Bill Text: NJ A4358 | 2024-2025 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Requires juveniles to appear before court in county where alleged delinquency compliant occurred.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)
Status: (Introduced) 2024-05-10 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly Community Development and Women's Affairs Committee [A4358 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2024-A4358-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman ROBERT J. KARABINCHAK
District 18 (Middlesex)
SYNOPSIS
Requires juveniles to appear before court in county where alleged delinquency complaint occurred.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning juvenile court appearances and amending P.L.1982, c.77.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. Section 5 of P.L.1982, c.77 (C.2A:4A-24) is amended to read as follows:
a. Except as otherwise provided by law, the court shall have exclusive jurisdiction in all cases where it is charged that a juvenile has committed an act of delinquency and over all matters relating to a juvenile-family crisis. Upon the determination that a juvenile has committed an act of delinquency or that a juvenile-family crisis exists, the court may impose such disposition or dispositions over those persons subject to its jurisdiction consistent with the purposes of this act.
Such jurisdiction shall extend in these matters over a juvenile and his parent, guardian or any family member found by the court to be contributing to a juvenile-family crisis. The court shall, in accordance with the Rules of Court, clearly specify the responsibilities of those subject to its jurisdiction with respect to the plan of rehabilitation for the juvenile.
b. The court shall have jurisdiction in respect to the custody of any juvenile who may be held as a material witness in any case pending in the court. Whenever a juvenile is a material witness in any other court, the procedures established by this act shall be followed.
c. Juveniles who appear before the court in any capacity shall be deemed to be wards of the court and protected accordingly.
d. Nothing in this act shall affect the jurisdiction of other courts over offenses committed after a juvenile under the jurisdiction of the court reaches the age of 18 years.
e. A juvenile accused of a delinquency complaint shall appear before the court in the county where the incident giving rise to the complaint allegedly occurred. The court shall provide the juvenile with reasonable transportation accommodations to ensure that the juvenile is able to appear before the court.
(cf: P.L.1982, c.77, s.5)
2. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill requires juveniles to appear before the court in the county where the alleged delinquency complaint occurred.
Under the court rules, juvenile delinquency complaints are filed in the county where the incident giving rise to the complaint allegedly occurred, but if the juvenile resides in a county other than the county of the alleged incident, the venue is set to be the county where the juvenile resides. This bill requires a juvenile accused of a delinquency complaint to appear before the court in the county where the incident giving rise to the complaint allegedly occurred.
