[First Reprint]

ASSEMBLY, No. 4890

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

219th LEGISLATURE

 

INTRODUCED OCTOBER 26, 2020

 

 

Sponsored by:

Assemblywoman  VALERIE VAINIERI HUTTLE

District 37 (Bergen)

Assemblywoman  ANGELA V. MCKNIGHT

District 31 (Hudson)

Assemblywoman  VERLINA REYNOLDS-JACKSON

District 15 (Hunterdon and Mercer)

 

Co-Sponsored by:

Assemblywoman Lopez, Assemblymen Johnson, Giblin and Zwicker

 

 

 

 

SYNOPSIS

     Requires sexual assault training for prosecutors.

 

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

     As reported by the Assembly Women and Children Committee on February 23, 2021, with amendments.

  

An Act concerning prosecutor training, supplementing chapter 4B of Title 52 of the Revised Statutes, and amending P.L.2001, c.81.

 

     Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

 

      1.  (New section)  a.  The Division of Criminal Justice shall develop or approve a triennial in-service training course and curriculum specifically for ¹every¹ county ¹[prosecutors] prosecutor¹ and ¹each¹ assistant county ¹[prosecutors] prosecutor to whom sexual assault cases are assigned¹ on how to appropriately handle, investigate, and respond to reports of sexual assault. 

     b.    The training course and curriculum shall include a component emphasizing the value of restorative justice in sexual assault cases. 

     c.     The division shall make the training course and curriculum available to all county prosecutor's offices in the State.

     d.    The division shall review the training course and curriculum every ¹[two] five¹ years, in ¹[conjunction] consultation¹ with nationally recognized trainers with expertise in trauma informed care and the New Jersey Coalition Against Sexual Assault, and make any necessary modifications.

     e.     The division may make the training course and curriculum available in an online format, but prosecutors shall complete the course and curriculum in person every six years. 

     f.     The Attorney General shall be responsible for ensuring that all county prosecutors and ¹appropriate¹ assistant county prosecutors triennially complete the in-service training on handling sexual assault matters required by this section. 

     g.     A county prosecutor or assistant county prosecutor appointed after the effective date of P.L.     c.      (C.     ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill) shall complete the training course and curriculum within 60 days of the prosecutor's initial appointment.    The division shall determine whether training in the handling of sexual assault cases completed by a prosecutor appointed prior to the effective date of P.L.     c.      (C.     ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill) complies with the requirements of this section.  If the training does not comply with these requirements, the prosecutor shall complete the training course and curriculum required by this section within 60 days of the effective date of  P.L.     c.      (C.     ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill).

      h.   The division shall develop an open process pursuant to which the division will accept bids by organizations to assist in developing and providing the training required by this section.
      2.   Section 8 of P.L.2001, c.81 (C.52:4B-56) is amended to read as follows: 

     8.    The Attorney General shall establish a sexual assault unit within the Department of Law and Public Safety which shall include a sexual assault investigator and a certified forensic sexual assault nurse examiner.

     The unit shall oversee the operation of the county sexual assault nurse examiner programs, and provide assistance to counties in the investigation and prosecution of sexual assaults.  The unit shall review all complaints received regarding a county's investigation and prosecution of a sexual assault and shall provide recommendations to the Attorney General regarding the county's investigation and prosecution of the case.  The unit also shall provide training to law enforcement officials and county prosecutors, on an ongoing basis, in the investigation and prosecution of sexual assault.  Any training the unit may provide to county prosecutors and assistant county prosecutors shall comply with the requirements of section 1 of P.L.     , c.     (C.     ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill).

(cf: P.L.2001, c.81, s.8)

 

     3.    This act shall take effect on the first day of the fourth month next following enactment.