Frederic Patrick Reichey in the Asbury Park Press on December 16, 1929

Monmouth County, New Jersey Monmouth County () is a county located on the coast of central New Jersey. The county is part of the New York metropolitan area and is situated along the northern half of the Jersey Shore. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the county's population wa ...

, is governed by a

Board of County Commissioners A county commission (or a board of county commissioners) is a group of elected officials (county commissioners) collectively charged with administering the county government in some states of the United States; such commissions usually comprise ...

, who choose a director from among themselves. Prior to January 1st, 2021 this position was known as the Board of Chosen Freeholders. Pursuant to legislation passed in 1709, freeholders sat with the

justices of the peace A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or '' puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission (letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sam ...

as the Board of Justices and Freeholders; the presiding officer was then known as chairman. Chairmen of the Board of Justices and Freeholders are included here where records are still extant, as well as whether they were a justice or a freeholder. Legislation passed in 1798 separated the freeholders and justices; at that time the

Board of Chosen Freeholders In New Jersey, a Board of County Commissioners (until 2020 named the Board of Chosen Freeholders) is the elected county-wide government board in each of the state's 21 counties. In the five counties that have an elected county executive, the ...

was established. Before 1906, Monmouth County Freeholders were elected by

townships A township is a kind of human settlement or administrative subdivision, with its meaning varying in different countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, that tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, C ...

; As a result of a 1905

referendum A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a Direct democracy, direct vote by the Constituency, electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a Representative democr ...

reducing the membership on the board, from 1906 to the present they have been elected

at-large At large (''before a noun'': at-large) is a description for members of a governing body who are elected or appointed to represent a whole membership or population (notably a city, county, state, province, nation, club or association), rather than ...

. On August 21, 2020, "amid a national reckoning to reexamine vestiges of

structural racism A structure is an arrangement and organization of interrelated elements in a material object or system, or the object or system so organized. Material structures include man-made objects such as buildings and machines and natural objects such as ...

," Governor

Phil Murphy Philip Dunton Murphy (born August 16, 1957) is an American financier, diplomat, and politician serving as the 56th governor of New Jersey since January 2018. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the United States ambassador to Germa ...

signed a bill to change the name of county governing bodies. Lt. Governor

Sheila Oliver Sheila Y. Oliver (born July 14, 1952) is an American politician serving as the second lieutenant governor of New Jersey since 2018. She previously served in the New Jersey General Assembly from 2004 to 2018, where she represented the 34th legi ...

, an African-American woman who was once a Freeholder herself, said that the term "refers to a time when only white male landowners could hold public office." The law went into effect on January 1, 2021.

Chairmen of the Board of Justices and Freeholders (1790–1798)

Directors of the Board of Chosen Freeholders (1798–2021)

Directors of the Board of County Commissioners (2021–present)

References