New Jersey Statehouse

The New Jersey Senate on Sept. 27 approved the nomination of Bradley Billhimer, a veteran Toms River criminal defense attorney, to become the next Ocean County prosecutor, as well as the nomination of an administrative law judge to join the Superior Court bench.

Earlier in the week the nominations passed through the Senate Judiciary Committee without opposition.  It is not clear when Billhimer would be sworn in.

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy nominated Billhimer earlier this month.

Billhimer, a Democrat, will succeed Joseph Coronato, a Republican holdover whose five-year term expired in March.

According to a report in the Asbury Park Press, Coronato plans to leave office next month in anticipation of Billhimer's confirmation.

Billhimer, a graduate of Widener University School of Law and what is now Stockton University, began his career as a criminal  defense attorney in the Toms River office of S. Karl Mohel, and started his own practice in 2010. He is an adjunct professor of criminal justice and procedure at Ocean County College.

According to reports, he has twice run unsuccessfully for elective office: in 2002, for Ocean County surrogate, and in 2012, for the General Assembly.

The Senate also approved the nomination of Administrative Law Judge Michael Antoniewicz for the Superior Court bench.

Antoniewicz, of Edgewater in Bergen County, is a graduate of Quinnipiac University Law School and Rutgers University.