New Jersey Superior Court vacancies have dropped to 47 open seats with 14 nominees awaiting confirmation, and at least one observer believes that, after the state has spent years in the throes of a judicial vacancy crisis, it might actually be coming to an end.

Last February, Chief Justice Stuart Rabner shut down all civil and matrimonial trials in two vicinages, stating that the judiciary must prioritize proceedings where an individual’s liberty is at stake. Rabner said that the judicial vacancy crisis was impacting the entire state, and it had become particularly challenging in Vicinage 13, which covers Hunterdon, Somerset and Warren counties, and Vicinage 15, which covers of Cumberland, Gloucester and Salem counties.