It was a celebration of firsts Wednesday at the official dedication of the Central Municipal Court of Atlantic County.
The court covering municipal-level cases in nine towns is the first of its kind in the state.
A feasibility committee was formed in 2020 by Atlantic County Executive Dennis Levinson, and 1½ years later, the court opened at the old Criminal Courthouse in Mays Landing.
"The first thing he asked was, 'How much money will it save?" recently retired Judge Mark Sandson recalled of Levinson with a laugh Wednesday.
Levinson was unable to make the ceremony.
But many others in the court system and county government crowded Courtroom 1 to talk about the positives of the new court, and to honor three judges who were pioneers as well.
The courtroom Wednesday's ceremony was held in will bear the name of Julio Mendez, the state's first Hispanic assignment judge who helped in facilitating the new court.
Mendez had worked his career in Cumberland County when he was appointed assignment judge for Atlantic and Cape May counties in 2012. It was a boon to the Hispanic community, said Pleasantville attorney Jonathan Diego.
"It means the world, especially to Latino attorneys," he said of the courtroom honor.
Mendez, who just retired, is already missed, Diego said.
"My father probably would never have believed this day would come," said attorney Joe Jacobs, as the marker honoring his late father was unveiled.
Herbert Jacobs was the youngest judge to be appointed in the state and the first black state judge in Atlantic County.
His son recalled when his father came home from his first year at law school, looking to clerk.
"Can you read?" the young man was asked.
After he said yes, he was handed a book to prove himself.
"My father looked at him and said, 'Which language would you like me to read it in?' Joe Jacobs said.
When Herbert Jacobs was sworn in, his wife was pregnant with their daughter, Gabby.
Gabby Jacobs Caldwell remembered her father as a great man who stressed education.
She was just 15 when he died at 45, but the push for learning stayed with her.
Jacobs Caldwell is an administrator in the Atlantic City School District.
Her brother is a political powerbroker who noted how he "accidentally" helped get one of the county's first female judges appointed.
Joe Jacobs talked about a sitdown he had in 1993 with then-Gov. Jim Florio.
"They asked me about judgeships and showed me a list," he said. "It was all male."
"Who would you pick?" he was asked.
"I wouldn't pick anyone on the list, I would pick a woman," he replied.
That's when he gave the name Carol Higbee. He wasn't even sure the well-respected attorney was interested.
He got a call later that day asking for her number. Higbee would go on to be instrumental in working out a settlement in hundreds of Vioxx cases across the country. She also was the first sitting judge to be honored with the Robert N. McAllister Award for excellence in the profession of law presented by the Atlantic County Bar Association.
About two years earlier, attorney Valerie Armstrong left the Casino Control Commission to take the bench in Superior Court.
A decade later she made history at the first female assignment judge overseeing one of the state's largest vicinages, the combination of Atlantic and Cape May counties.
Armstrong, who retired in 2011 clearing the way for Mendez, lives in North Carolina with her husband, and could not make the ceremony. Courtroom 2 will bear her name.
"She was a model judge," Sandson said, noting that before that she was "an excellent lawyer."
She is enjoying retirement, and still doing good things, he said.
