A staple of law and order over the last decade in Hillsborough Township was recently honored by the township committee for his service and career as a municipal judge.
Judge John Richardson, a long-time justice whose career spans not only Hillsborough Township’s dais, but also Watchung, North Plainfield, Green Brook, South Bound Brook and the Somerset County Superior Court, announced his retirement.
During a public township committee meeting earlier this month, officials commended Richardson for his years of service by presenting him with an official proclamation from Mayor Gloria McCauley.
“Judge Richardson brought great experience as a Superior Court judge to Hillsborough,” the mayor said. “We want to express our gratitude for all of the hard work and dedication of Judge Richardson in the Hillsborough Township Municipal Court. We wish him all the best in his retirement and future endeavors.”
According to officials, Richardson attended Dartmouth College and Rutgers University School of Law before pursuing his law career.
Richardson had previously served as a Superior Court judge from 1999 to 2002, when he was forced to step down from the position as part of a plea bargain for failing to report $150,000 to the IRS he held for a real estate client before he was appointed.
The judge accepted a reprimand for the incident from the state Supreme Court’s Disciplinary Review Board, who allowed him to continue practicing law since he had an “unblemished legal career of more than 30 years,” according to the board’s decision.
By 2007, Richardson had been selected to serve as a part-time municipal judge for Hillsborough Township after then municipal judge Anthony Picheca, Jr. was picked to serve on the county Superior Court in Somerville.
Standing with Committeemen Frank DelCore, Carl Suraci and Greg Burchette, as well as Deputy Mayor Doug Tomson, Richardson reluctantly accepted the proclamation.
“It’s very heartening to receive recognition like this because this is not something I expected,” he said.
As he looked out into the crowd and to his wife June, to whom he has been married for more than 50 years, Richardson referenced “Why Me,” a song by country gospel musician Kris Kristofferson during his remarks. In that song, the performer asks why he had been “blessed by God so many times.”
“I think about my time in Hillsborough over the last 10 years…and as I look at my family and the ladies who worked with me and supported me at the Hillsborough Municipal Court…I say to myself ‘that song was written for me,’” he said.