1. In any action in a court of appropriate jurisdiction initiated by the director of any certified county or municipal office of consumer affairs, the office of consumer affairs shall be entitled, if successful in the action, to such penalties, fines or fees as may be authorized pursuant to chapter 8 of Title 56 of the Revised Statutes and awarded by the court, and to the reasonable costs of any such action, including investigative and legal costs, as may be filed with and approved by the court. Such costs shall be in addition to the taxed costs authorized in successful proceedings under the Rules Governing the Courts of the State of New Jersey.

As used in this section, “court of appropriate jurisdiction” includes a municipal court in the municipality where the offense was committed or where the defendant may be found and a central municipal court in the county where the offense was committed or where the defendant may be found. However, the term shall not include a municipal court in a city of the first class if the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court approves a recommendation submitted by the assignment judge of the vicinage in which the court is located to exempt that court from such jurisdiction.

All moneys collected pursuant to this section shall be paid to the officer lawfully charged with the custody of the general funds of the county or municipality.

L.1981, c.178, s.1; amended 1991, c.149; 2011, c.181, s.2.