Bill Text: NJ A4106 | 2014-2015 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Establishes "Stun Gun Purchase and Training Fund" to provide stun guns and training to law enforcement officers.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 4-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2015-01-15 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly Law and Public Safety Committee [A4106 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2014-A4106-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman CHARLES MAINOR
District 31 (Hudson)
Assemblywoman SHAVONDA E. SUMTER
District 35 (Bergen and Passaic)
Assemblyman GILBERT "WHIP" L. WILSON
District 5 (Camden and Gloucester)
SYNOPSIS
Establishes "Stun Gun Purchase and Training Fund" to provide stun guns and training to law enforcement officers.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act establishing a grant program to provide stun guns to law enforcement officers, supplementing Title 52 of the Revised Statutes, and amending R.S.39:5-41.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. (New section) There is created in the Department of Law and Public Safety a nonlapsing revolving fund to be known as the "Stun Gun Purchase and Training Fund." This fund shall be the repository for moneys provided pursuant to subsection j. of R.S.39:5-41 and shall be administered by the Attorney General. Moneys deposited in the fund, and any interest earned thereon, shall be used exclusively for the purpose of making grants to county and municipal law enforcement agencies and the Division of State Police for purchasing stun guns for law enforcement officers, and to train law enforcement officers in the proper and safe procedures to be followed when using a stun gun. Of the moneys deposited into the fund, an amount determined by the Attorney General shall be allocated annually to the Police Training Commission to support the development and provision of basic and in-service training courses for law enforcement officers who are issued stun guns.
The Attorney General shall establish a grant distribution schedule for State, county, and municipal law enforcement officers that provides for a balance among the number of officers receiving stun guns. The Attorney General shall promulgate rules and regulations to implement this grant program. Those rules and regulations shall include, but not be limited to: application procedures for stun gun purchase and training grants; criteria to prioritize the awarding of grants, such as crime rates and whether stun guns are currently utilized by a law enforcement agency's officers; and guidelines identifying those stun guns, by manufacturer or brand name, which may be purchased with grant money.
As used in this section, "stun gun" shall have the same meaning as defined in subsection t. of N.J.S.2C:39-1.
2. R.S.39:5-41 is amended to read as follows:
39:5-41. a. All fines, penalties and forfeitures imposed and collected under authority of law for any violations of R.S.39:4-63 and R.S.39:4-64 shall be forwarded by the judge to whom the same have been paid to the proper financial officer of a county, if the violation occurred within the jurisdiction of that county's central municipal court, established pursuant to N.J.S.2B:12-1 et seq. or the municipality wherein the violation occurred, to be used by the county or municipality to help finance litter control activities in addition to or supplementing existing litter pickup and removal activities in the municipality.
b. Except as otherwise provided by subsection a. of this section, all fines, penalties and forfeitures imposed and collected under authority of law for any violations of the provisions of this Title, other than those violations in which the complaining witness is the chief administrator, a member of his staff, a member of the State Police, a member of a county police department and force or a county park police system in a county that has established a central municipal court, an inspector of the Board of Public Utilities, or a law enforcement officer of any other State agency, shall be forwarded by the judge to whom the same have been paid as follows: one-half of the total amount collected to the financial officer, as designated by the local governing body, of the respective municipalities wherein the violations occurred, to be used by the municipality for general municipal use and to defray the cost of operating the municipal court; and one-half of the total amount collected to the proper financial officer of the county wherein they were collected, to be used by the county as a fund for the construction, reconstruction, maintenance and repair of roads and bridges, snow removal, the acquisition and purchase of rights-of-way, and the purchase, replacement and repair of equipment for use on said roads and bridges therein. Up to 25% of the money received by a municipality pursuant to this subsection, but not more than the actual amount budgeted for the municipal court, whichever is less, may be used to upgrade case processing.
All fines, penalties and forfeitures imposed and collected under authority of law for any violations of the provisions of this Title, in which the complaining witness is a member of a county police department and force or a county park police system in a county that has established a central municipal court, shall be forwarded by the judge to whom the same have been paid to the financial officer, designated by the governing body of the county, for all violations occurring within the jurisdiction of that court, to be used for general county use and to defray the cost of operating the central municipal court.
Whenever any county has deposited moneys collected pursuant to this section in a special trust fund in lieu of expending the same for the purposes authorized by this section, it may withdraw from said special trust fund in any year an amount which is not in excess of the amount expended by the county over the immediately preceding three-year period from general county revenues for said purposes. Such moneys withdrawn from the trust fund shall be accounted for and used as are other general county revenues.
c. (Deleted by amendment, P.L.1993, c.293.)
d. Notwithstanding the provisions of subsections a. and b. of this section, $1 shall be added to the amount of each fine and penalty imposed and collected through a court under authority of any law for any violation of the provisions of Title 39 of the Revised Statutes or any other motor vehicle or traffic violation in this State and shall be forwarded by the person to whom the same are paid to the State Treasurer. In addition, upon the forfeiture of bail, $1 of that forfeiture shall be forwarded to the State Treasurer. The State Treasurer shall annually deposit those moneys so forwarded in the "Body Armor Replacement" fund established pursuant to section 1 of P.L.1997, c.177 (C.52:17B-4.4). Beginning in the fiscal year next following the effective date of this act, the State Treasurer annually shall allocate from those moneys so forwarded an amount not to exceed $400,000 to the Department of the Treasury to be expended exclusively for the purposes of funding the operation of the "Law Enforcement Officer Crisis Intervention Services" telephone hotline established and maintained under the provisions of sections 115 and 116 of P.L.2008, c.29 (C.26:2NN-1 and C.26:2NN-2).
e. Notwithstanding the provisions of subsections a. and b. of this section, $1 shall be added to the amount of each fine and penalty imposed and collected through a court under authority of any law for any violation of the provisions of Title 39 of the Revised Statutes or any other motor vehicle or traffic violation in this State and shall be forwarded by the person to whom the same are paid to the State Treasurer. The State Treasurer shall annually deposit those moneys so forwarded in the "New Jersey Spinal Cord Research Fund" established pursuant to section 9 of P.L.1999, c.201 (C.52:9E-9). In order to comply with the provisions of Article VIII, Section II, paragraph 5 of the State Constitution, a municipal or county agency which forwards moneys to the State Treasurer pursuant to this subsection may retain an amount equal to 2% of the moneys which it collects pursuant to this subsection as compensation for its administrative costs associated with implementing the provisions of this subsection.
f. Notwithstanding the provisions of subsections a. and b. of this section, $1 shall be added to the amount of each fine and penalty imposed and collected through a court under authority of any law for any violation of the provisions of Title 39 of the Revised Statutes or any other motor vehicle or traffic violation in this State and shall be forwarded by the person to whom the same are paid to the State Treasurer. The State Treasurer shall annually deposit those moneys so forwarded in the "Autism Medical Research and Treatment Fund" established pursuant to section 1 of P.L.2003, c.144 (C.30:6D-62.2).
g. Notwithstanding the provisions of subsections a. and b. of this section, $2 shall be added to the amount of each fine and penalty imposed and collected by a court under authority of any law for any violation of the provisions of Title 39 of the Revised Statutes or any other motor vehicle or traffic violation in this State and shall be forwarded by the person to whom the same are paid to the State Treasurer. The State Treasurer shall annually deposit those moneys so forwarded in the "New Jersey Forensic DNA Laboratory Fund" established pursuant to P.L.2003, c.183. Prior to depositing the moneys into the fund, the State Treasurer shall forward to the Administrative Office of the Courts an amount not to exceed $475,000 from moneys initially collected pursuant to this subsection to be used exclusively to establish a collection mechanism and to provide funding to update the Automated Traffic System Fund created pursuant to N.J.S.2B:12-30 to implement the provisions of this subsection.
h. Notwithstanding the provisions of subsections a. and b. of this section, $1 shall be added to the amount of each fine and penalty imposed and collected under authority of any law for any violation of the provisions of Title 39 of the Revised Statutes or any other motor vehicle or traffic violation in this State and shall be forwarded by the person to whom the same are paid to the State Treasurer. The State Treasurer shall annually deposit those moneys so forwarded in the "New Jersey Brain Injury Research Fund" established pursuant to section 9 of P.L.2003, c.200 (C.52:9EE-9). The Administrative Office of the Courts may retain an amount equal to $475,000 from the moneys which it initially collects pursuant to this subsection, prior to depositing any moneys in the "New Jersey Brain Injury Research Fund," in order to meet the expenses associated with utilizing the Automated Traffic System Fund created pursuant to N.J.S.2B:12-30 to implement the provisions of this subsection and serve other statutory purposes.
i. Notwithstanding the provisions of subsections a. and b. of this section, all fines and penalties imposed and collected under authority of law for any violation related to the unlawful operation or the sale of a vehicle under section 1 of P.L.1955, c.53 (C.39:3-17.1) shall be forwarded by the judge to whom the same have been paid to the State Treasurer, if the complaining witness is the chief administrator, a member of his staff, a member of the State Police, an inspector of the Board of Public Utilities, or a law enforcement officer or other official of any other State agency; or, if the complaining witness is not one of the foregoing, one-half to the chief financial officer of the county and one-half to the chief financial officer of the municipality wherein the violation occurred.
j. Notwithstanding the provisions of subsections a. and b. of this section, $3 shall be added to the amount of each fine and penalty imposed and collected through a court under authority of any law for any violation of the provisions of Title 39 of the Revised Statutes or any other motor vehicle or traffic violation in this State and shall be forwarded by the person to whom the same are paid to the State Treasurer. The State Treasurer shall annually deposit those moneys so forwarded in the "Stun Gun Purchase and Training Fund," established pursuant to section 1 of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill).
(cf: P.L.2008, c.116, s.1)
3. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill establishes a "Stun Gun Purchase and Training Fund" as a nonlapsing revolving fund in the Department of Law and Public Safety. The purpose of the fund is to provide grants to municipal and county law enforcement agencies and the Division of State Police to purchase stun guns for law enforcement officers. The grants also are to be allocated to the Police Training Commission to support the development and provision of basic and in-service training courses for law enforcement officers who are issued stun guns.
The bill requires the Attorney General to establish a grant distribution schedule and promulgate rules and regulations to implement the grant program. The rules and regulations are to include application procedures for stun gun purchases and training grants as well as criteria to prioritize grant requests. To ensure that law enforcement officers obtain the highest quality stun guns, the Attorney General's guidelines would identify the specific manufacturer or brand of stun gun that may be purchased with grant money.
This new fund is to be the repository for moneys provided through a $3 surcharge on motor vehicle fines and penalties imposed by the court pursuant to R.S.39:5-41.
