — Manchester Township Mayor Kenneth Palmer has been nominated by Gov. Phil Murphy to become a Superior Court judge.

Palmer's name is on a list of nominees submitted by Murphy to the New Jersey Senate Judiciary Committee, as Murphy works to fill judicial openings across the state.

Palmer said he received a "notice of intent to nominate" on June 10, which the Senate Judiciary Committee can receive today. The judiciary committee has to review Palmer's application and interview, and if they approve, the nomination is then sent to the full state Senate for approval.

If he is confirmed as a judge, Palmer will have to resign as mayor to take the position. He did not have a timetable for when those next steps might happen.

Palmer, 48, who operates his own law firm, Law Offices of Kenneth T Palmer, PC, grew up in Manchester. He graduated from Tulane Law School in 1997 and served a judicial clerkship with the Superior Court Judge Donald F. Campbell in Ocean County for one year, then was an associate attorney for six years at the law firm of Finley & Buckley, PC in Atlanta, Georgia. Palmer returned to Ocean County in 2004 and opened his law office then.

He and his wife, Robyn, have three children.

Palmer was elected mayor of Manchester's nonpartisan government in 2014, ousting incumbent Michael Fressola, who had served four terms. Palmer won re-election in 2018; his current term ends in 2022.

New Jersey's deadline for non-partisan candidates to file nominating positions to be on the November ballot is Aug. 30.

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