Gavel

Officials are holding a panel on 'Sovereign Citizens' at the League of Municipalities Conference

(Ed Murray/The Star-Ledger)

Here’s something new at the League of Municipalities Conference this year: A panel on how to deal with "sovereign citizens."

What are sovereign citizens?

They're members of a loosely organized extremist movement who do not recognize the authority of federal, state or municipal governments. The FBI considers them a domestic terrorist threat.

The seminar, which takes place today, is hosted by Riverdale Mayor William Budesheim. It features Jon Henry Bar, the president of the New Jersey Municipal Prosecutors Association, Catherine Petula, a special agent in Newark’s FBI field office, Joseph Wenzel, a public defender, and Anthony Hatzlhoffer, Linden’s counter terrorism coordinator.

“It’s basically a national issue, and there are a number of communities in New Jersey that have had some experience with them,” said Bill Dressel, the League’s executive director. “I was contacted by one of our affiliate organizations, the New Jersey Prosecutors Association, that we should have something on this to let officials know about this group and what experiences they’ve had to try to deal with these kinds of issues that come up.”

In June, a person who identified as a sovereign citizen allegedly assaulted two Morris County sheriff's officers at the courthouse. And a Wisconsin man who threatened almost 30 officials was sentenced to five years in prison last month.

New Jersey Judiciary spokeswoman Tamara Kendig told the South Jersey Times in September that courts were dealing with about 1,200 cases involving sovereign citizens over the past year. Many of those are "paper terrorism" against officials by members of the movement who file fraudulent liens against them.