Editor’s Note on County Commissioners and Freeholders

New Jersey Boards of Chosen Freeholders came to an end after a 244-run today with the implementation of a new law changing the names of county governments to the County Board of Commissioners as part of New Jersey’s move to confront issues dealing with systemic racism

New Jersey’s first State Constitution was written in 1776 and declared that county representatives would be called freeholders, signifying that men holding the post would have to own their land free and clear.

The movement to rebrand the office was led by Union County Freeholder Angela Garretson, by the summer of 2020, the governor and state legislative leaders were on board.

“As our nation tears down symbols of injustice, we must also tear down words we use in New Jersey that were born from racism,” Gov. Phil Murphy, Senate President Steve Sweeney and Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin said in a joint statement.

The law replacing freeholders with county commissioners was not retroactive.  Accordingly, the New Jersey Globe will refer to anyone who previously held the post of freeholder prior to the effective date of the law as former freeholders since they never held the post of county commissioner.